Christmas cards are easiest to buy in two places: a store aisle for boxed sets you can sign tonight, and an online printer for photo cards made from your own picture. Decide the format first, because it sets the price, the deadline and the store. Boxed sets from Walmart, Target or Costco usually cost under a dollar apiece, while custom prints from Shutterfly, Minted or Vistaprint run about $1 to $3 each and need ordering weeks ahead. On a budget box the stamp often costs more than the card, so the postage details below matter as much as the shop.
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Boxed, Photo or Single: Which Kind of Holiday Card to Buy
A Christmas card is a greeting card, usually folded and paired with a matching envelope, mailed during the Christmas and holiday season to carry a short handwritten message. The custom began in London in 1843, when civil servant Henry Cole commissioned a printed design so he could answer his correspondence faster. The Greeting Card Association, the US trade group representing card publishers, still ranks the December holidays as the largest sending occasion on the calendar.
| Format | Typical cost each | Best for | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxed set, 20 to 50 count | Under $1 | Long, mixed lists | None, sign tonight |
| Photo print, custom | $1 to $3 | Family news and photos | Production plus shipping |
| Single premium card | $3 to $8 | One important recipient | None |
If your list runs past 30 names and nobody expects a family photo, a box wins on cost. If the photo is the point, order a print run and accept the deadline. Single cards make sense for the few people who get a long note: a grandparent, a mentor, a key client.
Three groups keep the tradition alive: older relatives tracking an extended family by post, parents sending a family photo to loved ones, and small businesses thanking clients with something physical.
Where to Buy Christmas Cards in Store
Physical shelves run on a calendar. Assortments typically arrive in October alongside the Christmas decorations and the holiday lights, peak in early December, and vanish by mid-January. Call ahead in early autumn rather than driving out.
Hallmark Gold Crown Stores
Hallmark, the largest greeting card publisher in the United States, runs the deepest holiday stationery aisle of any specialty chain, racked by relationship and by tone. Check the holiday collection online before the drive.
Walmart and Target
Walmart mixes national brands with cheaper store-label boxes and usually posts the lowest shelf price of the big chains; browse their holiday selection. Target leans modern, with a smaller, better-curated assortment. Check current inventory, or walk the seasonal aisle once it is set.
Warehouse, Grocery, Dollar and Craft Stores
Costco sells large boxed assortments at warehouse pricing, though it closed its photo centre, so treat it as a boxed-set stop only. Trader Joe’s runs a small holiday rack that sells out early, and Dollar Tree is cheapest per piece with thinner stock to match. Michaels and Hobby Lobby stock blank card stock and kits for making your own; Paper Source sits at the designer end, with letterpress and foil work. Museum and charity shops, the Smithsonian store among them, sell boxed art the mass chains never carry.
CVS and Walgreens Photo Counters
Both drugstore chains keep a stationery aisle year-round and widen it for the holidays. More useful is the photo counter: both print personalized photo prints for same-day or next-day store pickup, the fallback once every online order deadline has passed.
Ordering Photo Cards and Custom Prints Online
Online splits in two: marketplaces that ship a finished box, and print services that make something custom from your photo and text. The printers all follow the same flow. You select a template, upload a photo, personalize the greeting, approve a proof, then pay at checkout. The proof is where errors get caught, so read every name and date letter by letter before approving it; a typo on 75 printed pieces cannot be fixed with a pen.
Amazon
Amazon, the largest online retailer, carries boxed Christmas cards, individual designs and specialty formats like pop-up and nativity artwork in one search. Sellers vary, so compare listings and check the count before adding to the cart. Browse the full selection on Amazon #ad.
Photo Christmas Cards From Shutterfly and Snapfish
Both are high-volume photo printers built around family christmas cards, with large template libraries, multi-photo collage layouts and frequent promotional codes. Discounts generally run deepest outside the December peak, so ordering well ahead beats a last-minute order on price and on stress.
