Where to Print Custom Plastic Cards for Your Small Business

Ordering custom plastic cards for the first time raises a practical question before design or price comes up. Small business owners deciding where to print custom plastic cards find local print shops, online marketplaces, resellers, and manufacturers that all offer plastic cards, yet the results vary widely. The wrong choice can leave a business with gift cards that fail to scan at the register, loyalty cards with faded logos, or a launch date pushed back while files go back and forth.

For most small businesses, the best place to print plastic gift, loyalty, and membership cards is a dedicated plastic card manufacturer that prints in-house and encodes cards to match the business’s POS system. Local print shops and general online printers can handle simple cards without encoding, while desktop card printers make sense for businesses that need small, ongoing batches of photo ID badges. The right choice depends on what the cards need to do once they leave the box.

Where to Print Custom Plastic Cards

Small businesses can print plastic cards through six main types of suppliers. The options differ in encoding ability, card quality, production control, and cost.

Plastic Card Manufacturers

Plastic card manufacturers specialize in PVC cards and key tags, and the strongest ones handle printing, encoding, and finishing under one roof. Ordering directly from the company that makes the cards removes the middle step, which keeps questions about barcodes, magnetic stripes, and card numbering with the team running production.

Manufacturers also tend to offer the widest range of card features, from Hi-Co and Lo-Co magnetic stripes to scratch-off panels, signature panels and card-and-key-tag combos. Hi-Co stripes are made for improved resistance to erasure, which suits cards swiped often, such as membership and access cards. For gift, loyalty and membership cards that must scan at checkout, a manufacturer is usually the most reliable route.

General Online Printers

Large online print companies list plastic cards alongside flyers, banners and paper business cards. Ordering is quick, but plastic cards are a small part of their range. Points to check before ordering from a general printer:

• Whether magnetic stripe encoding is available, or only a printed barcode
• Whether the cards are made in-house or sent to an outside partner
• Which card thicknesses and finishes are offered
• Whether the printer can match the card format your POS system requires

General printers can work well for plain branded cards. Cards that need encoding are better placed with a printer that treats plastic cards as its core work.

Local Print Shops

Local print shops offer face-to-face service and quick answers, which helps with paper business cards, menus, and signage. Many shops do not print on PVC in-house, and a plastic card order is often sent to an outside manufacturer at a markup.

Shops that do print plastic cards in-house may still lack magnetic stripe encoding equipment. Before ordering, ask the shop to show a printed sample and confirm who encodes the cards.

Resellers and Print Brokers

Resellers and brokers take card orders and pass them to a manufacturer for production. The arrangement can save time for businesses that already use a broker for other printed items, though the extra step may slow down answers on encoding, proofs, and reorders. When a broker is involved, ask which company prints the cards and who to contact if cards fail to scan.

Overseas Printers

Overseas printers sometimes offer lower unit prices on very large runs.

• Where they help: High-volume orders with flexible deadlines and simple artwork.
• Where they fall short: Longer shipping, possible customs delays, and slower fixes when an encoding or print problem appears after delivery.

For small businesses ordering a few hundred or a few thousand cards for a set launch date, domestic production is usually the safer choice.

In-House Desktop Card Printers

Desktop card printers let a business print plastic cards on site, which suits gyms, schools and offices that issue photo ID badges one at a time. The setup requires buying the printer, ribbons, and blank cards, along with staff time to design and print.

For larger batches of gift or loyalty cards with full-color designs on both sides, a professional printer usually delivers more consistent results and saves staff time. Many businesses use a desktop printer for ID badges and a manufacturer for customer-facing cards.

How to Choose Where to Print Your Cards

Six factors separate a printer that fits a small business from one that causes problems after delivery. Use them to compare suppliers before placing a first order.

POS System Compatibility

Gift, loyalty and discount cards must work with the checkout system the business already uses. Ask the printer which POS and gift card systems it supports, what card data the printer needs from your system, and whether the printer encodes magnetic stripes, barcodes, or both. Confirming compatibility before production saves the cost of reprinting cards that fail to scan.

Made in the USA Production

Domestic manufacturing usually shortens shipping times for US businesses and keeps communication with the production team simple. Ask whether the cards are printed in-house or sent to another facility, since in-house production gives the printer direct control over print quality and encoding. Products sold as “Made in USA” should meet a strict bar, where the final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the United States, and foreign content is minimal.

