Digital vs Paper Christmas Cards: The Real Cost in Time, Money and Carbon
For a business sending 200 Christmas cards, paper cards cost at least £182 in second-class postage alone, take a full working day or more to write and address, and produce around 28kg of CO2e. Digital Christmas cards remove the postage, most of the admin and the paper.
Paper cards still have their place. But if you're sending to a whole team or client list, it's worth knowing what they really cost.
The Cost: Postage adds up fast
Since 7 April 2026, a second-class stamp costs 91p and a first-class stamp costs £1.80. That's before the cards, envelopes, printing and any international postage.
| 50 cards | 200 cards | 1,000 cards |
Second-class stamps (91p) | £45.50 | £182 | £910 |
First-class stamps (£1.80) | £90 | £360 | £1,800 |
With digital cards, there's no postage at all, and the cost per card drops the more you send. Thankbox Packs make larger volumes cheaper.
The Time: The hidden cost of December
Say each card takes three minutes to write, address, seal and stamp. For 200 cards, that's 10 hours, before anyone has chased missing addresses, collected signatures from around the office or queued at the post office.
Then there are the dates. Paper cards are at the mercy of Royal Mail's last posting dates, and international cards need to go even earlier. Digital cards can be created in November and scheduled for the exact day you want. Here's our guide to last posting dates vs scheduled delivery.
The Carbon: Most of it is in the journey
A typical paper greeting card is estimated to produce around 140g of CO2e. Much of that comes from delivering it, not just making it.
Cards sent | Estimated CO2e (paper) |
50 | 7kg |
200 | 28kg |
1,000 | 140kg |
Digital cards aren't zero-carbon, since servers and devices use energy too, but they skip the paper, printing, envelopes, sorting and delivery vans. Thankbox also plants a tree for every 10 Thankboxes sold.
Does a digital card feel as personal?
This is the big worry, and it's fair. A generic e-greeting blasted to a mailing list won't feel special. A digital card can actually hold more than paper, though. Each person's card can carry their name, messages, photos, GIFs and even videos, something a paper card can't do.
Choose from hundreds of festive card designs or upload your own branded artwork, so it still looks like it came from you.
When paper still makes sense
A handful of VIP clients who'd value something to put on the shelf.
Recipients who rarely check email.
A small team where you'll hand them out in person.
For everyone else, especially large or international lists, digital is quicker, cheaper and lighter on the planet.
Switching to digital this Christmas
With Thankbox you create one card, upload your recipient list as a CSV and create an individual card for everyone, each personalised and branded. Schedule them all and December's biggest admin job is done. Find out how to send bulk Christmas eCards.
Start your bulk Christmas cards
This year, be the person who sorted Christmas in October. One card, one CSV upload, and hundreds of personalised Thankboxes scheduled and done.
