Christmas Cards: Where to Buy Online and In Store, and What They Really Cost
Christmas cards are printed greetings mailed during the holiday season, and buying them well comes down to format and timing. In late July you are far from the December rush, which is why this is the cheapest stretch of the year to shop: boxed sets left from last winter sit on clearance, and the photo printing services run summer promotions. Below you will find where to shop, what a mailed greeting really costs once envelopes and postage are counted, the mistakes to skip, and five picks.
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Christmas Cards Explained: What They Are and Who They Help
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 to answer his correspondence faster. The Greeting Card Association, the US trade group representing card publishers, still ranks the December holidays as the largest card-sending occasion on the calendar.
Three groups keep it alive: older relatives tracking an extended family by mail, parents sending a family photo, and small businesses thanking clients with something physical.
How to Choose Christmas Cards: Features That Matter
Pick the format first, then the paper, then the extras.
Format. Boxed sets give many copies of one design at the lowest cost per piece, which is why they carry long lists. Photo prints showcase a family portrait. A single premium greeting suits the two or three people who merit something unrepeatable.
Paper weight and finish. Cover stock is measured in pounds or gsm, and heavier stock resists curling and print bleed. Matte suits typography, glossy flatters photographs. Foil stamping presses metallic detail into the surface under heat; embossing raises it.
Envelopes. Confirm one envelope is included per piece. Square envelopes are the trap: the Postal Service applies a nonmachinable surcharge to square mail, so an elegant format quietly raises your postage bill.
Personalization and addressing. Custom printing lets you personalize the message, add a signature or a company logo, and choose a layout. The biggest time-saver is recipient addressing, where the printer puts each name and address on the envelope. Some services bundle it, some charge.
Design and style. Symbols run from a wreath or snowy landscape to nativity artwork on religious Christmas designs, plus minimalist type and cartoon humor. Choose the tone by recipient, not by whichever festive artwork looks best on the rack.
The real cost per piece. Postage is frequently the largest single line on a boxed order, larger than the paper itself, and the one number you cannot negotiate. Budget your postage stamps alongside the design.
| Format | Typical cost each | What drives the all-in cost |
|---|---|---|
| Boxed set, 20 to 50 count | Under $1 | Postage, usually more than the paper |
| Photo print, custom | $1 to $3 | Printing plus addressing |
| Single premium greeting | $3 to $8 | The card itself |
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 the surcharge for square or rigid envelopes.
- Add addressing if it costs extra, then compare against the next format up.
Run that math and a premium photo print often costs less than expected, since the postage is identical either way. Coordinating with your holiday wrapping paper helps.
Christmas Card Buying Mistakes to Skip
The most expensive mistake is paying December prices for a seasonal paper product. Four more cost buyers real money.
Buying at full price in season. Boxed designs reach shelves in October and get marked down hard the week after Christmas, the same clearance cycle that hits artificial Christmas trees. Buying a season ahead is the largest saving available here.
Ignoring the envelope shape. The United States Postal Service, the federal agency handling domestic mail, charges extra for square and oversized pieces, so confirm the shape before buying fifty.
Judging by the cover alone. Preview the inside layout. Plenty of beautiful covers hide a cramped interior with no room to write.
Missing the printer’s order-by date. Every photo service publishes a cutoff for delivery before December 25, and it sits earlier than most assume. Miss it and you pay expedited fees.
Skipping the digital proof. A custom run with a misspelled family name is usually not returnable, since it cannot be resold. Read every line twice, then approve.
Which Stores Carry Christmas Cards
Physical shelves are seasonal. Assortments arrive around October alongside the rest of the Christmas decorations, peak in early December, and are gone by mid-January. In late July there is nothing to browse in store, the trade-off for the clearance pricing that follows.
Hallmark Gold Crown Stores
Hallmark, the largest greeting card publisher in the United States, runs the deepest seasonal stationery aisle of any specialty chain. Designs are racked by recipient, from a card for dad to one for a granddaughter. Check their holiday collection online first.
Walmart
Walmart mixes national brands with cheaper store-label boxes and generally posts the lowest shelf price of the big chains. Browse their seasonal selection.
Target
Target leans modern and stylish, with a smaller but better-curated assortment than the volume chains. Browse their current inventory, or walk the seasonal aisle once it is set.
CVS and Walgreens
Both drugstore chains keep a stationery aisle year-round and widen it for the holidays. Selection is narrow and prices run above the big-box chains, so treat them as convenience rather than value. Walgreens also prints photo cards for in-store pickup.
