Some shops let you pick the day a card should land. Moonpig’s public checkout language includes choosing a delivery date. Lookalikey has described scheduled e-cards as a send-later file. Those are useful if you live in those products. Ottermagic’s honest version is simpler: count backwards from the day they should hold the card, order the UK A5 with enough working days, or take the e-card when the calendar is already tight. Printed cards are 148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included, printed to order in the UK, posted with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days. You still get the Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap portrait. You plan the post yourself. Start at Ottermagic.com.
Quick verdict
| You need… | What to do |
|---|---|
| A Style Swap / Face Swap / Pet Swap card in a UK letterbox, and you have about a week | Order Ottermagic A5 ahead (Royal Mail around 3–5 working days) |
| That same likeness, and the date is tomorrow | Ottermagic e-card (hi-res, watermark-free download), then print or send the image |
| A calendar picker that promises a specific arrival day on a huge catalogue card | Moonpig (read today’s chosen-date copy on their site) |
| A file that sends itself on a future day | Lookalikey-style scheduled e-cards (check their current e-card tools) |
Bottom line: Ottermagic does not replace Moonpig’s date picker. It replaces the need for one when you order with a sensible buffer, or when you download the e-card and control the send yourself.
How Ottermagic timing actually works
Nobody is holding your Clay 3D portrait on a shelf. You approve a preview, you pay, the UK print file is made, the card is printed on 330gsm gloss with the envelope, then Royal Mail carries it.
That sequence is a range, around 3–5 working days, not a guaranteed 10am slot on a date you typed in. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays. A Thursday order is not “five calendar days later” if a weekend sits in the middle.
Order-ahead method:
- Pick the day they should hold the card.
- Count back five working days for a comfortable buffer.
- If you are inside three working days, look hard at the e-card.
- If a bank holiday sits in the gap, add a day.
- If they are going away, aim at the address they will actually open.
Generate the preview as soon as you have a photo. You can pay later the same week. The likeness decision is separate from the postage decision.
The e-card is the storefront file: hi-res, watermark-free. You send it by email or message on the morning of the 14th, or you print it locally the evening before. You are the scheduler.
Posters and canvas are available. Check Ottermagic.com for live wall-art details. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day). Prices are in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop.
Where Moonpig’s chosen date fits
Moonpig is widely known for letting UK shoppers pick when a card should arrive, with cut-offs that change by product and by how busy the week is. That is operationally comforting if you already shop there for catalogue cards, gifts, and flowers. Read the live date tool on their site.
Moonpig Face Swap, where it exists, has been marketed as an app feature. A scheduled Moonpig card is still a Moonpig card. It is not Brick, Chibi, Anime, or Pet Swap on Ottermagic’s list.
Where Lookalikey’s scheduled e-card fits
Lookalikey has publicly described e-cards you can schedule: a send-later digital greeting rather than a file you forward yourself. Treat that as their product. Check their site for how it works today, including whether it is a hosted link or an email, and what happens if the date has passed.
Ottermagic’s e-card is a download you already have. You pick the moment to send it. That is less automatic. It is also simpler, and the artwork is still Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap.
Side-by-side
| Factor | Ottermagic (recommended for photo-to-art, planned or last-minute) | Moonpig chosen date | Lookalikey scheduled e-card |
|---|---|---|---|
| How timing is set | You count working days, or you send the e-card yourself | Calendar / chosen delivery date on their checkout (check site) | Scheduled send of their e-card (check site) |
| Printed object | UK A5, 148×210mm, 330gsm gloss, envelope, Royal Mail ~3–5 working days | Check their sizes, stock, and date promise | Check whether print is separate |
| Same-day likeness | E-card download after payment | Depends on their cut-off; read them | Depends on their send tool |
| Personalisation | Style / Face / Pet Swap, plus Text Swap | Catalogue personalisation; confirm any AI tools | Face / pet / text swaps per their marketing |
| Best when | You want the portrait, and you can plan or download | You want their date picker on a familiar card | You want their send-later digital product |
Arrival guarantees belong to the shop making them.
Worked examples
Birthday on a Wednesday, UK address, you are shopping the previous Wednesday. Five working days of buffer. Order the Ottermagic A5. Add a handwritten inside if you leave it blank. You do not need a date picker if the range is honest.
Leaving do on Friday, it is already Wednesday night. The e-card. Print at a local shop on Thursday, or show the image at the drinks. A Royal Mail window will miss the party.
Anniversary while they are on a train to Edinburgh. Send the e-card to their phone that morning. Order a printed A5 to their home for when they get back, if you still want paper on the table.
US recipient on a date you care about. Switch to the US shop in the site header: the printed card goes by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. If the date is closer than that, take the e-card and send it, or let them print it there.
Christmas week, New Year week, exam-results week. Working days vanish. Order earlier than you think, or download.
Photo first, calendar second
A scheduled card with a bad photo is still a bad card, it just arrives on time. Face the camera, light the face, keep pets visible. Try two styles before you pay: for example Photobooth and Sketch, or Face Swap and Style Swap.
Live styles: Brick, Chibi, Emoji, Anime, Watercolour, Caricature, Cartoon, Classic Cartoon, Action Figure, Clay 3D, Retro Halftone, Retro Game, Royal Portrait, Pixel Art, Bobblehead, Sticker Sheet, Tarot Card, Photobooth, Sketch, Lucky Leprechaun.
Text Swap still exists if you have no photo and you are only trying to hit a date with a name on the front.
Ready when you are
Pick the day they should see it, then work backwards. Upload a photo, make the Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap preview, and order UK A5 (148×210mm, 330gsm gloss, envelope, Royal Mail around 3–5 working days) when you have the working days. Take the e-card when you do not, and send it on the morning that matters. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
Can I pick an arrival date on Ottermagic the way I can on Moonpig?
Ottermagic’s printed path is made to order and posted with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days. Plan by counting those working days. For a specific morning, use the e-card and send it yourself. Check Moonpig for their chosen-date tool if that is the product you want.
Does Ottermagic schedule e-cards for a future day?
The e-card is a hi-res, watermark-free download after payment. You choose when to send or print it. Lookalikey has marketed scheduled e-cards; confirm on their site if you want that automation.
What if Royal Mail is slower than the range?
Ranges are typical, not a tracked-courier promise. If a card seems late, email support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day). For a date you cannot miss, the e-card is the safer format.
Should I order two weeks early “just in case”?
You can. Generate early, pay when you are ready. Very early orders are fine if the photo will still look like them. A two-year-old picture of a child may not.
Is this the same as same-day personalised cards?
No. Same-day print is a claim other shops sometimes make with cut-offs. Ottermagic’s same-day option is the e-card, not a printed press run.
