There's no such thing as a price for "some postcards" — not yet, anyway. A print order moves through the same rough path every time: quote, file, proof, press, delivery. The price only shows up once the specs do.
What this means for your order: the fastest way through the process isn't rushing the first call — it's coming in with your specs ready (size, quantity, paper, deadline, and whether it's a mailer). That's what turns "how much is it to print some postcards?" into an actual number.
Why can't I just get a price?
Ask a print shop "how much is it to print some postcards?" and you'll get something like "how long is a piece of string?" back. It's not a dodge — that question genuinely has no answerable price yet, because nothing about the job is specified. A postcard could be 500 pieces or 50,000. It could be one-sided or two. It could be headed to a mailbox or a stack on a counter.
So before anyone can quote you, they need to ask. A typical intake sounds something like this: Are you doing this as a mailer, or is it for a regular event? Do you have a mailing list? Do you have a size in mind? Do you already have a file ready to go? When do you need these by — is it a rush? Have you thought about what paper you want it on?
That's not a script every shop follows word for word, but it's the shape of it: spec first, price second. The more of those answers you can bring on your own, the faster the quote comes back.
What happens after I get a price and say yes?
Once you've agreed to the job, your file goes through a check — does it match the size and setup the job needs? Then you'll typically see a proof: a preview of what's about to print, either on screen (a soft proof) or as an actual printed sample (a hard proof), depending on the job and the shop.
The proof step exists because files don't always survive the trip unchanged. A font can get substituted or an image can get swapped — and the proof is your chance to catch that before it's committed to paper.
After you approve the proof, the job goes to press, then through any finishing it needs (cutting, folding, that kind of thing), and then it ships or you pick it up.
What if my job is a mailer?
If your postcard, letter, or flyer is going into the mail, there's an extra layer worth thinking about early, not late. Postage and address-format rules can shape the design itself — where the address has to sit, what size the piece needs to be, how much room the design can actually use. Sometimes the postage side of a mailer costs more than the printing itself, which catches people off guard if nobody mentioned it up front.
The failure mode here is common: someone designs a great-looking postcard that doesn't account for postal formatting requirements, and then the whole design has to get reworked after the fact. If you know it's a mailer, say so at the start — it changes what the file needs to look like from the very first draft.
What this article can't tell you
Every shop's exact intake questions, proofing method, and turnaround steps are a little different — this is the common shape of the process, not a universal script. Your shop's specific requirements (file formats accepted, proof turnaround time) are worth confirming directly with whoever's printing your job.
Ready to see this in action? Get a quote and you'll get asked exactly the kind of questions this article walks through — so the price you get back is a real one.
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