The free onces are very bad quality in my opion. I ordered 250 about 3 years ago, the postage was £8 like Ian said. But the cards are utter rubbish! Firstly, they are tiny (smaller than a average business card) the quailty of the ink is poor, actualy makes it look like cheap paper and lastly they brand the back of the cards with "get 250 FREE business cards at vistaprint etc etc"
The normal cards you get from vista print are good quailty, probably the best you can get infact but there are cheaper option out there.
The recommendtion idea is good. Maybe that idea wont need a good card