Hallmark Flowers

Pros:  quality that only Hallmark can deliver; free service; easy to use

Cons:  limited selection in the eCard department

The Bottom Line:  is that Hallmark Cards offers high quality eCards that are quick and easy to send. Their online cards and gifts are superior to other greeting sites.

Full review
The Hallmark name is one that is familiar to just about anyone that has ever purchased a greeting card or visited a major shopping center. Their retail stores carry some of the most impressive lines of collectibles, gifts, stationary, wedding items, and of course greeting cards.

The Hallmark eCards are the same high quality products we have grown to expect from this greeting card company. Ecards are the perfect choice when you care enough to send the very best but simply don't have the time to run to the store. In today's fast paced society, it is some times too difficult to break away from your busy day to pour through racks of cards, looking for the perfect greeting. Hallmark has simplified the process by offering their greetings, collectibles, and other gifts online.

Paper Greetings

When you visit the Hallmark site at www.hallmark.com, you are offered the option to select from print cards or ecards. If you just want to send a quickie birthday greeting, are pinched for time, or want to make your email message more attractive then choose the ecards. If time allows, I would recommend selecting one of their print cards for the occasion.

The paper greetings are available for business and personal use. Simply choose which category you would like to select from. Remember when sending paper greetings to note the time required for the recipient to receive them. For example, when sending a greeting to Aunt Susie the card will be mailed the day after you place the order so she should receive it in 2-3 days depending on the speed of the postal carrier.

The business paper greetings take an average of three days to process prior to being shipped. The selection ranges from simple Thank You cards to musical greetings. These cards are tailored to fit almost any business relationship and there is a wide variety of cards to choose from in each category. The prices for the basic paper greetings start at $1.35 and can be as much as $9.95 for a musical greeting card.

Also available for business associates are cards you can personalize with your own company logo, starting at just $2.30 and gifts that you can include with the cards like mugs, movie rentals, and more.

One of the selections that I was most impressed with for business are the assortment packs. You can select from Thank You notes, Staff greetings, and several other categories starting at $39.95. These are perfect for the small business wanting to make a big impression by sending a quick note after a sales meeting or when you want to pat an employee on the back for a job well done.

The personal paper greetings are available in just about every category that the retailers offer including holidays and special occasions. The ability to order these paper greetings online is a quick alternative to visiting the local mall. The price for the cards ranges but the average price was $2.45 plus postage, which is not any higher than the retailers offer.

The selection is more limited than the retailers but you will still find something regardless of the occasion. Whether you are looking for ShoeBox humor or the traditional greeting, you will be able to order it online.

Also offered in their paper greetings section are stationary products. In this section you will find baby shower and wedding invitations, note cards, and more at fairly reasonable prices.

When using their online services, you have the ability to store and manage your address book. This makes sending cards and gifts a whole lot easier because all your needed information is in one place.

Their eCards

With Hallmark eCards, you are able to send free greetings via e-mail for just about any occasion. Their categories range from special holidays to the traditional birthday greetings.

The selection is quite limited per category but the quality just can't be beat. When browsing the card selection, you have your choice of the flash animated greetings, standard postcard, or their 'click 'ems'. The click'em cards are a combination of postcard and flash style greetings. When you open the card, it loads and you read your message then you hit the click'em link to start the character action. For example, one of the cards when you click on it shows a character blowing bubbles across the card.

The eCards section offers the traditional greetings or you can select from other categories including upcoming holidays, milestones, just a note, and also their special collections. The special collection is made up of their designer lines like the Mahogany greetings, which are created in African American themes or their Tree of Life greetings, which are designed with the Jewish faith in mind.

Sending eCards

After selecting the perfect card, it's just a matter of completing a few simple entries before whisking it off into cyberspace. You simply click on the 'personalize' button and fill in the email information for both the sender and recipient, a personal message, and the date in which you want it sent. After completing this step, you can either preview the card or hit the send button.

Unlike other free greetings sites, I wasn't given the option to attach a gift of some kind to the card prior to sending. When you hit the send button, that's it. Personally, I like that I didn't have to go through the extra step of saying no to this or no to that but some might actually want to send an extra gift along with the card. After sending, you are taken to a screen that offers you the option to send another greeting or shop for gifts but I think it's a little late for that.

Once you have sent the card, you can then store the recipient's information in your personal address book once you have registered at the site.

Their Gifts

Their online gift section offers everything from special holiday gifts to the traditional gifts like flowers or candy. If you are in a pinch for time and want to send something nice, this is a good place to shop. The variety of gifts they offer is fairly diverse but some of the prices are a little steep, depending on what you are looking to purchase.

If you are looking for a birthday gift, you could spend as much as $48.00 for a Jasmine bath kit or as little as $12.95 for a dozen gourmet cookies in a box. It just depends on your budget.

The gifts available are from different merchants including The Red Envelope, Bath & Body, Crayola, and more. Their selection of gift items was just as impressive as their greeting selections.

Overall Thoughts

Being from Kansas City, the headquarters for Hallmark Cards, I might be somewhat biased when it comes to my opinion of their products. I found their site to be loaded with plenty of options and a fairly good selection in all categories.

Their free eCards selection was the most limited but with there was enough of a selection available, that just about anyone could locate a card of interest to send to a friend or family member. The best thing is that you are able to send wonderful Hallmark greetings absolutely free of charge.

Their site was nicely designed, easy to navigate, and not bogged down with a ton of banner ads or shameless product plugs. Overall, this is one of the better greeting sites available on the net and is one I highly recommend.