Rob ForeOnline since 1996Get the Free Report

Free tool · runs on your device · updated October 18, 2026

Holiday Card Cost Calculator

Put in how many cards you're sending and how long one takes you. The calculator prices three ways side by side: a box you sign and mail yourself, a print shop that addresses and stamps them, and cards sent online with the stamp included. It uses the 82-cent stamp and each company's posted prices, and shows the hours as well as the dollars.

Your figures never leave this page. The prices are built into the page, so the math happens on your device and nothing is sent or saved anywhere.

Each box starts with example numbers: 200 cards, a budget card, 4 minutes each. Swap in yours and the results change as you type.

Your list

Not sure? Add up the groups below.

Count your list by group

Total: 200

Doing it yourself, or with a print shop

Envelopes included. Add the stamp yourself: the calculator does.

Sign, write a line, stuff, seal, address, stamp. Time yourself on five cards.

$

Plus $0.50 a card to address and mail, plus the stamp. Every card carries the same message.

Online, and your time

Online, the card is printed, stamped and mailed for you. Your job is the line about each person.

$

Optional. Leave it at 0 to compare cash only. Try 25 and watch the answer change.

What your cards cost

Results appear here.

Try one real card first

I'm a SendOutCards consultant, so I earn a commission if you buy (affiliate link). Your price is the same. SendOutCards and Promptings are the same company. You can send one card free, postage included. Send it to someone in your own house, your spouse or one of your kids, with a real line about them, and watch them open it.

Send my free card, postage included

Write a card for one client

Four parts, in this order: their name, one thing you remember about working with them, a plain thank-you, and a wish. No pitch.

Ideas:

Inside the card

Or start from one of these lines

When to mail them in 2026

USPS dates are from the Postal Service's 2026 holiday shipping page. Suggested dates are my own buffers, marked as suggestions.

DateWhatSourceDays left
Friday, November 20Mail Thanksgiving cards
Suggested, to land before Thanksgiving		Suggested 
Thursday, November 26ThanksgivingCalendar 
Friday, December 4Hanukkah begins
USPS flags the early date		USPS 
Wednesday, December 9International First-Class send-by
Canada, Mexico and overseas		USPS 
Thursday, December 10Send online cards in by
Suggested: a week before the USPS date		Suggested 
Thursday, December 17First-Class send-by, lower 48
For delivery before December 25		USPS 
Friday, December 25ChristmasCalendar 

What 200 cards cost, worked out

With the example numbers, 200 cards cost $378 in a budget box you mail yourself, $713 with a premium foil card, $478 through a print shop that stamps and mails them, and $412 online with SendOutCards, using one Pro month ($112.00 with 50 cards, then $2.00 each).

The budget box is the cheapest way in cash. It's also the only way where you do every job by hand, and at 4 minutes a card that's 13 hours.

The full comparison, with the research on what makes a card worth keeping, is in Business Holiday Cards for Clients: What 200 Really Cost.

How the calculator works

  • Box: cards times the card price plus the 82-cent stamp. Your time is cards times your minutes per card.
  • Print shop: cards times the card price, plus $0.50 to address and mail, plus the stamp. It counts about an hour to prepare and upload your list.
  • Online: the cheapest SendOutCards way to send that many cards in one month, out of pay-as-you-go ($4 a card), the ACT, Casual, Advanced and Pro memberships, and the four Gratitude Packs. It counts half an hour to set up plus your minutes per personal line.
  • Your time is added in dollars only if you give your hour a value.

What it leaves out

  • Building the address list. Every way needs it, and it's usually the slowest part.
  • Gifts, international postage and heavier cards. SendOutCards adds $1.00 for an international card; the Postal Service charges more for heavy or odd-shaped envelopes.
  • Sales and shipping. Card shops run promotions all season, and the print-shop "starting at" price is the lowest quantity tier, so a small order can cost more.
  • Memberships after the first month. The online price assumes one month. Memberships bill monthly until you cancel, and unused cards roll over only to December 31.

Sources

Prices read October 18, 2026. They change, so check each company's page before you buy.