Printing Services Review: PsPrint
Overall Service Rating
Printing Services Review: 123Print
Overall Service Rating
Snapshot
PsPrint
For more than 23 years PsPrint has been serving customers. Originally a small, one room press shop, based in Oakland, California they now have expanded to Bethlehem, PA, and Des Plaines, IL. They are an online printing company using state-of-the-art printers and equipment to produce quality prints at competitive prices. PS print offers a full range of printing services and has exceptional customer service. Large orders are run on their offset printers but smaller orders can be printed digitally. Even though Print Compared has them ranked lower than some of the other printers they still made the top ten list and stand out among the thousands of other printer sites.
Snapshot
123Print
123Print is located in Waynesboro, PA. Overall they are a good online printing service. They are fast with a great selection of templates, good customer service, a nice selection of products with some of the cheapest prices in the industry.
How They Shine:
Psprint has a simple and easy to use ordering process with an experienced customer service team to assist you as well as in-house graphic designers to provide you with file assistance or design questions.
As you browser customer review sites there are many comments from happy customers and mention PsPrint’s great customer service. Here is a comment typical of happy customers, “Richel is an amazing and creative graphic designer that also demonstrates the best customer service skills I have ever seen. She is patient, kind and quick to respond with an answer to your questions. The standard turnaround is 3-4 days, she had my work back to me by the end of the first day… ”
PsPrint.com features a wide selection of pre-made templates and a downloadable blank guide, making it stand out among other print companies for well-designed templates. PsPrint has a huge selection of paper choices. They offer different weights and grades, as well as a good selection of finishes such as matte and gloss finishing and UV or aqueous coatings. PsPrint also offers some environmentally friendly options for printing. They also do a nice job of color matching.
Points for Consideration:
Most of the criticisms of PsPrint have been around the ordering system. Reports of trouble with the online software have frustrated some but the most frustrating thing is you must pay before you upload and proof your designs. Most people want to proof and be satisfied with an order before they pay.
Some of the things that would improve the service is to fix the sometimes buggy software and add more powerful online design tools offered by other printing sites. PsPrint’s interactive designer doesn’t give you as much control as you have on other online services but the simple tools they do have are easy to use.
While their prices are competitive they are on the high side when compared to many of the other online printers and the quality of their product isn’t markedly superior to justify the price increase. However, they do advertise price matching.
The Details:
Ordering & Setup:
PsPrint offers a great selection of printing services including letterhead, flyers, ticket printing, brochure, calendars, posters, business cards, banners, postcards and stickers. One special feature you may not find elsewhere is their unique die-cut flyers, die-cut stickers and foil stamping. If you need signs and banners, PsPrint has posters up to 24 x 36 inches, banners up to 8 x 100 feet, and vinyl stickers up to 12.5 x 17 feet. One thing that sets PsPrint apart is their great selection of premade design templates. The templates are well designed and they have a huge selection.
Ordering usually is easy and smooth, however, as we mention before, you must pay before being able to upload files and view the artwork. To order choose a product, pay, upload your files, preview and approve. PsPrint accepts EPS, JPG, PS, PSD, TIF, and PDF files for uploading, and has no file size restrictions, which is a bonus. There aren’t any flashy features but the tools are relatively easy to use with reports of an occasionally glitch.
PsPrint has local prepress department who work 24/7 to review all file submissions before going to press. The staff is friendly and dedicated to ensuring the files are set up correctly and you can call them if you need help or have questions.
Delivery, Shipping & Pickup:
PsPrint offers a number of shipping options and charges vary depending on the options you choose. They use UPS and PsPrint backs shipping speed and delivery with a 99.5% On Time Delivery Guarantee. They also offer Rush Delivery, Split Mailing, and International Mailing shipping options. PsPrint has good fulfillment and deliver times and they package products securely in padded, sturdy containers. Local customers can pick up orders locally.
Customer Service:
PsPrint has email, phone support and online help resources but no chat help. They have a friendly, competent customer service team to assist you as well as in-house graphic designers to provide you with file assistance or design questions. Customer service is a place this company shines.
