This thread is basically for discussing your usage of the “repeated countries” option on the official website.
You can post and discuss stats, compete with yourself and others, ask for and receive advice, advertise related activities, etc…
What is the “repeated countries” option?
In your Postcrossing profile, there is a checkbox labeled “Check if you prefer to have several postcards traveling to the same country at the same time.” You can activate/deactivate this option at any time.
To activate the option, check the box then click on the save button at the bottom of the page.
To deactivate the option, clear the box then click on the save button at the bottom of the page. This option applies only to the cards that you will send. The system will give you mainly addresses from countries where many Postcrossers are waiting for cards. You will still receive cards from all over the world, whether the option is selected or not.
Don’t know what to talk about here? Some ideas :
what are your reasons for activating the “repeated countries” option?
do you keep the option activated always or only at times ?
do you (voluntarily) split your sending slots between “repeated countries” and “random countries” ?
what countries do you get when the option is active ?
what’s your record number of cards continuously registered in a single country ?
what is the percentage of your cards that got registered in a single country this month ?
what’s your speed record when sending to your top repeated country?
what are your tricks to ensure faster delivery to your top repeated country?
I started using the repeated countries option in October after being a member for so long. I somehow never liked this for reasins I do not understand anymore. Maybe it is because I can now send so many postcard at ones (my limit is 64) and I started increasing my activities here and cards arrived so quickly…
Anyway now I am happy I finally used this option and have it on ever since. I send most of my cards to the USA and Germany. Also Russia is a frequent country. I am always surprised to receive an address from a country like South Corea, Turkey etc. with this option on so there is variety after all
As I am sending many cards to Germany, my cards still arrive quickly and I get many open slots again. I could fix this by unselecting sending cards to my own country. However I know how active German members are so I have decided against this. By selceting both options I try to keep some balance in the system. Also there are many nice cards in Germany
I totally love this option. However I get that people who cannot have that many cards traveling at the same time opt not to choose it.
I tested the “Repeated Countries” - option very briefly when I started postcrossing. After drawing 7 first addresses I decided it was not the best option for a beginner and ticked it off.
When the mail suspensions started this year, I saw someone recommending the “Repeated Countries” - option and I activated it again. At first I got mainly German addresses, so the cards were registered quickly and I was sending more cards than usually. Then I started getting mostly American addresses, after a while mostly Russian addresses, then American addresses again. 94 out of (my most recent) hundred cards have gone to these three countries.
I actually think I am going to leave “Repeated Countries” on. I have nothing against sending to the same few countries. I have already “earned” enough slots not to get frustrated while waiting for travelling cards to get registered (and in normal circumstances none of these are really “slow” countries). There is a bit more variety in my received cards (I even got one with a three-digit-code) and each profile I draw is a new one. It is people that are interesting to me. If having repeated countries activated helps postcrossing, that is a bonus.
Most of my time in Postcrossing has been on Repeated Countries.
When it’s been activated, I’ve had the former USSR countries. Very long traveling time. Germany & USA are ok.
I thought it and allowing to send to your own country, would become obsolete, as the volume of members increased or during the COVID Lockdown.
I don’t have repeated countries on, but I currently have 5 out of 13 slots going to Russia + 2 expired also supposedly on their way… I recently had 5 to Germany as well.
I always had it on and off, sometimes happily sending to the same 3 countries and sometimes switching it off for some variety (I don’t send that much and it was good to mix).
At first, I used it a lot because Russia was the most common and I wanted to try and have Russia on the top of my stats. But too many cards got lost in Russia or took forever (I don’t mind the delays but the lost ones I do mind…) so I gave up on that plan. Lately I get very little Russia to sedn to, and I receive from Russia a lot less than from Germany and USA so it is simply not possible.
Lately, USA became the most common for me with Repeated Countries. They also became as lost and delayed as Russia used to (USA is the new Russia) so a month or two ago I switched it off. No doubt I will put it on again as I have always done, but for now I’d like to see cards arriving to their destination.
I actually just switched it on sometime ago. I used to not care for the option since I wanted to draw addresses from many different countries but ever since COVID the variety has become some sort of a burden. Countries that I’d used to love to see in my slot now made me worry a little bit as postal service is unreliable. I can always count on Deutsche Post and Russian post has been really fast too!
However, as @elikoa said, USA is really the new Russia.
Also I’ve realized every profile is different no matter which country it is from.
I usually have it on, and my main motivation is to help Postcrossing even out the countries with a larger amount of users. The sad thing is that during COVID mail doesn’t go to Russia from here, so I haven’t drawn a Russian address in a good while.
I’ve never actually used it, because I like the variety of countries to send it, but since it doesnt matter for me money wise I think I’m going to turn it on for a while. Like @Lleytoncassidy says, every profile is different anyway, even if they are all from the same country
I always have this option checked. I do it because these people deserve cards and I don’t want them to wait for their address to be drawn. I don’t really care where my cards go anyway.
When I’m in Italy, I usually turn this option on to maximize the amount of my postcards travelling to zone 1 (Europe including Russia, and the Mediterranean countries). Sending from Italy to the rest of the world is very expensive.
However, I have been drawing fewer German and Russian addresses lately, so I am switching between repeated and non-repeated countries now.
When I am in countries where it’s cheaper to send worldwide, I turn “Repeated countries” off to get more variety.
i have repeated countries on since i can remember. i don’t really care about sending to countries, i care more about sending to different people. i’ve sent to some rare countries but they had very boring profiles so there was no fun in that.
also i’m not sending a lot of postcards so i never have all my slots filled. okay well i actually do have now but now i don’t have time for a few days so that’s never a problem for me.
and i hope that i’m making a tiny difference with the card imbalance. it’s not fair that some people are so many cards behind and i always have at least 6 more cards received than sent.
got me thinking. if we all put on repeated countries then the ‘rare’ countries would be equally divided between everyone, no?
For now, I like my variety as I don’t have a lot of slots for travelling postcards. Maybe I will consider this option when I have more slots in future?
As it is now, I am already drawing many repeated countries, so I guess it might not make too much of a difference to me?
I do want my postcards to arrive faster, and I know choosing this option might work, but it might work the other way round too, if I’m sending all to a country where the postal service takes a longer time. For me, I just like variety.
Since the new 2021 I have the repeated countries ticked, and almost only get Germany and USA. Much more Germany, but that means the cards are fast, so no complains. Today I get a new country for 2021: Russia. But also a good thing to send to Russia, because I also want to use international stamps
Repeated countries stats for 2021 (some of them arrived already, others still travel)
Germany: 13
USA: 3
Russia: 2
I have only drawn 4 addresses so far this year, and only one in one go (so 4 on 4 different days) and got Germany twice, once Italy and once USA.
Italy and USA were both members whose sent/received difference was only 1 - I got their addresses right after the “1 more sent card” was registered. These cards are not registered yet but the Italian member has already registered 5 cards, so their address was given out multiple times.
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its rare to get something other than DE, US and RU so it always makes me happy 