Home / Guides

Black Friday and holiday emails for stationery and paper shops

Stationery sells in two rushes. One is the holiday gift, and the other is the new year, when people buy planners and start over. A good run of emails covers both, with the deadlines your printing needs.

Updated October 25, 2026 · By Doorbuster Studio

Your year has two seasons

A stationery or paper shop has a double holiday. From November to Christmas, people buy cards, wrapping, gift sets, pens, notebooks and the small things that fill a stocking. From mid-December through January, they buy planners, calendars and organizers. The planner buyer is often the same person who bought the gifts, so every email in November is also a chance to introduce the planner they will want later.

The other thing that sets paper shops apart is deadlines. If you offer holiday cards or custom printing, the order-by date is the most important sentence in the email, and it needs to be early and repeated.

Holiday cards and custom printing: get the dates right

Customers often underestimate how long a custom card, a return-address stamp, or a personalized notepad takes. You know your proofing time, your print time, and how long the post office takes in December. Turn that into one clear schedule and put it in every holiday email:

• The last day to place an order for custom printing.
• The last day to approve a proof, if you send one.
• The expected ship or pickup date after approval.
• Any minimum quantity, such as a box of 25 cards.

Be conservative. A date that is a few days earlier than you need protects you from a December crunch, and it is easier to extend a deadline than to miss one.

Offers that suit a paper shop

• Free envelope seals or return-address stamping with a card order over a set amount.
• A gift set discount: a notebook, a pen and a card in a box at one price.
• A free small item with a planner purchase, such as stickers or a pen.
• A bonus on a gift card over a set amount, good through January.

Choose one and say what it is. Paper has good margins on small items, but custom work takes your time, so be careful about discounting it.

The five emails

1. Early access and holiday card pre-orders (early to mid-November). Show your card designs, give the sizes and quantities, and put the order-by date for custom printing at the top. This is also your best moment to explain how proofing works.
2. Black Friday: gift sets and one offer. Photograph the sets and show what is in them. Offer one thing: a set price, a gift with purchase, or a bonus gift card. Name the dates.
3. Small Business Saturday: the shop and the people. A photo of your wall of cards, a note on the makers you carry, and an invitation to come in and write a note at the counter. Examples.
4. Planners and gifts for the new year (early December). Introduce next year’s planners, calendars and journals. Say who each one suits: the busy parent, the student, the person who likes to write by hand. Mention that planners make good gifts.
5. Last day: custom printing, shipping and pickup. A clear cutoff for what can still be printed, shipped or picked up before Christmas, and the hours on the last days. Last-day template.

What to put in a paper shop’s emails

• Close-up photos. Paper is about texture, color and letterpress detail, which are hard to see in a small image. Use clear, well-lit photos.
• Sizes and what is included: cards per box, envelopes included or not, page count in a planner, layout type such as weekly or daily.
• Who it is for. “A weekly planner for people who want room to write” is more useful than “our best planner.”
• The deadline, near the top and in the button text where you can.
• Gift wrap and notes, if you offer them.

A short template: holiday card pre-order

Hi [First Name],

Holiday card season is here at [Shop Name].

Custom cards
[Card design], box of [number], [$ price]
[Card design], box of [number], [$ price]
Order by [date] for delivery or pickup before [date]. We send a proof first. Minimum order: [amount].

Ready-made cards and gift sets
[Gift set], [$ price]: [what is inside]
[Box of cards], [$ price]

Planners for next year
[Planner], [$ price]: [who it suits]

[Order your cards -> link]

Holiday hours: [dates and times]. Gift cards are available by email.

Happy writing,
[Your name], [Shop Name]

If you sell gifts beyond paper, see the gift shop guide, and the bookstore guide for notebooks and journals alongside books. The sample emails show finished campaigns.