Midwest: Des Plaines, IL 60018 Pick up is available Monday through Friday, 7:00 A.M.— 6:00 P.M. CST (6:00 A.M.— 5:00 P.M. EST), except holidays.
East Coast: Bethlehem, PA 1 Pick up is available Monday through Friday, 7:00 A.M.— 7:00 P.M. EST, except holidays.
West Coast: San Francisco: Pick up is available Monday through Thursday, 7:00 A.M.— 6:00 P.M. PST, except holidays; Friday, 7:00 A.M.— 8:00 P.M. PST, except holidays; Saturday, 11:00 A.M.— 2:00 P.M. PST, except holidays
Business Practices:
While PsPrint has higher prices than other online print services they will match prices. To get a price match you need to email a copy of the advertisement or screen shot of the page with a lower price to guarantee@psprint.com within 7 days of placing your order. Once the price is confirmed and they verify the printing and finishing options are the same, they will credit you the difference.
PsPrint is committed to customer satisfaction, and they try to get your order right by ensuring proper cutting, accurate color reproduction, and excellent printing quality. PsPrint has a100% customer satisfaction guarantee with some stipulations. In some cases, they may refund the full price of the product(s) in question, excluding shipping, postage and processing costs. However, certain circumstances are not covered by this guarantee. Here are some (but not all) of the things not covered:
- Errors made by the customer
- Inferior quality or low-resolution of uploaded images
- Duplicate orders by the customer
- Incorrect file layout for folding, scoring, hole drilling, die cutting or other custom services
- The full refund guarantee does not apply to shipping claims
There is a Maximum refund per order or customer is $2500. The only remedy for problems with orders over $2500 is reprinting of the order to correct product defects.
How They Shine:
123Print shines with their fast turnarounds. The delivery speeds are some of the fastest in the industry making them a top choice for quick orders.
The business card finishes such as matte and glossy coating, and rounded corners are part of the good selection of products and services they offer. And they get high marks for low prices. Their low prices and low minimum quantity requirements make them standout among the other online printing services as having some of the lowest total costs and cheapest per card costs.
Points for Consideration:
One place 123Print can improve is with the quality of their work. While they do have many satisfied customers, many reviewers have commented on flimsy card stock, sloppy cuts, and color matching accuracy. This is a quote for an online review, “”I ordered 200 business cards from 123print for my catering business…the black cards were dark GREEN! The paper was cheap. The edges looked as if they were cut by hand.” If paper quality is a concern you may consider upgrading to their higher quality papers and talk to customer service is color matching is a concern.
123Print online printing service has a great selection of pre-made design templates for marketing materials such as business cards plus do-it-yourself design tools. However, some customers have had frustrating experience with the online design system finding it confusing and awkward to use.
The Details:
Ordering & Setup:
123Print has online tools for their customers. Once you create an account, you can save designs, reorder with one click, track your orders and more. You can save your designs to order in the future. It even has an auto-save if you leave and come back you can pick up where you left off.
123Print is able to print full-color and double-sided business cards. You can upgrade to several high-quality paper options, including linen and recycled paper. The large selection of templates makes it easy to find a design that fits your project and 123Print’s templates are customizable. You can also mix and match templates and order up to four different card patterns in a single box.
Delivery, Shipping & Pickup:
At 123 Print most orders are printed within 24 hours and are shipped via UPS. While they tell customers to plan for seven to 10 days for processing and delivery, it is not uncommon to receive products within four to five days of submitting an order. Some of their products qualify for 2nd and 3rd day guaranteed delivery. 123Print only ships products within the United States.
Customer Service:
123 Prints customer service does a good job of helping customers through the design process if they need assistance. Or you can also find answers on their FAQs page, through instant chat, email or phone.
Business Practices:
There are no returns on personalized products. As for guarantee’s if something isn’t right you must send an email within 30 days of the receipt of your order to start a claim. Some things 123Print will not guarantee. This includes spelling and other customer errors, low-quality or low-resolution uploaded images or designs, mistakes in ordering and delays in shipping.
123Print promises honesty with upfront pricing, no tricks or hidden charges. The only thing you’ll pay extra for are upgrades to paper, increases in quantity or when you choose additional printing and finishing options—and you will see those costs before you select them on the website.