A funny thing happened a month or so ago. In a move to become a little bit more professional, I had the novel idea of getting some personal business cards. Vistaprint seemed like the obvious option. “They always have deals,” I thought, having seen a plethora of online ads for the site.

I went on Vistaprint’s website and, after having so many deals thrown in my face along the way – T-shirts, mugs and other unnecessary promotional crap I simply didn’t need – I became a little bit indifferent to the site. The sustained bombardment that Vistaprint carried out during the ordering process alone even made me miss the part where I had to put in the details that go on the card itself. Tired of it all, I made a strategic withdrawal; I’d soon learn it’d be the best tactical escape I’d made in a long time.

You see, in the weeks following this outright abandonment of the site, I’ve been getting emails from Vistaprint every few days. Despite many of them being deleted out of habit, I’ve still got this list after a quick search of my inbox (click on image for a larger view):

From 250 business cards for £5 on the site – a deal that already attracted me – I was then offered 500 for the same price, then 500 for £2.50, then 500 for free if I bought one of another five or six items, which themselves were half price. The fact that the most recent email offered “VIP ACCESS for Matt Gardner” was probably my favourite, even if I’d already been given a “token of their appreciation” for doing nothing. This email campaign was clearly in place for thousands of others who jumped ship early, too.

It reminded me of an interesting survey of US-based SMBs and their spending, carried out by the boffins at Zoomerang in September. In statistics that undoubtedly reflect the way advertising works in even the biggest of companies – particularly as budgets are tightening and any business is good business – email marketing is second only to the business’ website itself.

While social media and direct mail continue to compete with these two factors in the report, it’s just a simple fact: normal, everyday people have email addresses and use them every day. An email from companies that they’re registered to will be less annoying than speculative spam because, well, they’ve signed up. You’ve only got yourself to blame – it’s marketing 101.

Yet it seems like companies are scrambling to offer more for less. More established companies like Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and eBay.co.uk know they can provide somewhat lesser deals (even if some of them are still brilliant) because they’re main staple retailers that people will head to regardless of what they want. More specialised companies like Vistaprint, though? The world of printing is a busy one, especially when all you’re getting is a few pieces of card.

That’s why I’m going to let the test roll on. I’ve just saved this in my basket and abandoned the site once more to see what they’ll do for me:

If I’m being absolutely honest, I’m not going to buy anything until they offer at least 1,500, even if it’s for free and I won’t actually be paying. Still, try it yourself with another online shop – you never know if a company will throw in something to sweeten a deal that you pulled out on at the 11th hour.

Do you have any experience of this with any other companies? Let me know below and spread the word – you could help save some patient people a fortune.  -@matthewgardner