MamaBlooMarriage. Motherhood. Life.

Product Review: Send Out Cards.COM

§ December 11th, 2009 § Filed under Product Reviews § Tagged equipment, Product Reviews § 2 Comments

It took me all of about 2 minutes to get hooked on this site.

To pretend that I am a one-woman show would be total fiction!  I have a support staff of literally hundreds of people who get my kids to soccer practice, home from preschool, provide me with meals when I am too harried to cook, and who just generally take care of my fragile psyche.  So, often I find myself in the position of sending little emails to these people trying to say Thank You or I Love You or just Don’t-Ever-Move-Cuz-I’ll-Snap-Without-You.  The problem with an email is it feels like, well, an email.  I would much rather send a card or a note or food or money to these folks who make my life actually work. 

Send Out Cards solves this problem for me.  It is an online card store and service where you can send a real card to those real people – and get this, it shows up in their mailbox (not their inbox).  

So, here is how it works.  You go to the site, pick out a card (they have 15,000  choices….that’s a lot), write your message, fill in an address, and VOILA off it goes to the recipient.  

Let me tell you, I am PICKY about my cards.  And these cards are cool.  I even found some with quotes by Shakespeare! They have a search window where you can enter the terms “camera” or “kids” or “ice cream” and up pop selections.  You can send your holiday cards, your kid’s birthday invitations, and on and on from this site.  Each card can be personalized and if you’d like – this is very cool – you can fill out some paperwork and they will create a font for you of your own handwriting.  You can also add gift cards (like to cool places like The Gap or Starbucks) or even presents to be included with your card.

So, I tried it out on my mom.  The part I wasn’t expecting was her reaction.  She called me to say that the card had made her day; that she was having one of those days when she just needed someone to care.  Now my mom and I talk a lot – she pretty much knows everything about me (too much on some days).  So, I didn’t really think she needed the affirmation that I was thinking about her – but, she did (of course she did, she is a MOM, afterall!).  Sold.  Sold. Sold.  So, I sent some more cards right away.  To people who I needed to thank or just love on a bit.  I may even send one to myself.

 Here are some other features:

• You pre-pay the account — like  a gift card to yourself.  That way you are not charging your credit card for each card you send.
• Barb, the senior manager, is funny, nice, and helpful.  To get started you will want to contact her and have her help you. She can walk you through the process.  Her phone number is on the site or you can email her at Barb.SOC@comcast.net.
• You can upload pictures and create your own cards, too!
• All cards are on 100% recycled paper — good environmental karma vibes!
• 200-300 new designs are added every MONTH.
• Requires Adobe Flash Player.
• You can select a future date (perfect for us scary type-A folks) for your card(s) to mail.
• You can set up a contact manager that will remind you of important dates.
• It takes about 4-5 days for your card to arrive.  I sent my card on a Friday afternoon around 3pm, and it arrive on the following Tuesday. Not bad at all — certainly better than not sending one in the first place.
• Send Out Cards made Inc. Magazine’s list of the top 500 small businesses in 2009
• This place prides itself on good service and treating people right.

Disclaimer:  I have no affiliation with Send Out Cards other than as a satisfied customer.