What plastic card printer do i need? (DONATION FOR GOOD ANSWER)

[Exsert]

(I've already tried google and couldn't find a lot)

Okay so I'm starting up a new loyalty card / discount / vip card in a niche which works similar in the way that the tastecard works.

Basically, I want to be able to print the cardholders name and expirary date my self (for obvious reasons) but I would like the cards to be printed from a third party printing company, so the cards remain high quality.


So basically all i need is a very simple plastic card printer that will allow me to print the name and expirary date over the already printed plastic cards.

I'm looking for the best value for money here, if you find me what i'm looking for at a good price I will donate you £10 via paypal.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[ethical PR]

What do you call a good price ?

 

[Exsert]

Ideally, I don't mind something second hand.

I don't know a lot about printers but logically what I'm requesting isn't really too complicated so I'm hoping to spend £200.00 or less..

I did find a printer called Magicard, which looks alright however I could not find any information on whether I will be able to print over cards with this machine, even though logically that seems quite straightforward.

 

[quartzdata]

There should be no reason you can't overprint on to cards - although in my experience you should be careful about the quality of stock you print on. I have had cheap stock that doesn't work at all. The cheapest/quickest method, once you have your pre-printed stock is to print using a single colour ribbon. One issue you should condsider is the number of cards you are printing and batch size - many of the cheaper printers have quite small hoppers (in & out) and you will be constantly watching (feeding and emptying) over the machine if you are doing several thousands.

Printers range in price based on build quality, capability etc, but there are a few second hand ones on ebay e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zebra-P10...436109?hash=item3d10f412cd:g:ogEAAOSwL7VWqhAA

It migjht also be worth contacting someone like http://www.thebarcodewarehouse.co.uk/id-card-printers/entry-level/ - not sure they will have second user equipment, but at least get some advice.

Good luck.

 

[columbo]

www.evolis.com are pretty big in this area. I have seen a fair few gyms use their stuff

..but I'm always wary of French-made technology...