I received my first ad card recently, and honestly? I was pretty happy with it. The person actually had a direct link to the card sent, and told me a little bit about it. It felt nice to have a piece of someone else’s history, in that sense. Feels a tad more intimate, and gives another layer to the exchange. I suppose I could understand why some people would be thrown off by it, but I don’t personally see it as a problem- more a pleasant surprise. Guess this is where the “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” saying comes in 
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Schön! Einfach nur schön- und jetzt frage ich mich, wo die her sind und vor allem auch, um welche Bücher es sich handelt…(unbedingt lesen wollen…) 
Sadly I don’t know anymore. 
I’m happy to receive ad cards that the sender though I would enjoy. Maybe knitting adverts or restaurant adverts? If it’s generic rubbish sent to everyone, I obviously would not want to receive it.
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Received this nice AD card this week with a great and informative message related to it. Went straight to my favourites.
AD cards are so clever sometimes, I hope people would keep sending me them 
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So far I haven’t received any ad cards, but I send ad cards sometimes, and I welcome them. Here are a few examples:
(This is an expired card unfortunately. I sent it to someone who also learns German and it is an ad card from the Goethe Institut.)
I think more often people are more concern about whether a card is beautiful. Usually when we talk about ad it’s often associated with “not so well designed”, but if an ad card is beautiful (like the promotional card of a movie or exhibition) or suits the need, people will still be happy to receive them. Of course, some people just don’t like ad cards and think they are boring. That’s their opinion.
To me, the most important things are: 1. not sending people ad cards if they emphasize that they don’t want them; 2. considering whether the card may suit somebody’s need.
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I recieved this ad card for the Amazing Acro Cats, a traveling troupe of rescued animals performing tricks to raise awareness for homeless cats.
Since I’m a total chicken enthusiast and stated so in my profile, I was absolutely thrilled to recieve it. I love love love it 
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I like them. Sometimes the subject is pretty odd, but I’m not a postcard collector, and for me the message is the best part of a card. The image is a bonus.
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I think ad cards are great. They provide insights about the place where they come from, so they’re always welcome in my mailbox. I live in an area with lots of artists, galleries, restaurants and bookstores, so there’s usually a nice supply. These are some of my local favorites:
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I’ve come to appreciate Ad cards, at one stage I thought it was a bit tight to use free cards when some spend quite a bit on 1 card, but seeing these beautiful examples I’d be very happy to receive one.
I think most of the ones I’ve seen in the past have been low quality uninspiring types but these are fab.
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Having demands and preferences takes away from the random and spontaneous nature of this project. People are surprising and interesting if we allow them to be.
I am thinking of deleting all my favorites because it creates a crutch for some. A request I like the most is when someone says in their profile, “send me a card that you would like to receive from someone.” This will tell you a lot about that person.
Do they have a secret they are willing to tell? What’s the worst or best thing that happened to them this year? Is there a time during a trip where everything went wrong and the true adventure began?
I’d be happy to hear of other prompts to write on my profile.
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I love AD cards as long they add a message on the back. 
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I’m a very new Postcrosser, but I’ve become so hooked, I’ve taken to reading people’s profiles just for fun so I can learn more about people and get a sense of what kind of postcards people want. I am building my collection so I’ll have just the right ones at my fingertips when the occasion arises.
I’ve noticed that SO MANY people are against Ad cards and I have a difficult time understanding why. There are a lot of really beautiful, clever, artistic and funny Ad cards out there that can be tailored to a lot of people’s interests. You can learn a lot about a culture based on advertisements, too. A couple times I’ve found what I believed to be the perfect card for someone, but upon reading “no ad cards”, I must respect their wishes.
I guess what I’m trying to say… please try to be more open-minded about the rich culture of Ad cards in the world. And please help me understand why so many people hate them so much. I’m really just curious… Thanks! 
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There’s a long discussion about this here:
I think there are two objections some people have to ad cards:
- Some people feel it’s cheap; that someone is getting cards to send for free, while others are spending money buying nice cards to send to them.
- The ‘quality’ of the ad card - a nice card for a museum exhibit is great, a flyer for the local office supply chain, maybe not so great.
Of course, maybe you love office supplies! Or maybe you don’t have much money, but you write wonderful messages on the back of your free ad cards. Maybe you send one or two ad cards but also buy lots of expensive cards. Real situations are rarely as black and white.
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I’m one of those who don’t wish to get ad cards or self-made stuff. I hadn’t that wish in the beginning, over ten years ago. During these years I have noticed that many people try to have this hobby as cheaply as possible. “Art” for them is not valuable for me. I have got lots of rubbish in the official Postcrossing, not in the Forum site. The postcards I call “rubbish” are for example pieces of food packages, ad cards full written in a local language I can’t understand, a piece of paper with a drawing from 2-years-old child, a self-taken photo, a piece of fabric with glittery glue on it, etc.
This hobby is very expensive in these days when the postal rates are high and also the postcards cost much. If I pay for every single postcard, I have the right to wish the same from the others. I say “to wish”, not “to require”.
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I am one of these people that doesn’t have any “don’t send me these” on their profile and I have received an ad card before (which was super nice btw), but I get why so many people don’t like them. However, I can only speak for myself: I don’t have a problem receiving an ad card that the sender thought it matches my interests, as long as I don’t feel that they just wanted to get rid of it. Which, by the way, can happen with a “regular” postcard too! But with ad cards it’s easier to notice for reasons that have already been addressed by the members above.
While there are many people who don’t like ad cards, there are also many others who do. If you find it hard to send your ad cards through official postcrossing, maybe you could try this tag and round robins specifically for ad-cards:
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I understand the cost argument about ad cards, but they aren’t always free. I bought a lovely set of new postcards on eBay because I liked the designs, but when they arrived the backs all had “not for sale” written on them. I guess that’s why the listing photo of the backs was badly out of focus. The price was the same as my proper cute animal set but I can’t use them because people will assume I’m cheap or that I’ve cheated somehow.
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Personally, I don’t get to cost argument, because for some the cards cost more, some the postage, some the travel to mail the cards, some have low salary, where everything is “cheap”, but some has low salary or income, where the prices are high as well. It can never be totally equal. If someone think the ad card or free card is best for them to send, it’s fine by me.
So, if someone think someone cheates or is cheap, what can I do, maybe feel sad because their attitude is a little negative. And they will have this attitude anyways. It won’t change if I use more money. Someone told me I sent them a cardboard part, when it was a Marimekko card, separately bought, so one of the most expensive ones. Someone thought “Vallila” brand cards are ad cards, because the text/logo is so huge. (I think there was even more than one.)
I send what I think is best for the recipient.
And if I spend almost 4 euros at most to send a card, I don’t feel any better if someone uses the same amount to send a card to me. Or it doesn’t feel unfair, if their mail and paper products are cheaper.
Still, when I see someone sends the same ad card to everyone, and hopes this and that and more, I don’t bother to send something that I only have one of.
But I’ve bought ad cards from flea market too, that say “not for sale”. Even intentionally. Some are really lovely.
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Right. In fact, here in Poland, they aren’t free at all anymore.
Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, we used to have ad cards distributed for free at many cafes and pubs. Some of them were crap, others were really quirky and cool. I sent lots of them to friends and family, not because they were free, but because I really liked them
Today, those cards are a thing of the past. The last time I got a card at a cafe, back in 2012, I had to pay for it. And even a supermarket chain that recently had some ad cards - ads for themselves!!! - charged as much for them as tourist cards would cost at the newsagent’s.
The few ad cards I have on store are actually bought online for MORE than the average price for a new postcard!
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