I've been busy making calendars for this year's holiday gift and I've tried both
Smugmug and Costco. Hare are my impressions.

SumMug offers 11X8.5 calendar using a high quality paper and it costs about
$20 but with shipping fee and tax,it's almost $30. When I received the calendar
I was impressed by its color and it nailed the color. If you're willing to pay $30
for this size calendar,then you'll be very happy with it.

..untill you see a Costco's calendar.

Costco offers two sizes,11x8.5 and 14X11.5. I went for 14x11.5 since it costs
less than that of Smugmug and that I wanted a larger size calendar to showcase
my hummingbird photos. When I got my first press,I was pleased with the thick
quality paper,giving you an impression of a high quality calendar.

However,the color seemed to be a bit dark. So I called Costco and told them about the color reproduction problem.
They gave me a free rerun to see if it still has the same problem. The second print ,unfortunately, still had the same problem.
So I called Costco again to get some advice. They told me to turn off "auto correct" at
their web site so I did the exactly the same and I ordered another one.

This time,color was spot on and was happy about that ...but I noticed some horizontal bandings across the image in several images.
Again,I called Costco and complained about it and they sent me another copy.

Well, I got it today and I'm happy to report that this calendar is perfect!
The only problem is that I'll have to order 7-10 calendars and I feel Imay have to
deal with some printing issues. But they will at least give you a complimentary
rerun or another copy for your damaged or defective print.

So,I decided to go with Costco's calendar. A 14x11.5 calendar is about $18 and with shipping,it's just under $25.
If you nail the color and if the Costco's printers print right,then the Costco's print is really hard to beat.

Now,when I compare the SumMug calendar with the Costco one,it's hard to justify
paying more than the Costco calendar. But this is just my impression.

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Thanks for the info. I always make prints at Costco. They publish color profiles for their printers so with my calibrated monitor there is never an issue. I've never done calendars but last year I gave personalized mouse pads from Costco that were super.

Thanks for the info/survey.

I too have found the store printing to be lacking.
Went to Long's for some simple 8 x 10s.
Had very noticeable stripe that was from printer.
Tried another Long's with a different make printer and had similar print quality issues.
I think the setup & maintenance of these commercial facilities is lacking.

YMMV
Dan

The hazard with Costo sits with the operators. Even though my default is to turn off autocorrect, and I check it every time, it is clear that the operators sometimes forget. The person at the counter acknowledged as much. Nothing like applying auto-exposure to a moonlight shot...