Do you prefer to buy postcards online or in person?

Postcrossing General Topics
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Do you prefer to buy postcards online or in person?

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I bought cards online, but the first time I bought a collection of cards from a woman ex-postcrosser.

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I prefer to buy them in person, because that means I traveled somewhere. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: We have very few places here that sell them.

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I used to prefer to buy them in person but it’s so expensive nowadays that it’s not fun anymore. :frowning:

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I love the variety you can find online. I buy most of them from small Etsy sellers :smiley:

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I am buying cards in person. In person I can buy only touristic cards, but online orders would always be from abroad, with high customs taxes.

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I love to buy in person because I love looking at all the cards available in a store. However, I am often forced to buy online because there are no stores that sell postcards at all where I live - I can get folded cards but not postcards. So when I go some place where they actually sell postcards I am in heaven :slight_smile:

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It doesn’t matter to me.
Sometimes cards are cheaper when You buy them online. I’m also collection old cards and there are not a lot of shops where You can find them. The problem is also when You visit a city, You find out that there aren’t a lot of postcards anymore. In the 70’s and the 80’s there were more postcards.
When You’re buying them in person You find sometimes cards from illustrators that You didn’t know of. I was last in Namur in a little shop. There were fantastic postcards.

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I would love to buy in person, but since it is so expensive these days, I mostly buy online. Of course, I also enjoy browsing cards online, but it’s more comfortable in real life.

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I prefer buying them in person. On rare occasions I buy online, from an artist on Etsy, or a box set.
Otherwise all bought in person, wherever I go, I keep my eyes open.

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I prefer to buy them in person. The only time I bought some online were sets that weren’t being sold in a regular shop.

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Hi, I prefer to buy them in person. Because I love to brows through shops and find the right ones. If I am lucky they sell them 5 for 4 so that s a bonus. But we still do have a lot of little shops where you get them, because a lot of people don’t sent postcards anymore only fold cards.

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I love to buy them in person! But, as many have said, it has become expensive. And unfortunately I don’t have that many shops in my area that sell postcards (not folded one! I was surprised). But I always keep my eyes open :smile:

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I’d prefer to buy all of my postcards in person because I really like to feel the weight of the cardstock and make sure it’s not too flimsy. But I end up buying most of my cards online because fewer and fewer places here stock postcards these days. Even in the almost two years I’ve been Postcrossing, I’ve noticed a decrease in postcards available face-to-face.

I’ve made many, many purchases on Etsy. Unfortunately, a couple of them have arrived with the card being disappointingly thin and useless for mailing, in my opinion. And the vendors often don’t detail what thickness card they are using. So I end up having to message and ask them what they are using.

I also now ask if they’re printing at home or professionally. I’ve received a couple of orders that were home printed jobs…and not great quality. So if this is not addressed in the item description…I also ask that.

I don’t think I’m a fussy person…but decent cardstock and high quality printing is pretty important to me. :grimacing:

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i like buying cards in person, but i don’t do it as much. i do live in a touristy town so there are quite some stores that sell postcards, which is fun if you visit for a day but after that it’s all a bit of the same.
so i buy most of my cards (and washi, and stickers) online. which is also quite fun as most shops make it like a little present so when it arrives in my mailbox it feels like it’s my birthday.

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I agree with you about the taxes! I’m more and more only looking at Aussie vendors on Etsy because the spiralling postage costs, and the extra 10% GST that Etsy whacks onto any overseas order I make…is just making many international purchases prohibitively expensive. I truly love supporting local business…it’s just that we have relatively few people making and selling postcards here…so it really limits the selection.

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When I lived in South Carolina there was only one store anywhere near me that sold tourist cards. I would buy a few on the rare occasion that I was in that area, but I bought 99.9% from online sources - eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and other websites. Some have been fabulous; some not so much.
Here in Florida I’m in a much more touristy area and there are nice, inexpensive cards everywhere - a great selection of state and local views, and I go in and browse every time I’m out and about. I doubt I’ll need to buy any more online unless I decide to get some Florida cards LouPaper.

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I prefer buying in person, and while a few of my favourite shops sadly closed last year, fortunately being in a metropolitan area in Germany means I have a lot of choices.

I only order cards online when I know the quality of the cards (knowing the brand/publisher or having received them before), for all the reasons mentioned by @Tinkatutu.

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I like buying postcards and stamps in person because people in local tourist shops know me and it is nice to meet them :slight_smile:
When I was in Egypt :egypt: I bought postcards from local people on the street of the city Luxor and for 20 beautiful undamaged postcards I paid only 34 egyptian pounds which is like 1€!
But for online it is sometimes more expensive so I prefer buying postcards in person.

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I like buying in person but as others have said it’s often difficult to find postcards many places and if I can they are often quite expensive. For example the other day I saw some for $3.50. They were just standard size and nothing really special imo. With postage they are $5.00 which would mean I have to choose carefully who to send them to which means they’ll likely sit in my postcard box unused for quite a while so I didn’t end up getting them.

I enjoy picking up postcards when I travel - they bring me joy to look at later when I get them out to send to someone. But it’s so hard to find affordable ones!

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