@PleiadianDragon Not just decor! 
There are wooden ones, copper and other metals, heavy cardboard, and even cork postcards (from Portugal). Also 3-D viewer postcards (must be sent in envelope), and rotating postcards. I’ll edit this post to include some pix of unusual postcards later. Right now it’s way past bedtime. Maybe there’s a thread just for unusual postcards, since it’s a little off-topic here…
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I would enjoy seeing them if you get a chance.
Depends entirely on the country. Each country has its own rules about size, shape, and weight, and what “counts” as a postcard or not.
Unfortunately, Germans seem to be rather rectangular by nature… although we can receive postcards of any size or shape, to send for the postcard rate we have to stay within the prescribed size, shape and weight boundary or send the card in a (rectangular, not square) envelope. Other countries have different rules.
If they fit the size/shape/weight guidelines the material doesn’t matter so much. I wouldn’t send a square of silk, but cork / wood / metal / 3D-Lenticular all go through fine. The problem with these postcards is that they cost a fortune and the 3D ones especially are often badly damaged by the postal machinery when sent “naked”
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Huh, in my country it goes by weight. I have some larger, fairly thick postcards, but since they still weigh under 20 grams I pay the usual prize. However, I can’t really decorate them other than with doodles and such, otherwise they would become too heavy. (If I used papers and stickers and such.)
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Thanks for sharing! That was nice of them!
It costed me $15 USD to send this wooden postcard to Ukraine! I had to send it as a package🤷🏻♀️ It’s been over 30 days and still hasn’t arrived🤦🏻♀️
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Oh, no! I think the postal clerk didn’t know it was considered a letter, and charged you for a package. That’s terrible! But travel times to Ukraine are always very long (for me), so there is still good hope that it will arrive and be registered.
This thread gives more info on mailing wooden postcards:
That was very kind of you though!
Usually when sent as an overseas package you get the tracking customs number on the receipt
I use both 35 cents for domestic 4x6 and 5x7 cards
And $1.20 for international 4x6 and 5x7 cards and my cards arrive normally
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You need 55 cents (letter rate) for 5x7 postcards as they are considered oversized. @princeofasturias
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In the US you can mail all kinds of things without packaging. My sister once sent me a flip flop with stamps on it. And I’ve seen a number of people put stamps on a potato and mail them.
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This thread has some good info that confirmed what I have read elsewhere. However today I tried mailing my first metal (copper) postcard and the postal workers absolutely refused to accept it, insisting the only way to send it was to place inside an envelope and complete a customs declaration form.
It is not even very rigid and is a “novelty” postcard purchased at a gift store, clearly designed/marked to be sent as a postcard. Inquiring about that, the postal workers then seemed to say that it was because it is being sent internationally (to Russia) and that is why it can’t be sent. I had more than enough (or so I thought postage) with a dollar stamp and butterfly (so $1.88 total at today’s price).
I’m not sure if I should go back at a different time to see if someone else will help me, or that I really can’t send one without using an envelope, which just seems weird to me.
I don’t know if anyone else has experience sending a postcard like this from US, internationally or not. This was the closest thread I could find relating to the topic.
This is the postcard I’m trying to send:
https://community.postcrossing.com/t/especially-special-card-offer-tag/111155/187?u=bendoodle
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I’d try a different postal worker, or a different post office. I’ve had a wide range of responses from various post offices about mailing things internationally, even when I’ve checked online first.
One thing that worked for me (with a wooden card) was to stamp it with more than enough postage, make sure my return address was on it, and chuck it into the blue USPS collection box. I believe they have an obligation to deliver it.
If the card is particularly rare, and losing it would be a misfortune, I’d try one more more time at the postal counter and then send it in a sturdy envelope. Good luck!
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Excellent idea
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unfortunately the wooden postcards will never be able to be sent for normal prices…they are rigid and not bendable…that immediately makes them a package according to the new regulations…I work for the post office in the usa
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Oh, darn! I’m sorry to hear that. I have a lot of Lantern Press wooden postcards in my stash. Guess I’ll just hang on to them 
Edit: Would it be possible for you to post the new regulation? The only thing I can find in the International Mail Manual is section 241.217.e, regarding first class international mail, which looks like it allows a rigid item in an envelope, as long as it has an additional non-machinable surcharge.
that is where SOME clerks may let it slip thru…with the non-machineable…but the vast majority will not. the ones at my post office won’t but I usually put the postage on and slip it into the outgoing mail bin/slot rather than present it over the counter (the sorting plant people are not likely to reject things that can be iffy, they will assume it came over the counter). I would never pay the $17 price you had to. I would shop around until I found a clerk that let it thru…if you go to the website and select the calculator by size and shape…I chose letter size and content is rigid! I estimated 2oz for a piece of wood and got the end result of just under $3
I am not a clerk…I can only go by what I am told about the not bendable/rigid making it a package. looks like you have room to argue the next one if the website says it still be sent for just a special handling surcharge added.
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Thanks so much for that calculator, @Angeldreamer. I don’t have to be sad anymore: I weighed my wooden postcard (it’s a little hard to see the weight in the photo) and it’’s only 1 oz, so the calculator says $1.60, which is first class international postage ($1.30) plus the non-machinable surcharge ($0.30). I can still mail them after all, yay!
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