Actually I did today! I was near a store that might sell the type of postcards that would make a recepient happy… and they had them!
Usually, if I can’t meet a request, I send something from my collection that is close to someone’s wish.
I do both, I buy them on-line and I collect them while traveling or visiting some interesting places. If anyone wants, I do hand made ones too.
I started with typical single view and multi view tourist cards from gift shops by the beaches. I also had a book of Frida Kahlo postcards pre Postcrossing. I usually pull from that stash.
Now I am venturing out to some of our unique museums in St. Pete, Florida to add to the variety. I also did pick up a few postcards of lighthouses and architecture as it is mentioned in quite a few profiles.
In the future, I’d like to find or make postcards that thematically match stamps. The Yogi Berra stamp with a drive to Tampa and some photos of Steinbrenner Field then dazzle & done. As Yogi would say, “When you see a fork in the road take it.”
I’ve looked around on the forum and based on that I bought a stash of postcards. I try to send something the receiver would like, but I’m not prone to cooperate of they are pushy “I only want this or that”.
Back on topic, I have a stack of different kinds of cards and hope that I won’t have to go shopping for cards in the near future 
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WELCOME to POSTCROSSING! 
I am also new to Postcrossing. I have been collecting postcards randomly for ages but not displaying them or using them so I thought I had quite a good stash to send. Then my first few recipients were requesting cards from my town or city so I bought a stash of local postcards from a tourist shop. All my recipients since have been people saying they don’t like ‘tourist’ cards and with long lists of what they like so I just bought a mix of 30 cards online! I tried to pick things that I like. Hopefully I have something to please everyone!
Happy postcrossing!
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No, not right now anyway. I had bought three boxes to use for a subreddit on Reddit for swapping cards, so I have a pretty big stash, but I have some loose ones as well.
I started postcrossing pretty recently and at the beginning I bought a few postcards of my city. Then I found a few online shops that I really liked and ordered from there, and I think my small stash can cover the bases of what my recipients could like
Hi there!
I’m new to Postcrossing, but I am already really enjoying it! I’ve noticed a lot of people request very specific cards in their bios. I also know we’re not required to adhere to their suggestions, but my question is do you aim to purchase the more popular cards so you can satisfy as many requests as you can (i.e. Lou Paper, MOTW, etc…)? Or do you just pick cards you like? I don’t want my cards to go straight in the trash when they are received, but I do enjoy picking out nice postcards from my city to send that aren’t necessarily from a popular brand.
Would love some more experienced feedback!
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I am only 2 months in. I pick up a few touristy cards when I see them, I have ordered bundles off Amazon, found wasaaay too many at thrift stores, and yesterday added a bunch of unique cards found at a second hand bookstore.
I participate in a lot of tag and RR so I’m always looking for variety. But sometimes I still don’t have the card for a collection. So I send something that I like and talk about why I like it.
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I suggest staying away from trends…in a few months those expensive cards will be replaced by some other fad. I recommend an assortment of tourist type view cards of your town/area (tons of historical sites in the Richmond area so those would be appreciated), nature scenes, a few cute animals (great for kids), perhaps map cards and maybe some holiday cards (you can find Christmas ones cheap on ebay now)
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The things I enjoy the most about postcrossing is picking the card, reading profiles and checking collections so I don’t mind specific wishes and I try to have a bit of variation.
I’d give yourself 6 months or a year before worrying about buying specific kinds of cards for Postcrossing.
There are people who collect certain cards on PC and that’s fine, but it’s not your job to fulfill their collection wants.
I have very few of those kinds of cards, as do many others and it’s not a problem.
It may be more of an issue in the Forum as people often are asking for more specific cards in trades, but I’ve done over 200 trades in the last year without any special cards - just tourist views mostly or other nice cards work just fine. Enjoy!
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My advice is to not think about brands, but select cards that are either unique to your area or are otherwise interesting.
I tend to avoid the big brands because I want to support local produced cards and I find them more interesting, but I do have couple of Inge Löök cards now and then… And it often takes long time to get those sent because of course when ever I get a profile collecting them, they already got the one I have. So you can buy couple of the big brand cards, but do not use your whole budget on them because the chances are it will take a long time to get them on travel. Instead, look for more local cards that have smaller chances to be commonly received (everybody can buy brands online, but only few have access to your local tourist card shop or the products of neighborhood photographer). Big brand cards are however great for private swaps if you ever plan to do those.
Some themes are popular like cat cards always go fast, tourist cards and nature views are also quite common on wish lists… But there are also so different people here on Postcrossing so I think it is just best to buy as many different cards as possible. The weirder, the better. Postcrossers sure like weird stuff on cards.
Also the text on cards is at least 50% of the card experience so even if the picture doesn’t match the wish list, with a nicely written, creative text you get a happy card receiver 
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I began buying the postcards I liked, just like you. But now a buy, wherever I go, more variety, as I’ve seen that many people like other things. For example, I don’t really like multiviews, however, I’ve found profiles that really appreciate them, so I pick up multiviews too. Same happen with maps, traditional costumes, food… I don’t keep a large stock, but I try it to be assorted.
As for the big brands, specific colections or so… If you stay around here enough time, and you speak about it enough in your circle, sooner or later a friend or relative will appear with a 100 thematic postcard box as a present
Edit: forgot to say, as a receipent, I NEVER throw them away, no matter how far from my preferences the postcard is. And I honestly believe most people keep them.
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I try to show my part of the world, so I do not really send very many cards with cute pets or comics and other gereric stuff.
Welcome to Postcrossing. As several members have noted here, when starting out you might want to send postcards of a general nature. Wish lists on profiles are nice - but they are just that. Don’t assume that people will toss your card into the trash.
There are a wide variety of sources for postcards. If you want additional information, send me a private message.
I’m one month in and i love it
I also look at their profile if i have what they like 
i send it.
However if i don’t …i just shut my eyes 
and pick from the ones i bought from Amazon, Cracker Barrel and Taylors Book 
and I don’t worry 
about people throwing them away
Hi @laurenthomasv, I moved your question over here, where similar questions have been discussed previously.
Enjoy Postcrossing!
Many people like to get a card with the US-State name, state capitol, state bird and/or state flower on it. So maybe it is a good idea to have four or five cards of them availabe as a beginner.
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