Industry Trends

10 FedEx Office Printing Questions I Wish I'd Asked Before My First Order

I learned these lessons the hard way. You don’t have to.

In my first year handling marketing collateral orders (that was 2017), I made what I thought was a simple mistake. I submitted a rush order for 200 brochures through our local FedEx Office print and ship center without double-checking the bleed line. The result? Every single brochure had a thin white border on one edge. $340 worth of materials, straight to recycling. That’s when I learned “print ready” and “actually ready to print” are two very different things. Since then, I’ve personally documented 53 notable mistakes (my running tally) that have cost our team roughly $4,200 in total reprint and delay costs. I now maintain our internal pre-submission checklist for FedEx Office orders. Here are the questions I wish someone had answered for me back then.

1. Is the “FedEx Office Printing Coupon” always the best deal?

From the outside, it looks like a coupon code is always the cheapest route. The reality is more nuanced. FedEx Office often runs promotions on specific products or order sizes. A 20% off coupon for business cards is useless if you’re ordering 50 large format posters.

What I check now: I look at the total cost with the coupon applied versus their standard volume pricing. Sometimes the standard pricing on a larger quantity beats the coupon’s discount on a smaller quantity. Oh, and expiration dates are critical—I’ve seen coupons that expire within 7 days. I’ve learned to search for a current FedEx Office printing coupon directly on their site rather than relying on third-party code aggregators, which often list expired codes.

(Should mention: our team’s biggest single coupon mistake was trying to apply a “same-day” coupon to a next-day order—it didn’t work and we wasted 15 minutes at the counter.)

2. How long does it actually take for same-day printing at FedEx Office?

People assume same-day means “in an hour.” The reality: it depends on the product and the specific location’s current workload. For standard business cards or flyers, I’ve had orders ready in 2-3 hours during a quiet Tuesday. For a large format banner on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend? I’ve waited until the next morning. It was ready just before closing, but barely.

The question everyone asks: “Can you do this same day?”
The question they should ask: “What’s the latest I can submit this to guarantee same-day pickup by 5 PM?”

I always call the specific FedEx Office print and ship center I’m using and ask about their cutoff time for same-day on my specific product. Cutoffs vary by location and product category. Complex large format items often have earlier cutoffs than flyers.

3. Can FedEx Office print a “jaws japanese poster” design for me?

I’ve had clients ask for this exact thing—a movie poster style print with specific Japanese text or design elements. FedEx Office can print any custom design file you provide. They do not offer graphic design services for creating movie poster parodies or recreating copyrighted work. If you have the file, they can print it. If you need a graphic designer to create the poster from scratch, that’s outside their in-store scope.

I once had a vendor waste a day waiting for a FedEx Office employee to “design a poster” for them. The employee politely explained their service boundary. The lesson: bring your print-ready files. Their job is printing and finishing, not graphic design.

4. My “bicycle coffee cup holder” is small. Can FedEx Office print a sticker or small label for it?

Yes, but with a caveat. FedEx Office offers custom stickers and labels in various sizes. However, for very small, irregular, or oddly shaped items like a bicycle coffee cup holder, you need to consider application. They can print the sticker; you apply it yourself. They don’t typically offer application services for such items in-store.

Take this with a grain of salt: I’ve had success printing small vinyl decals for a prototype project. The key was providing a clean vector file with the exact dimensions. For one-off small items, the setup cost (even if minimal) might make it less economical than an online specialty sticker shop. Most buyers focus on per-unit pricing and completely miss that for a very small order, the minimum charge might apply.

5. How long is water in a water bottle good for? (Not what I usually ask, but a related question about printed bottle labels)

Wait, that’s not a printing question—but clients ask about durability of printed materials on items that hold liquid. If you’re printing a label for a reusable water bottle, the label’s lifespan depends on the material (vinyl vs. paper) and the finish (laminate vs. uncoated). A standard paper label from FedEx Office will likely degrade if it’s regularly exposed to moisture from condensation. A vinyl label with a laminate finish is much more durable.

I printed labels for a conference water bottle giveaway once. Used standard paper. By the second hour of the event, the bottles were sweating in the ice bucket and the labels were peeling. I still kick myself for not choosing vinyl laminate. If I’d asked the FedEx Office associate about moisture resistance first, I would have saved 50 ruined labels and the embarrassment.

6. How do I ensure my business cards don’t have the same bleed issue I had?

The most frustrating part of my $340 brochure mistake: it was entirely preventable. For business cards (and most printed products), you need to provide a file with 1/8-inch bleed on all sides. That means your background design extends beyond the final cut line. FedEx Office provides templates for standard sizes (3.5” x 2” for business cards). Use them. Period.

After the third rejection of a client’s file in Q1 2024, I created our pre-check list specifically for FedEx Office uploads. The checklist: bleed confirmed, font resolution at 300 DPI, color mode set to CMYK (not RGB), and all text converted to outlines. Do this before you hit “upload.” Simple.

7. Is it cheaper to print at FedEx Office or an online printer like 48 Hour Print?

Online printers like 48 Hour Print work well for standard products and larger quantities (500+ business cards). However, FedEx Office’s advantage isn’t the base price—it’s the integrated print-and-ship solution. If you need 50 posters printed and shipped to five different cities by the end of the week, FedEx Office’s network of print and ship centers can handle that more efficiently than a single online printer shipping from one warehouse. The total cost of ownership includes shipping and speed. A lower per-unit price online might cost more in total when you add expedited shipping from a single location. For small quantities (under 100) with same-day need, FedEx Office is typically more cost-effective when you factor in speed.

8. Can I use a FedEx Office printing promo code for large format orders like banners?

This depends on the specific promo code’s terms. Many coupons exclude large format printing or custom orders. I’ve used a “25% off print order” coupon on a 4-foot banner before, but I’ve also had codes that explicitly said “not valid on large format.” Always read the fine print. The safest approach: ask the associate before submitting the order. They can tell you if your code applies.

9. What file format should I use for a poster at FedEx Office?

PDF is universally accepted and recommended. For a “jaws japanese poster” style design, save your file as a high-resolution PDF (300 DPI) in CMYK color mode. Avoid JPEG for text-heavy designs—compression artifacts can make text look fuzzy. Vector formats like AI or EPS are also accepted, but PDF is the safest bet. I had a graphic designer submit an AI file with missing linked images once. The poster printed with blank boxes where the images should have been. $120 down the drain. Lesson: outline your fonts and embed all images before exporting to PDF.

10. I need a “bicycle coffee cup holder” promotional item. Should I print myself or go to FedEx Office?

If you’re adding a custom label or decal to an existing holder, FedEx Office is a good choice for the decal. If you’re looking to print a design directly onto the holder itself (like a custom-printed cup holder), FedEx Office does not offer direct-to-object printing. You’d need a specialized promotional products company for that. The key decision point: are you adding a printed element to an item, or printing directly on the item? FedEx Office excels at the former.

That’s the practical list. I’ve made more mistakes than I care to admit, but I’ve built a system that catches most of them now. If you’ve got a specific FedEx Office printing scenario you’re unsure about, ask the associate at your local print and ship center—they’ve seen it all and can guide you better than any generic FAQ.