Card Features the Printer Offers

The right printer offers the features your card program needs without sending parts of the job elsewhere. Features to look for:

• Magnetic stripes for gift and membership cards read by POS systems
• Barcodes for fast scanning in loyalty programs
• Variable numbering for unique card numbers across the full order
• Signature panels for ID and membership cards
• Writable surfaces for staff notes or dates
• Key tags and card-and-key-tag combos for loyalty and membership programs
• Custom die cuts for promotional cards

Printers that cover all of these features let a business add a key tag or a magnetic stripe later without switching suppliers. That flexibility matters as a card program grows.

Order Minimums and Pricing

Card pricing depends on quantity, features, and card type.

• Factors that raise the price: magnetic stripe encoding, variable data such as unique numbers or names, rush production, and custom shapes.
• Factors that lower the price per card: larger quantities, which spread setup costs across more cards, and the standard CR80 card size.

Look for a printer that accepts small first orders and shows an instant online quote, letting a business test a new program before committing to a large run.

Production Time and Delivery

Production time usually starts after the proof is approved and payment is complete, and shipping time is added on top. Turnaround varies by printer, order size, and features, and rush options are not always available during busy periods. Confirm the current production time and delivery date in writing before planning a launch or event around the cards.

Design and Proofing Support

Small businesses without a designer on staff benefit from a printer that offers more than one way to prepare artwork. Common options include an online design tool, downloadable templates for existing artwork, and artwork upload. Clear digital proofs matter just as much, since the approved proof is the version that gets printed, including any typos or misplaced numbers.

If your cards need to scan at checkout, we can help you confirm the right setup before anything is printed. At Duracard, we print and encode custom plastic cards in-house at our Cottage Grove, Minnesota facility, and our cards support more than 200 POS and gift card systems. Call our team at (651) 702-9243 to talk through your system, card type, and quantity with a real person.

How To Order Custom Plastic Cards

Ordering from a plastic card printer follows five steps, from choosing the card type to approving the final proof.

Step 1: Choose Your Card Type

Gift cards suit revenue goals, loyalty cards support retention, membership cards handle access control, and business cards support networking.

Step 2: Select Features

Choose magnetic stripes, barcodes, variable numbering, signature panels, or custom shapes based on your needs.

Step 3: Create Your Design

Build the design with the printer’s online tool, start from a template, or upload existing artwork.

Step 4: Review Proofs

Digital proofs show the layout, text, and card numbers as they will print. Review carefully before approving.

Step 5: Receive and Deploy

Confirm the production time and delivery date with the printer, then plan staff training and in-store displays around the arrival date.

FAQs

Can a local print shop print plastic gift cards?

Yes, some local print shops can, though many send plastic card orders to an outside manufacturer. Shops that print in-house may not offer magnetic stripe encoding. Ask for a printed sample and confirm who encodes the cards before placing an order.

Is it cheaper to print plastic cards with a desktop card printer?

Usually not, for gift and loyalty card orders. Desktop printers require buying the printer, ribbons, and blank cards, plus staff time for printing. They make the most sense for small, ongoing runs of photo ID badges.

Will cards from an online printer work with my POS system?

Yes, as long as the printer encodes cards in the format your POS system requires. Share your system name and ask which systems the printer supports before ordering. Some printers add only a printed barcode and do not encode magnetic stripes.

What information does a printer need to start an order?

The printer needs the card type, quantity, features such as a barcode or magnetic stripe, and the name of your POS system. Artwork can be uploaded or created with the printer’s design tool. For encoded cards, the POS system may also supply a data file with card numbers.

Final Thoughts

Deciding where to print custom plastic cards comes down to what the cards need to do at the register and beyond. Local shops and general printers can handle simple branded cards, and desktop printers suit small batches of ID badges. For gift, loyalty, and membership cards that must scan reliably, a manufacturer that prints and encodes in-house gives a small business the most control over quality, compatibility, and timing.

That control is the reason we keep printing and encoding together at Duracard. Our team prints full-color PVC cards and key tags at our Cottage Grove, Minnesota facility and encodes barcodes and magnetic stripes in the format your POS system uses. You can build an order online, watch the price update as you add features, and review a digital proof before production starts.

Start your custom plastic card order with Duracard and give customers cards that carry your brand and work at checkout.