This year I changed my profile into “you can send me anything you want”.
I thought this would make postcrossing easier for those who receive my address.
But now I wonder… is it easier? Or do postcrossers prefer to have some kind of wishlist so they can send the “right” postcard? 
What’s your opinion?
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“Send me anything” profiles are harder for me than a profile with a list where I don’t have anything on their list. I prefer at least a few recommendations.
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Personally, I refer when people have a wish list.
When I do not have one of the wishes I can still send any card.
Recently I got 3 members with a very empty profile and I could not find a pretty card, I just chose one but I was not pleased at all!
I love the feeling when I read a profile and they wish for something I definitely have! I am so excited and love it so much.
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I don’t have a problem with this when the Postcrosser provides some information in their profile to indicate interests or hobbies. As your profile does, I am fine with it as it is.
The difficulty I find is when there is no indication of any sort.
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Well, I think it is ok, when you have at least some informations about yourself in the profile (as you have) but I must admit I rather prefer some more hints for the cards as well, if they are not too special. Some people have really special wishes which I find hard to fulfill, so it is nice if there is a wishlist wish also includes some general topics like animals, nature, architecture, humour or anything like that…
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i like both. wishlists so i’m sure the receiver will be happy with my card, and i’m always excited to send out that one card that has been waiting in my stash for the right person.
but i love ‘send me anything’ as well. especially since you write a bit about yourself on your profile and about what to write. makes me think you care more about the back than the front. i do too, so that would make me happy.
i would probably send you one of my random beautiful cards that’s on no one’s wishlist. like paperclips or pencils, i don’t know.
last time someone said to send whatever i sent these flowers. just because of the feeling it gave me at that moment.
i would not send you animals or disney or something like that. because even though you say ‘anything’ i would still be afraid you hate mickey mouse or foxes. you never know.
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I usually use it as an opportunity to share some of postcards I would like to receive myself (when I’m buying I orient more on my taste than common preferences, so some cards, which I adore, can stay blank in my boxes for a long time)
I would guess though, that people in general like a little bit of directions. Postcrossers who send same cityview to everyone will send it in either case, and the ones who love making others happy will be a bit lost.
Also If there is a favourites wall or some bio text, it can be a interesting experience to imagine myself as a person with listed interests and empathically pick the card.
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I like wishlists a lot. I tend to send more generic / easy to get cards, when there is no wishlist as I really want to safe my special cards for the one person explicitly wishing for these.
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I like profiles either way really. Normally I try to go by what their profile says. Like if they say they like the outdoors, I might send them a postcard of a forest or something you know. Also I use the profile to talk to a person. So I prefer a little information. Once someone mentioned they worked at a library and they liked books, so I told them I used to volunteer at a library. And that I also enjoy reading. Once I got a person who just said send me anything and that was about it. Nothing wrong with that but I was a bit confused at first. Though I figured if they wanted anything then I’ll just give them whatever I have.
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I often send the same city view because a lot of people ask for it. So I send a lot of duplicates but I do have some “special” cards for those who want it. I just try to make people happy
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I have no bad mojo against same cityviews to everybody, especially if cityview is requested. The received card will be unique for me, especially when sender designed it themselves.
I agree that many people ask for cityviews, I have a thick pile to send too (but usually there is no duplicates, even when certain cards are very popular, I noticed that I prefer to have each card different, I better buy it again when sent)
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I prefer if there is some direction, and if the profile is blank I look to see what is in their favorites.
But if there is direction at all, I simply choose a card, and hope for the best.
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I’ve gone for saying write anything you want, and that clearly puts people off. Of the 62 cards I’ve received, only a handful has written something that isn’t generic.
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You should make a poll about this
I don’t have a preference for profile style. If there’s a wishlist, I’ll send a postcard related to one of the listed topics. If there’s no wishlist, I might try to glean something from the rest of the profile for a clue for what to send. If it’s a completely empty profile, I’ll just take that as more freedom to send whatever I wish. I don’t angst too much about what I’m sending to people unless they have contradictory wishes (for example, they don’t like art cards except they still list a bunch of artists on their wishlist).
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I sent card to one member who wrote profile like this. I asked her and she replied. She said she doesn’t want art card like Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Frida Kahlo and any other “old” art but she likes cute art like Inge Look, Blue Cat, etc.
I do get what these people are trying to say, but I personally feel that there’s a better way to word it that is a lot more direct and clear. If you don’t like art any older than 50 years but you like modern cute art instead, then the profile should actually make that distinction. The term “art” is so broad that it’s not useful to use it when you’re only talking about some art.
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To me it’s fine to have a profile with or without postcard preferences, as long as the profile owner doesn’t force others to fulfil their wishes, like saying “I don’t accept postcards other than cats and dogs”.
If I receive a profile without preferences, I’ll look at what the person has received from my city/country, then send a type of card that they have yet received.
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My favourite profiles have some preference or hobbies, clues about their life I can try & match with a card, but also love to have that phrase at the end of a list: " I’d be happy with any card you send me" as it’s just not always possible to find a card that matches their list.
The card is nice, but it’s also very much about the message & connection to a new friend for me.
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I have a combination of send me anything and a favourites list. What I prefer is that if someone is going to send me a card they don’t like or want to get rid of that they tell me what they don’t like about it or why they want to get rid of it. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen much.
I did recently get a card that had once been the woman’s favourite, but then the person mentioned on the card had done something that changed her opinion of them and now she really didn’t like it and wanted it gone. I just loved the story of why that came with the card and appreciated her telling me.
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