Most people don't understand the term "print" does not mean the same thing as the term "reproduction".

If you are here at this page, you may be one of them, or you may just be here wondering how I will handle such a topic. Either way, I hope I give you the answers you are looking for.

Lets start with a definition of the terms reproduction and print. Merriam Webster's little dictionary defines reproduction as:
1 : the act or process of reproducing
2 : something reproduced : COPY
synonyms REPRODUCTION, DUPLICATE, COPY, FACSIMILE, REPLICA mean a thing made to closely resemble another. REPRODUCTION implies an exact or close imitation of an existing thing (reproductions from the museum's furniture collection). DUPLICATE implies a double or counterpart exactly corresponding to another thing (a duplicate of a house key). COPY applies especially to one of a number of things reproduced mechanically (printed a thousand copies of the gicleé). FACSIMILE suggests a close reproduction often of graphic matter that may differ in scale (a facsimile of a rare book). REPLICA implies the exact reproduction of a particular item in all details (a replica of the Mayflower) but not always in the same scale (miniature replicas of classic cars).

and, the difinition for print is:
(1) : a copy made by printing (2) : a reproduction of an original work of art (as a painting) made by a photomechanical process (3) : an original work of art (as a woodcut, etching, or lithograph) intended for graphic reproduction and produced by or under the supervision of the artist who designed it.

Ok, from just this we can see that a print can be a reproduction, but a reproduction may not necessarily be a print. This is where the terms start to vary. ANYTIME a piece of art is copied by photomechanical means, it is a reproduction. It doesn't matter if the process has a fancy sounding name, like giclee (which literally means "ink droplets" and refers to the process of printing), or if it has a cheap sounding name like photo copy, because they are basically the same thing — both are produced by the same means. Only the quality of the materials used will be the difference. (Sometimes there isn't much of a difference in those either.)

Technically speaking a reproduction could be called a print because it is printed. These should be called "print reproductions." I think definition #3 of print best fits what a print really is.

Prints are, by definition (3), an original work of art (as a woodcut [block print], etching, silkscreen [serigraphy] or lithograph) intended for graphic reproduction and produced by or under the supervision of the artist who designed it. These are images produced to be multiples. They are most often done completely by the artist, and are most often done in small runs, or editions. This is because the image starts to deteriorate after a certain numbers of prints are produced. Most print editions are less than 200. Another reason some print runs are small is that the artist actually becomes physically tired from the printing process (unlike machine produced reproductions).

Can reproductions be done in limited runs? Sure they can, but they don't have to be.

Reproduction runs are commonly well over the 200 number most all prints editions fall under. Why? Because they can. Reproduction editions typically are in numbers of 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1200, 1500, ect. The more reproductions produced, the more money can be mad from sales.

Many artists have been led to think reproductions with fancy names (like giclee) should be rather expensive to produce, and thus should cost more. I asked for some samples of "reproductions" from some of the bigger printing houses, and will tell you what I found.

I found their quality of materials was good. I wasn't surprised by that — they have to justify their prices somehow. As you can guess, prices for the service were HIGH. If you see an artist selling reproductions of their work, know about 75% of the cost was so that reproduction could be produced.

If reproductions are just basically copies, why are they made, and why do people buy them instead of prints?

Good question, and I'll try to answer it. Reproductions sell, because they are a copy of art customers would like to have. Sometimes a customer can't afford an original, sometimes they don't want one, or the original is a different size. A high quality reproduction is a good alternative. Some artists offer reproductions for their customers, or offer reproductions for sale so more people will be able to own a piece of their art because of the lower price than an original.

OK, but what about the artists who make multiple images on purpose?
They are called print makers and the goal of a print maker is to make multiple prints of the same image — whether he/she carved the design into a piece of stone or wood, etched it onto a plate or made a screen of it. This artist wants more than one person to be able to have one of their images as well. The difference, of course, is the artist has direct control over all aspects of the production.

So, now you're asking what does this all boil down to?
It all boils down to this: hand-printed prints are ALWAYS considered an original work of art, because each one won't be exactly like the next. There may be 45 of the same image, but each one will have tiny imperfections from the previous, until the point where it might become noticeable. Reproductions are NEVER considered an original work of art.

I do offer print reproductions of my original works, and I do it simply for the affordability factor. Which do I think is a better deal? Depends on why you are buying a piece of my art. If you are buying several pieces just because you really like what I do, want my art all over your house, your friends and neighbor's houses, and don't really care if the pieces are original, buy the reproductions and save some money.  (This goes for any artist you are collecting.)

If you really like my art, and want to have the original, then buy the original.  

A gift to a friend? Same rules apply. Depends on how good of a friend it is. Girlfriend or boyfriend, and not sure how long it will last? Get the reproduction. Gift for a loved one or someone you want to impress? Get the original.