Paper or digital?
Ecards or paper cards: which to send, and when
We make animated cards, so you might expect us to say paper is finished. It is not. A card on the mantelpiece does things a card on a phone cannot, and the other way round. Here is how we would choose.
| What matters | An animated card from us | A paper card in the post |
|---|---|---|
| When it arrives | On the day and around the hour you choose, or the moment you paste the link | When the post does |
| Left it late? | Still on time at ten to midnight | Too late, unless you can hand it over |
| Abroad | Arrives straight away, anywhere in the world | Days or weeks |
| What you need | Their mobile number or email address | Their postal address and a stamp |
| Their name | Inside the animation | Written by you on the envelope |
| Your handwriting | A handwriting style, not your own hand | Really yours, which people treasure |
| On the mantelpiece | No. It lives on their phone | Yes, for weeks |
| Kept | Online for 12 months | In a drawer for as long as they like |
| You know it arrived | Yes: you see when it was opened | Only if they tell you |
| A whole list at once | Up to 50 people in one go with a Membership | An evening with a pen and an address book |
| Cost | £2.99 a card, or less in a pack or with a Membership | The card, plus the stamp |
When paper is the better card
- A bereavement, most of the time
- A sympathy card is often kept, and a posted card is still the traditional choice. If you have only just heard, send a message today and post a card as well.
- A wedding
- Couples keep their wedding cards. Put a paper one in with the present.
- Someone who is not on a smartphone
- If they do not use WhatsApp or email, a card through the door is the one that will reach them.
- A big birthday they will want to display
- An eightieth deserves a mantelpiece. Send both if you like: ours on the morning, the paper one to stand up all week.
- When money or a voucher goes inside
- A card you can tuck something into has to be made of card.
- Small children
- Post with their name on it is a thrill. A card on a parent's phone is not quite the same.
When an animated card wins
- You have left it late
- It is the day itself and the post has gone. A card that arrives in the next minute is better than one that arrives on Thursday.
- They live abroad
- No customs, no three-week wait, no wondering whether it got there.
- You do not have their address
- You have their number. That is all a link needs.
- The Christmas list
- Forty people, one evening, no stamps. Each of them sees their own name in the card.
- A quick thank you
- Said the same day, while it still means something.
- You want to know it landed
- You can see when it was opened, and they can thank you with one tap.
Or do both
The card on the day says "I remembered". The one on the mantelpiece says it all week.
You can send an animated card to arrive first thing on the morning, and post a paper one when you next pass a shop. Nobody minds getting two.
What matters far more than paper or pixels is what you write inside. If that is the hard part, our wording guides have 737 messages to start from, for everything from a birthday to a sympathy card.
What ours is, exactly
- An animated paper pop-up that opens in the browser on their phone, with their name inside the scene.
- Sent by a link you paste into WhatsApp, or by an email from us on the day and hour you choose.
- £2.99 a card, £9.99 for 5, or £24.99 a year for as many as you like. Making and previewing one costs nothing.
- Not printed and not posted. We do not sell paper cards at all.
Left it late? You are still on time
Pick a card now and it can be on their phone in the next few minutes.
Pick a cardSending is £2.99 a card, £9.99 for 5, or £24.99 a year.