Minted and Etsy
Minted sells designs by independent artists, with foil-pressed and letterpress finishes on heavy stock. Etsy is where independent designers sell editable templates and short printed runs, the best source for unique cards outside the big catalogues. Read seller processing times, not just shipping estimates.
Vistaprint
Vistaprint is the practical pick for business christmas cards and high-volume personal orders. Upload artwork, adjust the layout and text, add a company logo, then go to checkout. Per-piece pricing generally falls as the run grows. Start an order at Vistaprint.
Publisher Sites, Papyrus and Charity Sellers
Hallmark.com carries the full catalogue, including designs the stores never rack. Papyrus closed its own shops, but the brand still turns up online and through other retailers, so treat it as a label rather than a place. Charity sellers such as UNICEF Market usually state how much of the price reaches the cause.
Size, Paper and Envelopes: The Details That Change the Bill
The card is rarely the expensive part. Size, shape and weight decide the postage, and postage is paid on every single piece.
Size. A 5×7 inch flat or folded card is the standard for photo and boxed designs, and it fits an A7 envelope (5 1/4 by 7 1/4 inches). Smaller 4.25×5.5 inch cards take the A2 size and suit short notes. Buying blanks separately? Match the A-code, not just the card size.
Paper weight and finish. Cover stock is measured in pounds or gsm, and heavier stock resists curling and print bleed. Matte suits typography and takes pen ink without smearing, which matters if you sign the printed side of a flat card. Glossy flatters photographs. Foil stamping presses metallic detail into the surface under heat; embossing raises it.
Envelopes and postage. Confirm one envelope is included per piece. The United States Postal Service, the federal agency handling domestic mail, applies letter prices only to rectangular paper pieces no more than 1/4 inch thick. Square or vertical pieces (taller than wide as addressed), and anything rigid, lumpy or closed with a clasp, string or button, count as nonmachinable and pay a surcharge on top of the stamp. One Forever stamp covers a letter up to 1 ounce, so a card with a photo insert or ribbon can need extra postage. Weigh one finished card on a kitchen scale before buying 50 stamps.
Personalization and addressing. Custom printing lets you personalize the message, add a signature or a company logo, and select a layout. The real time-saver is recipient addressing, where the printer puts each name and address on the outside. Some services bundle it, some charge extra.
Religious or secular design. Symbols run from a wreath or snowy landscape to nativity artwork on religious Christmas cards, plus minimalist type and cartoon humor. A mixed list is the usual reason buyers order two boxes.
Quantity breaks. Custom pricing steps down at set quantities, often 25, 50 and 100, so price the next tier up before checkout. The extra cards cost little and cover the names you forgot.
To price an order:
- Count your list honestly, then add five. Someone always gets forgotten.
- Multiply by the per-piece price of your format.
- Add current first-class postage per piece, plus any surcharge for square or rigid envelopes.
- Add addressing if it costs extra, then compare the total against the next format up.
Budget your postage stamps alongside the design, and coordinate with your holiday wrapping paper if the whole set should match.
When to Order, Send and Buy on Clearance
Order printed cards by early December at the latest, and mail domestic ones in the first half of December so they land before the 25th. Each printer posts its own order-by dates and USPS publishes holiday shipping dates every fall, so check both instead of reusing last year’s calendar. International cards need weeks more.
Buying at full price in season. Boxed designs typically reach shelves in October and are marked down after December 25, the same clearance cycle that hits artificial Christmas trees. Buying a season ahead is the largest saving here.
What to Write Inside a Holiday Card
A good message runs two or three sentences: a greeting, one line specific to the person, and a sign-off. The specific line is what people remember. A printed verse with nothing added reads as a form letter.
- Family and close friends: “Merry Christmas! Seeing the kids grow up in your photos was a highlight of the year. Can’t wait to visit in March.”
- Colleagues and clients: “Wishing you a restful holiday season and a strong new year. Thank you for a great year working together.”
