To wonder where all the nice cheap birthday cards are?

[puglife15]

Went to look for a card the other day - 90% of them were hideous/unfunny and even the really small half size ones were £2.50. most of them were £3+ for a bit of mass produced card with a picture on.

Someone must be making lovely cards for under 2 quid a pop, surely?! £3-£4 for a bog standard card is insane.

please no one say Card Factory

I always get mine from the charity shop. Usually Cancer Research UK or Scope. Otherwise my local post office, though they can sometimes be a bit old-fashioned looking. Probably I am the only person to buy cards there for years.

Card Factory have seriously upped their game in the last year or two. They still sell a proportion naff ones, but they also do a lot of cards for less than a quid that wouldn't look out of place in Paperchase for three or four times the price. As a PP said, they also do lots of more unusual 'to' cards ('To a lovely daughter and daughter-in-law' or 'To my stepsister and her husband' type thing) which I find really refreshing and surprising.

Also agree that M&S and Next do some nice ones for £1-£1.50.

Some of the Card Factory children's cheap birthday cards are really, really nice, some unusual patterns, lovely bight colours, quite reminiscent of paperchase sometimes. You have to wade through the dross still to get to them but i reckon they've got a new designer or supplier in there who's doing some really nice cards.

I get lovely ones from the charity shops. Wilkinson ones are also nice.

I love cards!

Finding the right card for someone is one of my little pleasures, I'm by no means well off, I really struggle most of the time, but I buy the majority of my cards at Clintons

I detest Card Factory, the pictures are always hideous and the soppy verses even worse

The "Simply Clintons" range is great, and only £1 each

If the card is for a more special occasion or for either of my DDs birthdays then I'll happily pay £4 or more, I'll just go without something myself

I do sometimes buy cards from Asda, Tesco or WH Smith, but I never buy from anywhere else

The problem with Card Factory is that for adults cards you can pretty much guarantee that the recipient will already have received the same one from the 10% of decent cards in there. I agree they're great for kids' cards but I just want to look like I've made a bit more effort i guess.

Tesco sell cheap ones 49p. I have bought several for DD to take to parties she has had 7 already this year. They are great quality.

M&S had a great selection of £1 cards when I was in there earlier.

Also, card factory when they have 7 for £1. They should have them in now that were not close to an occasion (Mother's Day/ Easter etc)

I second whistle fish. They have everything wedding, chistening, Mother's Day, Father's Day, kids age cards etc. I stock up for the year - get 30 at a time and it works out at about a £1 a card. They are gorgeous naice gift shop type cards.

Phoenix trading are gorgeous and about £1.40 each if you buy 10. Lovely advent calendars, hunting and jigsaw too!

Card Factory or Poundshop or Asda.

Do you have any outlet villages near you? My local one has a Hallmark as well as an M&S with loads of great cards for most occasions and all for a lot less than on the highstreet.
Also TK Maxx have some really good ones, its a bit hit and miss if you're looking for something in particular but I stock up and then choose from my collection rather than going out in a panic and having to pay £5 for the only reasonable card!

Next. 4 for 3 quid

Some great ideas here.

Card Factory is great for general birthdays, but I spend more on family. You coukd always make your own if you want to make them more special than 99p jobby

I get mine from chairty shops, they all have a stand of them and those near me are all 99p, same at the local chemist, which I keep thinking will suddenly realise they are such a bargain and start charging more, like they did with their wrapping paper!
Every so often I also buy a random selection of £1 cards from these people
www.greetingscards.co.uk
who have speedy postage and donate a cut of their profits to charity (you can pick a charity from their list). Then I always have cards in case of a cardy-event

Tiger are two for a pound.

agree there are actually some nice ones in home bargains - not loads but at least four or five generic happy birthday ones, one or two congratulations etc and proper cheap e.g. 59p max. Other than that wilkos, or m&s/next for about £1/£1.50. Or if you have a what!store near you they have loads of cheaper cards.

Over the last 20 years, starting I think with Camden Graphics, cards have gone more up market and expensive. As has buying a cup of coffee, for example. Customers have paid and so it is the nature of the market in greetings cards.

Not much help I know, but reality.

Charity shops have the best! Barnardos sells really nice quality cards and for only 89p each. Great for stocking up for the year