The True Cost of Plastic Membership Cards (UK, 2026)

Ask a committee what membership cards cost and you'll hear the printer's quote. Ask the membership secretary and you'll get a longer answer. The true cost of plastic membership cards is the print bill plus postage, reprints, wasted stock, and hours of volunteer time — most of it invisible until you add it up. So let's add it up, with a worked example for a typical 200-member UK club.

The visible costs

Printing

UK card printers typically charge £0.60–£1.50 per full-colour PVC card at club quantities, often with setup fees of £20–£50 per design change. Personalised cards (name and number printed per member) sit at the top of that range.

Postage and packaging

A card in an envelope with a covering letter is a standard letter: 87p second class (2026 rates), plus envelopes and paper. Call it £1 per member posted, before anyone licks a stamp.

The invisible costs

• Replacements. Clubs consistently report 5–10% of cards lost or never received each season. Each replacement is a one-off print or a wasted spare, plus another envelope and another job on someone's list.
• Mid-season changes. New sponsor logo? Price category change? Typo in a surname? With plastic the answer is always the same: reprint.
• Over-ordering. Unit prices push clubs to order 250 cards for 200 members. The spare 50 usually end up in a drawer, then a bin.
• Volunteer hours. Collating the member list for the printer, checking proofs, stuffing and addressing 200 envelopes, chasing non-arrivals, and processing replacements: clubs report 15–25 hours per season. Volunteer time is "free" right up until the volunteer resigns.

The worked example: 200 members

That's £1.85–£3.30 per member, every season — before valuing anyone's evening spent stuffing envelopes. And it repeats: next season the whole exercise runs again.

The digital comparison

A digital membership card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet costs nothing per card. With Digital Cards Club, a 200-member club fits on the Pro Plus plan at £49/month — or, if 100 active cards covers your season, Pro at £15/month (£144/year on annual billing). Distribution is email, delivery is instant, replacements are free, and mid-season changes update cards already in wallets.

Just as importantly: the 15–25 volunteer hours become about one hour — import the CSV, click distribute. The full switch is covered in plastic vs digital membership cards, and the wider payoffs in 10 benefits of digital membership cards.

When plastic still earns its cost

If your cards double as door-entry fobs, or a large share of members don't use smartphones, plastic (or a hybrid: digital by default, plastic on request) remains sensible. A hybrid still cuts the print run — and the envelope evening — by whatever share goes digital.

Run your own numbers

Multiply your member count by £2–£3, add your setup fee, then picture the envelope evening. Then issue 5 digital cards free and compare the experience directly — the trial costs nothing but the kettle's time.