Costs · UK
Paper vs NFC business cards: what they really cost
Paper cards look cheap per card. The cost shows up in reprints, wasted boxes and the contacts that never get saved. Here is how to compare the two honestly.
By the Nexus teamPublished October 14, 20263 min read
A box of printed cards has a low price per card, but you pay again every time something changes: a new title, a new number, a rebrand or a new starter. A smart NFC card costs more once and then doesn’t need reprinting, because it opens a profile you edit yourself. Which works out cheaper depends on how often your details change and how many people you meet.
What you pay for, side by side
Paper business cards
- A print run for each person
- A reprint whenever details change
- Leftover boxes when someone leaves
- Typing details in by hand, if anyone does
Nexus NFC card
- One card from £19.99 including VAT
- Details updated online, no reprint
- Cards reassigned when someone leaves
- Saved to contacts in one tap
Nexus prices in the UK
| Price | |
|---|---|
| PVC card | £19.99 including VAT |
| Wood card | £25.99 including VAT |
| Metal card | £46.99 including VAT |
| Profile | Free for good |
| Starter plan (optional) | about £2.50 a month billed yearly |
| Teams plan (optional) | about £4.50 per person a month billed yearly |
For one person, a PVC card and the free profile cost £19.99 in total. A plan only becomes part of the cost when you want what it adds, such as more templates, several profiles or longer analytics.
A worked example for a team of ten
Say ten people need cards, and over a year three change role and two leave and are replaced. With paper, that is ten print runs plus five more for the changes and new starters, and the boxes for the two leavers go in the bin.
With Nexus PVC cards, the team pays £199.90 for ten cards once. The three role changes are profile edits. The two leavers’ cards go back into the pool and are reassigned, so no new cards are needed. The Teams plan, at about £4.50 per person a month billed yearly, adds the company template, card pool and CRM sync.
The cost you don’t see
The biggest cost of a paper card is the contact that never happens: the card that sits in a pocket and is never typed in. A tap that saves you to someone’s phone, and lets them send their details back, turns more conversations into contacts. That doesn’t appear on an invoice, but it is usually why people switch.
When paper still makes sense
- You rarely meet new people and your details never change.
- You need cards for a one-off event and won’t use them again.
- Your audience strongly prefers a printed card; many people carry both, and a Nexus card includes a QR code for exactly this mix.