I received this postcard three years ago, but I was so sad when it arrived… It’s one of the most beautiful postcards I’ve ever got, but the damage that was done on it is terrible. It came from China btw.
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Oh that’s so sad! It must be especially bad for the sender. I would be a little hurt if my cards got ruined like that even if it wasn’t necessarily on purpose. I receive cards with little scratches and stuff but I’ve never received one that bad. I actually like it when cards have “scars” I think it gives them character. (If they’re ripped in half that’s a different story)
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Arrived today in a plastic “We Care” bag from USPS: one half of a wooden postcard from Germany! I will ask for help with the ID. My heart breaks for the kind Postcrosser who took the trouble to send this nice card to me, now that it is a coaster (beer mat) instead.
UPDATE: 19 February 2021 — the ID was located and the card was registered, thanks to Postcrossing admins!
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This is exactly why I ask for cards, and especially handmade and vintage cards, to be sent in an envelope if possible. I know there are people who like “travel scars,” but too often I receive “travel corpses” otherwise!
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Recently I have received my first damaged postcard. It has been torn into three parts. Luckily the address and ID were still visible, so I was able to register it. But the message was missing. I was especially pity because the sender had chosen postcard from my wishlist.
I started to think how it could happen? Did someone do it on purpose? How often does it happens?
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Not often so far, a few bits ripped off mostly, but it does happen eh? The postal sorting machines are big & fast & I can see how a postcard could easily get mangled. And remember they go through multiple machines in multiple countries on their journeys so it’s actually surprising more mail isn’t damaged.
Check out this video from USPS - best one I’ve seen on how our mail gets processed.
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Infrequently. The USPS is notorious with damaging mail. What also bugs me is when beautiful stamps have a strike-though with a ball point pen. Lazy clods…
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I have received more than 800 cards so far and none of them was badly damaged. I don’t even have one with ripped off parts.
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That’s definitely might be the case. I was always thinking that stamps are canceled manually 
Those sorting machines look really cool. Thank you for the informative video. Now I am wondering, if Latvian post has something similar. Will try to figure it out.
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Most modern postal services have some kind of sorting machines - there are still many countries that don’t but most countries in North America & large parts of Europe do. But it’s fun to try & find out!
İt’s kinda cool actually.
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Although I am new at postcrossing, I have received mail in the US for over six decades. I am sure I could count on one hand the number of times I have received damaged mail in a plastic bag. Nips, scars, and tears, oh yes, quite a different matter!
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I would say about a third of the “naked” cards I received are damaged in some way. I also admit I am pickier at how I define “damaged” than others here in the Forum.
Yeah, when the card is torn or even ripped in half, I think we all agree. In addition, if the card is smeared, smudged, or scraped by the machinery, I call that “damaged.” I think if the postmark appears on the image side of the card that is also “damaged.” I am also now getting a bit irritated when instead of a cancellation the stamps are scribbled through with a pen or (even better) a thick black marker, and I think that is also “damage.”
I know that a lot of people call such things “travel marks” and welcome them, but they just make me sad.
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This card from Latvia is the worst damaged card I have received so far. ID part was missing too if I remember correctly (I have binned the card so cannot check it). Fortunately things like that don’t happen often, only once to me so far and I have received over 11.000 cards and have been writing letters and postcards since 1967.
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Great video from a stamp expert on pen cancelling - thanks to @yudi for posting
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Helsinki Post wants to tell me my postcard is damaged… by placing a sticker right in the middle of the postcard 
Come on, it was only wrinkled!
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It is better to get a card damaged than never receiving it 🥲😅
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Last summer, when our regular postman was off sick, we had a spate of postcards being bent as the postman put them through our [normal sized] letter box. We don’t have a regular postman any more, and fortunately have not had problems until this happened today. The postman had delivered a parcel as well, so was still there, waiting for me to pick it up off the doorstep, and I asked him why he’d had to bend the postcard. “To get it through your letter box.” Hopefully, he listened to my plea not to do it again.
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