Got billed twice after transaction apparently failed! Tried to finish but the website just kept hanging up and could not complete the transaction. Then two hours later, got notifications from PayPal…Ella Cards billed me twice??!! And I had already sent an e-card using a different company. Edit: Ella Cards responded promptly and issued refund.

Deceptive Checkout Experience Ellacard is peak "we designed our check out experience for maximum revenue versus actual customer experience" design. Look, I work in tech and I understand you want people to "get to the end" but this feels deceptive. You pick your card, entire a little note, enter the email address. It's digital, how expensive could it be, right? $6.99 CAD?! LOL. WHAT? Why is sending a DIGITAL CARD more expensive than me getting an actual card, postage, and sending it in the mail? Of course they're going to bet that you've put too much work in to turn back now and ultimately checkout with your purchase. Zing! Look, if you're a business, and you're going to send a bunch of emails to your colleagues throughout the year for various occasions, need a bulk signing capability, and want a little pizzazz in the process, maybe the subscription makes sense. But if you're just an average person looking to sending a one-off card (from one person to one person), you're better off finding an alternative or even just sending an email.

Not working Initially, I was pleased by its options. It doesn't let you crop pictures, but it's fine. When I was testing the card, i asked to send it to me for testing, but no matter what I did, I couldn't open it. I received several emails with the same code. I tried to unsubscribe, it put that since it's a test email, I cannot unsubscribe (as I'm not subscribed). Furthermore, it did say it's free on google and that's why I tried it. It didn't work for me.

Not a free service It is difficult to find pricing on the site, but offers both subscription and the option to add credit toward future purchases. Look for this before attempting to make a purchase; it is not discoverable from the check-out page. Note that cost is based on the number of people who sign the card/ add images, etc. as well as if it is a group-signed card or sent from an individual. I did not find this to be cost-effective, and I don't appreciate the less-than-transparent pricing options. I will find another service.

Confusing - don't waste your time Don't waste your time here if you're an occasional "evite" type person. You get what you pay for. I'll confess, I went here seeking a less expensive alternative for a simple e-card for a 11 year old birthday party. All I wanted to do was use a photo my daughter created as the cover and sent it to 15 people. Evite wanted to charge me maybe $1.5-2/invite? So I tried this service (maybe owned by Evite, ironically). The interface is confusing. Notifications about responses to an event don't seem to occur. Want to share or co-host with a spouse or other person. Nope. Need a mobile experience - get ready for 5 years ago. Maybe if you send e-invites all the time and want rock bottom pricing and are ok learning a new system for managing all your invites, maybe you'd like this service. Maybe.