Making Impressive Biz Postcards

Hi all... I want to send out some nice looking postcards, not too flimsy, not too expensive, if possible. It seems the heaviest mass selling item is like the Digital Color Elite Gloss Cover Stock, 80 lbs., 8-1/2 x 11, White, 250 Sheets/PK Model: 3R11458 for about $10, glossy on both sides. But I hear from some reviews that the 216 g/m2 is really not that thick even though its "card stock" and some were looking for better but never stated what.

I am planning on printing 2 on each letter size and cutting them in half and sending them out that way. The Avery 8383 I have is way too thin (cant even find what the weight is on that anywhere, very annoying) and its too small... making the large 6"x11" is too big and will basically double my cost of making each one since I am planning on sending thousands.

ANY suggestions from your experience will be appreciated, this is frustrating because there are so many choices and I am not sure what is the high industry standard.

Thanks and happy holidays!!!

 

Average postcard thickness has gone up in recent years. It used to be that 12pt was common and I remember receiving many postcards that were in the 10pt range. Now however big postcard printers are offering 14pt and 16pt as standard.
12pt is around 250 gsm and will feed on most printers. 14pt is around 300 gsm and the limit of most digital printers and printers without a straight paper path may not feed this heavy well. 16pt is around 350 gsm

 

Thank you, thats very educational, I didnt even know paper weight/thickness went by pts because I never seen any listed that way... my old great Canon MP530 prints (claims) up to 273 gsm, so 12pt seems the sweet spot?

So where is the best place to get the 12pt paper, glossy on both or at least one? Do the local Staples, OfficeDepor/Max, Walmart have them?

 

You should mail any postcard proof as tests before you go whole hog. I had some thick postcard stock I printed on and it would get caught in the postal sorting machine and shred off an inch or so of the card. See how the paper stock holds up from mailing.