How Much Does it Cost to Print a Custom Deck of Cards? (2024)

Custom card decks are a fun and creative way to engage with your audience. Like brochures, flyers, and marketing booklets, card decks can advertise your brand. They make amazing promotional items that last a long time. Since playing cards are used in everyday life, most people will hang on to your promotional card decks for years. This means that your audience will think about your brand each time they play poker or go fish.

Card decks come in many forms, including the classic playing cards used for games, flashcards, and tarot cards. Regardless of the differences between these different card types, they are all affected by similar cost factors. Let’s explore how much custom card decks cost to print.

There are a few key factors that greatly affect the cost of your custom card decks. We’ve broken them down below. It’s important to understand how these factors affect each other so that you can create card decks that fit within any budget.

Card Size

Card size has one of the largest impacts on the total costs of your custom decks. Larger cards will use more material and time to create, so they are usually more expensive. Standard playing cards are 2.5 by 3.5 inches. Cards of this size will cost less to produce than larger cards like tarot cards (typically 2.75 by 4.75 inches).

Learn more: What are Standard Playing Card Dimensions?

Paper Type and Ink

The type of paper you choose to create your cards will also affect the final cost. Playing cards need to hold up to frequent handling. Because of this, we recommend picking a thicker cover stock. Because thicker paper uses more material to create, it is slightly more expensive than thin text stocks. Choosing cover stocks will ensure a durable card that can survive shuffling, dealing, and rough handling. Cover stocks are also used to create hang tags, greeting cards, paperback book covers, and pocket folders.

Learn more: The Complete Guide to Paper Weight

The type of ink you choose to print with will also affect the total cost. Printing in full color is the most popular choice because it creates beautiful, vibrant colored cards. However, playing cards can also be printed in black ink only. Printing with only black ink will reduce the printing cost because it requires less ink.

Card Count

The more cards you have in your card deck, the more each deck will cost. Higher card counts require more materials and time to produce, so they will be more expensive. Standard playing card decks have 52 cards. Tarot decks and flashcard decks typically have more cards and are therefore more expensive.

Quantity of Decks

The quantity of decks ordered is the factor that most drastically affects your order price. Ordering a higher quantity will cost more overall, but don’t forget that Greenerprinter offers discounts on bulk orders. This means that as the number of card decks you order increases, the amount you pay per deck decreases. These price breaks are built into our website’s online calculators, so you can be sure that you’re always getting the best price possible. Ordering in bulk instead of placing multiple small orders throughout the year can save you lots of money.

Turn Around Speed

Turn around speed can also affect how much your custom cards cost. The standard turnaround time for playing cards is 5 days. Choosing Express or Urgent speeds will add a rush fee to your order. If you have extra time, choosing the Wait and Save option will give you a discount. It pays to order ahead!

Card Boxes

The final factor to consider is the cost of custom card boxes for your decks. Custom card boxes can be ordered separately to match your specific decks. It is always a good idea to create custom boxes to protect, store, and transport your cards. Without a box, it is easy to lose or damage cards before they ever reach your audience.

Standard playing card boxes are 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches x .81 inches. Boxes can be made with a variety of closure styles. The most common is a flip lid box, but crash lock and pull out boxes are also available. Larger card decks (by size or card count) will require larger card boxes. Large card boxes will be more expensive because they require more time and material to create.

The cost of printing custom card decks with vary greatly based on the factors above. Once you have the specifics of your project, you can use our online calculators to get an instant estimate based on the information you entered. This will give you a good idea of the cost and make ordering easy.

On a budget? Try these tips to reduce your playing card printing costs:

• Create smaller cards.
• Use lightweight paper and black ink only.
• Create fewer cards in each deck.
• Order card decks in bulk to get discounts.
• Choose a slower turnaround speed.

When you’re ready to print your custom deck of cards, Greenerprinter is ready to help. We offer full-service printing for all types of custom paper products, including calendars, business cards, pamphlets, postcards, and card decks. We offer a variety of customization options. You get to pick the paper type, shape, size, quantity, finishing, and more. You have total control over the final product. Ready to print your custom card decks?

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