- What Shutterfly Is Built For
- What Mousepad.com Is Built For
- Side-by-Side Comparison
- Pricing: The Gap Is Significant
- Pad Variety: Specialty vs. Afterthought
- Who Should Use Shutterfly for Mouse Pads
- Who Should Use Mousepad.com for Business Orders
- The Bottom Line
- Frequently Asked Questions
You need custom mouse pads for a trade show, a client gift campaign, or an office rebrand. Two names come up: Shutterfly and Mousepad.com. Both print on mouse pads. That’s roughly where the similarities end.
This comparison covers pricing, pad variety, order minimums, and what each platform is actually built for so you can make the right call without burning time on a quote call.
What Shutterfly Is Built For
Shutterfly is a consumer photo products company. Its core business is photo books, greeting cards, calendars, and personalized gifts. Mouse pads are in the catalog, but they’re clearly a secondary item designed for someone printing a family photo, not a marketing manager ordering 200 branded pads for a conference.
A single Shutterfly mouse pad typically runs $15 to $25 before shipping, depending on current promotions. There are no published bulk pricing tiers, no wholesale rates, and no volume discounts based on quantity. If you need 50 or 150 pads, you’re essentially paying consumer prices 50 or 150 times over.
The style selection is just as limited one standard rectangular soft-top pad. No hard top, no flip top, no oriental rug style, no frame pad or notepad pad.
For a personal gift or novelty item, that’s fine. For a business order, neither the pricing nor the options hold up.
What Mousepad.com Is Built For
Mousepad.com is a specialty e-commerce store built entirely around custom printed mouse pads. Every product on the site is a mouse pad. That focus shows in the pricing structure, the range of styles, and how the ordering process works.
Bulk pricing starts at $1.67 per pad a published number you can see before you contact anyone. No quote required, no waiting on a sales rep.
Pad styles include hard plastic top, soft cloth top, flip top, oriental rug style, CD pad, screen pad, frame pad, notepad pad, Steekon pad, and counterpads more than 15 distinct options in total. Full-color printing is standard across all of them. Whether you need a soft cloth pad with your logo for everyday desk use or a flip top that doubles as a notepad, there’s a specific product for that.
All pads are manufactured in the USA and Canada. For businesses with North American sourcing requirements or those who simply want reliable lead times that’s worth noting.
Orders go through product-specific online forms or by phone at 1-800-MOUSEPAD. Artwork specs are published at mousepad.com/artspecs, so you know exactly what file format and resolution to submit before you start.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| FACTOR | SHUTTERFLY | MOUSEPAD.COM |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price per pad | ~$15$25 (consumer) | $1.67 (bulk) |
| Bulk / wholesale pricing | Not published | Yes, transparent tiers |
| Pad styles available | 1 (standard soft top) | 15+ distinct styles |
| Business-focused ordering | No | Yes |
| North American manufacturing | Not stated | USA and Canada |
| Phone ordering | No | 1-800-MOUSEPAD |
| DIY / make-your-own option | Photo upload only | Soft top and hard top kits |
| Pre-made designs | Yes (photo themes) | Yes (sports and others) |
Pricing: The Gap Is Significant
At $1.67 per pad, a 200-unit order from Mousepad.com runs roughly $334 before shipping. At Shutterfly’s consumer pricing of $15 to $25 per pad, the same quantity costs $3,000 to $5,000.
That’s not a rounding error. For a marketing manager working with a $500 to $1,000 trade show budget, Shutterfly’s pricing structure simply doesn’t work. Mousepad.com’s bulk tiers are designed for exactly that range.
Ready to see what your order would cost? Get bulk pricing at Mousepad.com or call 1-800-MOUSEPAD.
Pad Variety: Specialty vs. Afterthought
The style of pad often matters as much as the print quality. A real estate office might want a frame pad with a business card insert. A tech company might prefer a hard plastic top for durability. A hospitality brand might find the oriental rug style a better fit for their aesthetic.
Shutterfly offers one style. Mousepad.com offers more than 15. That range isn’t just a catalog feature it means you can match the pad to the use case, the audience, and the brand.
For ASI distributors and ad specialty resellers, that variety also means you can fulfill a wider range of client requests from a single supplier, without juggling multiple vendor relationships.
Who Should Use Shutterfly for Mouse Pads
Shutterfly makes sense for a personal photo pad a gift, a novelty item, something for your home office. If you want to print a family photo for personal use and per-unit cost isn’t a concern, the platform is easy to use and the output is decent.
It’s not the right tool for business promotional orders, bulk purchases, branded giveaways, or any situation where price per unit matters.
Who Should Use Mousepad.com for Business Orders
Mousepad.com is the better fit if you’re:
- A small or mid-size business ordering 25 to 500+ pads for a trade show, client gift, or office use
- A marketing manager who needs transparent pricing before committing to a vendor
- An ASI or ad specialty distributor looking for a wholesale partner with a wide pad SKU range
- An individual who wants a DIY custom pad at a fair price without a consumer photo platform markup
Published bulk pricing, 15+ pad styles, North American manufacturing, and phone support at 1-800-MOUSEPAD cover the full range of business buyer needs that Shutterfly simply doesn’t address.
The Bottom Line
Shutterfly is a photo products company that happens to sell mouse pads. Mousepad.com is a mouse pad company that happens to be very good at it.
If you’re placing a business order any quantity above a handful of pads, any situation where per-unit cost matters Mousepad.com is the straightforward choice. Prices start at $1.67 per pad, every option is visible before you order, and you can reach someone at 1-800-MOUSEPAD if you have questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Shutterfly offer bulk pricing for mouse pads? No. Shutterfly doesn’t publish bulk or wholesale pricing tiers for mouse pads. Its pricing is structured for individual consumer purchases, typically $15 to $25 per pad, with no stated volume discounts for business orders.
What is the cheapest price per pad at Mousepad.com? Bulk pricing starts at $1.67 per pad on larger quantity orders. That rate is published on the site no quote required.
How many mouse pad styles does Mousepad.com offer? More than 15 distinct styles, including hard plastic top, soft cloth top, flip top, oriental rug style, CD pad, screen pad, frame pad, notepad pad, Steekon pad, and counterpads. Coaster pads are also available in sets of 4.
Where are Mousepad.com products manufactured? All products are manufactured in the USA and Canada, supporting consistent quality and reliable fulfillment timelines for business orders.
Can I order custom mouse pads by phone? Yes. Mousepad.com accepts orders by phone at 1-800-MOUSEPAD, in addition to online ordering through product-specific forms on the site.
Is Shutterfly a good option for a single personalized mouse pad? For a one-off personal pad a photo gift or home office novelty Shutterfly is a workable option. The platform is easy to use and supports photo uploads. For business or bulk orders, the pricing and limited style selection make it a poor fit.
What file formats does Mousepad.com accept for artwork? Accepted file formats and resolution requirements are published at mousepad.com/artspecs. FTP file transfer is also supported for larger artwork submissions.