Best Places to Order Christmas Cards Online
Online splits in two: marketplaces that ship a finished box of holiday cards, and print services that make something custom. The print services are in their quiet season now, when promotional pricing is most aggressive.
Amazon
Amazon, the largest online retailer, carries boxed sets, individual designs, and specialty formats like pop-up and religious Christmas artwork in one search. Sellers vary, so compare listings. Browse the full selection on Amazon #ad.
Shutterfly and Snapfish
Both are volume photo printers that discount steeply outside the holiday window. Shutterfly carries the wider template library; Snapfish competes on price. Watch either in July and August, when promotional codes are loosest.
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. Bulk pricing drops the per-piece cost as the run grows. Start an order at Vistaprint.
Minted and Hallmark.com
Minted sells designs from independent artists, with foil-pressed and letterpress finishes. Hallmark.com carries the full catalog, including designs the stores do not rack.
Two timing notes most guides skip. Corporate orders run earlier than personal ones, often placed in October, because approvals and logo proofs take weeks. And charity cards, sold by groups such as UNICEF and by hospital shops, usually state how much of the price reaches the cause.
Alternatives to Paper Christmas Cards
Paper is not the only way to send a holiday greeting, and in three situations something else is better.
- Digital greetings. Paperless Post and Canva build email or text designs that arrive instantly. Paperless Post has free and paid options, so check the price before committing to a large list. Best when recipients are overseas, or you are deciding on December 22.
- A photo print plus a letter. Pairing a photo card with a short year-in-review note says far more than a signature alone. Best in a year with actual news: a move, a baby, a graduation.
- New Year greetings. Mailing a New Year note in early January skips the December mail crush and still reaches loved ones inside the season, and those designs are cheap by then.
Skip physical mail altogether if nobody in your circle checks a mailbox. Paying postage on something that goes unread is habit, not tradition.
Our Top Christmas Card Picks
We compared five options on price per piece, paper quality, and design range.
| Pick | Best for | Rough price |
|---|---|---|
| Hallmark boxed holiday sets | Overall | $15 to $22 per box |
| American Greetings boxed sets | Budget | $8 to $14 per box |
| Minted custom prints | Photos | $1.50 to $3.00 each |
| Vistaprint holiday range | Business | Falls with volume |
| Gallery Collection boxed sets | Religious designs | $20 to $35 per box |
Best overall: Hallmark boxed holiday sets. Consistent stock, classic artwork, and a range of interior messages for different recipients. Around $15 to $22 per box. Check price on Amazon
Best budget: American Greetings boxed sets. Lighter stock than the Hallmark boxes, 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 recipient 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 needing 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 today, not in November. Check clearance stock and marketplace listings for last season’s boxed designs, where the deepest discounts on Christmas cards sit right now. Want a photo print? Watch the summer promotions from Shutterfly, Minted, and Vistaprint, then set a reminder for the October order-by dates. Pair the mailing with matching stationery and a few Christmas ornaments.
Common Questions About Christmas Cards
When is the cheapest time to buy?
The week after December 25 and the months that follow, when unsold seasonal stock is cleared. Paper stores indefinitely if kept flat and dry, so buying a year ahead is the only reliable way to pay well under shelf price. Photo printers discount in summer instead.
What does it cost to mail fifty cards?
Take the per-piece price, multiply by fifty, then add fifty current first-class stamps. On a budget boxed set the postage typically exceeds the cost of the paper, which is why upgrading the design costs less than people assume.
Are Christmas cards dying out?
Volume has fallen from its twentieth-century peak, but the photo segment has grown while generic boxed sets shrank. Expect fewer designs on shelves each year, more choice online, and specialty printers outlasting the seasonal racks.
What paper weight works best for photo prints?
Heavier cover stock, since thin paper curls and lets ink show through from the reverse. Most printers offer standard, premium, and thick tiers; the jump to premium is the one you feel. Glossy suits photographs, matte suits text over an image.
Do charity cards give much to the cause?
It varies widely, and reputable sellers publish the figure. Designs sold directly by a nonprofit generally return more than licensed artwork sold through a retailer, where the charity gets a royalty. If no figure appears, treat that silence as the answer.
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.
About This Guide
The wheretobuyguides.com editorial team checked retailer stock and pricing for this guide in July 2026. Price ranges are planning guidance, not quotes, and postage rates change, so confirm both before placing a large order.