The variety and creativity in designs and the improved quality of paper has seen people thronging their favourite foreign and local brand card outlets like Hallmark, Archie's, Ideal, Azad and Aarong although cheap duplicates are available on the pavements even.

"The cards sold on the footpaths are made of normal paper whereas we use art paper that are thicker in texture," said Sohel, a salesperson at Archie's.

"Even if they imitate our brand name, any regular buyer can see the difference between the normal paper and art paper," he added.

The cards at Hallmark and Archie's are printed in India. Some corporate firms buy them in bulks during Eid and other festive occasions while there is a traditional rush of customers for Eid cards, said Rahela Khatun, wife of the owner of Archie's outlet at Karnophulli Garden city.

For this Eid, Hallmark has released over 100 different types of cards while Archie's has presented around 1700 types. The motifs are floral in the regular style, the European style with baskets and laces and the Persian style that appears like Islamic calligraphy in the shape of mosques.

Ideal Products are offering some 1200 new cards this Eid with a particular focus on the very popular musical cards. "The musical cards, which came at Tk 180 each, have been sold out and are also out of stock," said an employee of Ideal Products. Each musical card contains seven songs in Hindi, Bangla and English. Other designs include sequences, foil and hand-made paint, floral motifs and offset print in various shapes. The sequences are both of local and foreign origin

The varieties include heart-shaped, diamond-shaped, pentagon-shaped, die cutting, floral and tri-folded. A particular heart-shaped card, known as the hologram card, has a metallic ambush. The magic card has wide slits on top with a sliding page beneath. The page shows two different pictures. The super ambush card is tri-folded. The material used is Indonesian ambush, perfumed and glazed paper. Designs are self-made. The cards are available either with or without texts.

Azad Products released 1420 types of cards.

"Our musical cards have six songs in each and all are traditional Bangla numbers," said Md. Mokbul Hossain, the sales manager of Azad Products. These cards have been priced at Tk 250.

Other specialties include the 'paan' card that is shaped and coloured like a betel leaf and the tri-folded super ambush that has a length and width of 22 and 28 inches. Designs include handcrafted, ambush made with sticks, offset print and floral.

The material used are German and Swedish ambush paper. Designs are from India and Thailand.

Aarong's cards are a step ahead in terms of quality and design. There are some 30 new designs available this Eid, according to Faiza Rahman, product development manager at Aarong.

Apart from being 100 percent locally made, the cards are offered both in the regular art paper and the Eco-friendly hand-made paper.

"The hand-made paper is made of recycled paper, silk and other thread waste, floral petals, leaves and wheat husks." explained Rahman.

"Although these have a rough finishing, they are made attractive with beads, rural sequences, zari, and nakshikatha patchwork." she added.