I sent a longer time secound postcards but some of them also never arrived. Now I only send a secounf postcard when I see that the user is activ and send postcards.
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ā¦ meanwhile 7 cards expired (to 6 different countries, US, China, Russia, France, India, Indonesia),
one of them registered because receiver was deleted,
total of 56 cards sent and registered in 2021.
ā¦ and received one card from India after travelling for 198 days ā¦
ā¦ so staying patient (sometimes more sometimes less), hoping the best ā¦
I currently have only 2 expired postcards. One of them was sent to an active member from Germany (probably lost) and other one to a member from USA who havenāt login for the last 9 months. 
Thereās also a card I sent to Russia that is about to expire and the person havenāt login for the last 22 days, but I think thereās still hope for this one. 
Iāve sent 64 postcards in 2021, most of them to Russia, Germany and USA. 
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One very bizarre thing is that my cards are having problems reaching the Netherlands. I have one at 54 days, one at 236 and one at 329. All to active members. One card arrived in the Netherlands in the last few months and my penpal there is receiving my stuff. Itās kind of frustrating though, there is no mail suspension or anything.
Iāve been considering resending the first one (now at 329 days) but I still find that resending is kind of weird and it will never replace the first card sent. Also since 3 out of 4 cards sent to that country are lost, Iām not so confident. And itās too late now before the 365 days limit, since it could still take ages.
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My expired postcards at the moment. I rarely resend, but this time I think Iāll send a new postcard to Germany. This is my first expired card to Germany so it makes me feel so frustrated.
November 12, 2021 sent two postcards to America. And they still have not arrived. It was somehow exciting whether they were lost ā¦ Last time everything wonderfully reached America.
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Iāve had 6 expired cards to the US in the last 6 months which is very, very unusual for mail from Canada to the US.
I think between the cuts to the postal service plus staff off with COVID is probably what is causing this, but itās very frustrating.
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Apologies in advance if this has been answered. If so, I kindly suggest it be added to the FAQ.
When a user sends a card and it is registered, our address goes into the rotation and we can also send another card. However, when a user sends a card and it expires, I understand we can send a card to another user, but does our address get re-added into the rotation to receive another card?
It isnāt clear to me after much research on the topic. Apologies in advance if this has been answered. If so, I kindly suggest it be added to the FAQ.
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@kissthebeehive You find the answer in the FAQ, question 2.5:
How does Postcrossing work?
Once a postcard you have sent has been registered, youāll be eligible to receive a postcard! It may take some time for it to be delivered, but as soon as your postcard is registered, another random user will send a card to you.
Your card needs to be registered to be eligible to receive a card. So this doesnāt apply to expired cards, as they didnāt get registered.
When a card of you expires a slot get free and you can draw another address.
For this expired card you donāt get a card back, because it isnāt registered.
I move your question to another Topic where we discussed about Expired Cards.
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Billie explained it clearly. Yes, I see in the FAQ how postcrossing works, but the FAQ doesnāt clearly explain my inquiry. I stand my my suggestion to more clearly explain that expired postcards will not prompt receipt of a postcard from another user.
Thank you for your response nonetheless.
Iām serious! I get so upset when postcards expire, especially when I put a lot if effort into finding the perfect card! In some cases, like when its a very far away country, or the address is very long and originally in a different alphabet, its understandable that something could have happened to derail their way so they get lost and never arrive.
But some time ago I sent a card to the Netherlands, a neighbouring country, which usually only takes 2-3 days, and the address was very easy to write, and it was so surprising that this card got lost and expired on such a short journeyā¦ It was especially disappointing because it was to a lady who collects teddy bear cards, and I had one in my collection that was perfect and which I had kept especially for such an unusual request.
I really wonder what could have happened? Sloppy mailmen, fallen behind a counter, got ātakenā by someone who also collects cards? Any ideas? I think i will wonder forever about this cardā¦and all the others too, of courseā¦
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Aside from what you said about far away/not easily accessible countries or adresses in other alphabetsā¦ well, postcards are small pieces of paper, after all.
They can get irreplacable damaged and some times they justā¦ fly away and get lost forever (I suggest reading about āAmbulance coversā or looking about that on youtube, I think Explore Stamps has a topic about that).
HOWEVER. Sometimes the system works, it is just the slowest of the snails. And the postcards that we lost in a fairly easy route found they way home many, many months later.
To put an example on something that happen to me months ago:
I sent a postcard to my aunt and her family. My aunt lives ten minutes driving from whre I live, in the big city next to my smaller town that takes 15 min to reach by public transport. Same area, same postal systemā¦ You get the idea.
I sent it in July, it should have taken a weekā¦ IT ARRIVED IN OCTOBER!!!
It would have taken me half an hour to walk there and hand deliver it myself!
It got lost along the way in the system and it ended up with a pretty cool cancellation, I wrote a post here [Triple inverted]
My point isā¦ postcards that expire are marked as so after just 60 days. If postcrossing teaches you anything, is to be patient and never loose faith!
And yes, it is frustrating when a card that you so thoughtfully loved never reaches destination, but hey, thatās why we have emails, phone calls and even video-calls, so the actually important messages never get lost again.
I hope you card finds its way home, eventually.
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I once sent a card to myself from vacation in Luxembourg - also a neighboring country. It arrived several months later. Or, more precisely, half of it arrived, protected by a plastic bag. A large chunk was torn off. Even on a short journey horrible things can happen to innocent postcards.
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Wow, that is amazing! I guess if I ever have to send a postcard within my city, Iāll consider delivering it myself! 
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Postcards are so brave, facing the world as just a piece of paper with some shinny coat. 
Oh, and that half of postcard in an envelope is an Ambulance cover.
Some people collect those unfortunate accidents!
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Oh my- thank god there is a good cancellation though XD
I remembered I had tried mailing a short-distance postcard from to my school address from a mall right next to my school (yes you read this correctly). I mailed it at 4pm on a Sunday and it arrived at my school on Monday around 10am. Thatās surprisingly fast 
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Watch this video on sorting machines from the US Postal Service - the majority of larger countries in NA & EU use these kind of machines to sort mail - itās amazing that as many postcards make it through these machines as they do. Small pieces of paper are pretty easy to lose or get mangled.
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We have many cards lost inside our own countryā¦
Itās so sad and frustrating, our postal service is a big joke. They keep rising the prices when the service quality gets worse every year.
Itās always sad when it happens in postcrossing because you choose something perfect and they might never see it.
But itās part of the hobby and we just have to accept it. We can be sad or even angry about it but itās unfortunately reality.
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