Do you have a printer in town? If yes that' s who I would check first. 1/ I like to spend my money locally, and 2/ you never know when you're going to need a rush job that only a local could deliver so it's nice to have a relationship.
I was thinking of doing them through Millers Professional Imaging. I have an account with them and I've had marketing cards done with them. Good prices and overnight shipping. However, I CAN'T FIGURE OUT THEIR DANG PROGRAM. My files are high-res PDFs and their upload area isn't even detecting them on my desktop (where I have them saved, just to make things super easy). I paid a friend of mine who is an awesome graphic designer to create them and don't want to have to ask him for JPGs. You would think PDFs would work, right?? Millers also freaks me out because they have the program called "Quick Press" - you basically place your order in like 2 or 3 clicks. VERY easy to make a mistake. Last time, I didn't have my credit card on file and had to pay an extra $7.50 for COD. Ugh.
I've used premiumcards.net . They have a lot of different sizes and shapes to choose from. If there's one thing that'll make your card stand-out, it's printing it in a size or shape that is not 2x3".
I really like www.overnightprints.com . They have the thickest stock. I get 1000 at a time. Glossy on the front and some b&w printing on the back....about $60 delivered.
Only if you print it at a size larger than 2x3". Mine are 2x2", folded (open they're 4x2"). Still fit nicely in a business card holder or wallet, and have a just a little extra. Printing larger than 2x3" is of course a big no-no. Oh, and speaking of all these business cards, Photojojo had a little article about them a few months back, here. Creating a card that really reflects what you do, not just in graphic design but also the form of it, will do wonders for impact. True for any profession, really. It's most important for visual artists though, given that, well, we're supposed to make things look good. If your business card is bland, that blandness will be associated with you. Meep.
I 2nd ONP, but only if your partient. The quality is great, but ive had to send 2 orders back, out of 3, because the post cards were bent, and the business cards had a streak on them. The prices are good, when they offer a good "special". The prices use to be good all the time before they changed their pricing structure. I wish I bought more post cards when they had the "50 postcards free" just pay shipping. Its not a bad idea to keep some postcard designs ready for when they offer deals like that. I was reading through rangefinder magazine, and some lab offers 500 free business cards with every order. Their prices were higher than WHCC so I didnt memorize the name. But its probably worth while once in a while to send an order to them and get the cards.
I print my own on the Avery glossy photo paper. That way you can change the design anytime, and print exactly what you need. It's pretty easy. I've been doing this for years. And get compliments on my cards