- Religious: “May the blessing of this season fill your home with peace and joy.”
- Short and secular: “Warm wishes for a joyful holiday and a happy New Year.”
- Someone grieving: “Thinking of you this season. No need to write back.”
Sign with first names, not just a surname, when the recipient might not place you. For a mixed list, a secular holiday greeting such as “Season’s Greetings” fits everyone; keep scripture for people you know share the faith.
Digital Cards and Other Alternatives to Paper
Paper is not the only way to send a holiday greeting, and in four situations something else works better.
- Digital greetings. Paperless Post and Canva build email or text designs that arrive instantly, with free and paid tiers. Best when recipients are overseas, or when you are still deciding on December 22.
- A photo print plus a letter. One print with a short year-in-review note says more than a signature alone. Best in a year with actual news: a move, a baby, a graduation.
- A card that carries a gift. Gift card holders are folded cards with a slot for a store card, so the greeting and the present travel together. Pair one with an Amazon gift card for a teacher, or tuck a note into the office swap alongside white elephant gifts.
- New Year greetings. A festive New Year note mailed in early January skips the December crush and still lands inside the season, and those designs are cheap by then.
Five Picks by Budget and Purpose
These five options are judged on price per piece, paper quality and design range. Price ranges are typical and move with promotions.
Best overall: Hallmark boxed holiday sets. Consistent stock, classic artwork and a range of interior messages. Around $15 to $22 per box. Check price on Amazon
Best budget: American Greetings boxed sets. Lighter stock than the boxes above, and the lowest cost per piece among mainstream brands. Usually $8 to $14 per box. Check price on Amazon
Best for photos: Minted custom prints. Artist-designed templates, heavy stock and finishes including foil. Roughly $1.50 to $3.00 each. Confirm whether addressing is included. Check price on Amazon
Best for personalization: Vistaprint holiday range. Deep control over text, images and layout, and the obvious choice for a business list that needs a logo on every piece. Check price on Amazon
Best religious option: Gallery Collection boxed sets. Nativity and scripture artwork on heavier stock, often with foil accents. Around $20 to $35 per box. Check price on Amazon
Start with the format, not the store. Want a photo print? Price a proof now and order by early December at the latest. If a box will do, watch post-holiday clearance and buy next year’s stock then. Either way, count your list, weigh one finished card, and confirm whether addressing is included before you buy Christmas cards you will be hand-writing at midnight.
Common Questions About Christmas Cards
When do printers stop taking holiday orders?
Cutoffs vary by service and shipping speed, and each printer posts its own dates. Ordering by early December at the latest is the safe general rule, earlier for addressed mail or a logo proof. After that you pay rush fees.
When is the cheapest time to buy?
The week after December 25 and the months that follow, when unsold seasonal stock is cleared. Paper keeps for years if stored flat and dry, so buying a year ahead is the only reliable way to pay well under shelf price.
Do Christmas cards need extra postage?
Only when the piece is over 1 ounce or nonmachinable. A standard 5×7 card in a paper envelope goes with one Forever stamp. Square or vertical shapes, rigid inserts and lumpy ribbon add a nonmachinable surcharge, and each ounce past the first costs extra.
Do Christmas cards need a return address?
Not for delivery, but without one an undeliverable envelope cannot come back to you. A return address is also how you learn someone has moved, the cheapest way to clean a mailing list for next year.
Are Christmas cards recyclable?
Plain paper ones usually go in with your regular paper stream. Remove foil, glitter, ribbon and plastic coating first, because those contaminate the batch. Glossy or laminated photo prints are often rejected outright, so recycled uncoated stock is the greener choice.
About This Guide
Price ranges on this page are planning guidance, not quotes, and postage rates change, so confirm both before placing a large order. Size and surcharge rules follow the USPS letter guidelines. Pair the cards with matching stationery and a few Christmas ornaments.