Expired Postcards

That’s how I see it too. It’s a minor miracle when a flimsy piece of card crosses continents to make a connection between people. That such a small proportion get lost, destroyed, misdelivered or not registered is truly remarkable

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They have the code option, but then there should be written code.
Maybe the sender thought this is prepaid?

I have expired to Germany, that are prepaid, I think three now, one I resent to a forum member with normal stamps, and it arrived. I’ve noticed this happen also before, so I think I now stop buying prepaid or at least sending these to Germany.

But, I just sorted some of my received ones, so many are underpaid! Especially from USA, many cards only have USA postcard or just one USA forever stamp. Always, if I notice this, I report it, but of course I don’t always see it. But I believe many such are not delivered, if they spot it?
(Are so many not aware of the postage, or they think any stamp is enough? And they don’t think to look what is enough? )

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What is a Forever Stamp? Is it a stamp with face value which is noted with a letter from the alphabet?

Right now we have an agiotage with new stamps Ukrposhta produces. Many people started to complain why the last issued ones (with the a tractor and a tank) are so expensive. They chose to print with face value W, which is 1.5$ (9$ for 6 stamps sheet is really quite expensive for us) and is used for letters abroad. We had the dollar exchange rate in NBU (National Bank of Ukraine) rise by 20%, so they became more expensive than the ones with the ship. When Ukrposhta answered that the rise was due to the rise of the exchange rate, people said: "So what? Are these marks from abroad?":joy: Some people really forgot the function of postage stamps, so I am not surprised that some people forget that one should pay for delivering a postcard.

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Yeah, I know about the code, usually a priority mail has it, but there is nothing except what is on the photo.

Most American stamps are sold with the word Forever on them, which can be used if the rate increases no matter that you paid less earlier. Small denomination stamps with numbers are still issued.

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Oh, I realise my confusion with denomination stamps. Forever stamp in the USA is a bit similar to dollar denomination stamps in Ukraine: if it still costs 1$ to send a postcard abroad, no matter how much you paid before, even if the current hryvna/dollar exchange rate changed, you can still do it without adding additional stamps. It is like the price for delievery is not fixed in hryvnas, but is in dollars. But in the USA you have Forever stamps for domestic deliveries and people forget to add more stamps for sending abroad, right?

I think those people may not realize there are different domestic and international stamps. We have a Forever domestic postcard stamp that says POSTCARD on it (44¢), Forever domestic letter stamps (60¢), and International Forever stamps ($1.40) for both postcards and envelopes, same rate each outside USA.

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Anyway these people are lucky to get their postcards received despite the lack of the paid sum, while some fully paid ones get lost.:sweat_smile:

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Hi, I want to share this link

… it inspires to have a more positive look on the chance & possibilities coming from expired cards! :smiley: :wink:

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Good news: After travelling 157 days this card finally arrived! :smiley:

This means, besides the one card I lost more than a year ago (to US), there are only 5 expired cards (2 China, 1 US, 1 Indonesia, 1 India) now travelling from my account :four_leaf_clover: Hopefully some will arrive in time too …

… but one card is already close to becoming expired (54 days to Russia).

So, whatever I’m posting about positive thinking, I still feel with all my cards on their journey. :wink: Looks like I’m still on my journey to more calmness considering expiring cards. :innocent:
But for now it’s as exciting as watching a race … :wink:

I’m trying to confirm that an expired received card does not count towards sender’s next slot, but a timely replacement card does instead?

In other words, 100 Sent including one expired means one more sent needed?

When a card expires, it no longer occupies a slot in your travelling cards and you may send another one. If that card gets registered later, there is no slot to be released. But all the registered cards count as sent, so if that expired card was your 100th registered card, the amount of cards you can have travelling increases by one.

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I was on this website years ago, and none expired. During this return, I’ve had a few expire. My Russian card was actually returned to me, which I understand that one. In a few days, I’ll have 2 more expiring.
I understand the pandemic, but is this really why my cards are expiring?
When I see a profile that seems extra special, I try to do a really good job. I try for all actually, but an example is the card to Belarus I made is very special,
I was wondering if this is happening more now for everyone?

USPS suspended service to Russia, Belarus and China (source), that’s probably why you have expired postcards travelling there. USA postcrossers are not getting addresses to those countries at the moment (you can check postal monitor at the main postcrossing website to see all restrictions for USA). Germany is usually quick, but I also had one delivered there after 258 days, so don’t lose hope yet

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I moved this topic to the matching category.

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Ok, thank you.

I knew about Russia and China. Thanks for letting me know about Belarus.

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This is probably the worst year for mail delivery. This upsets me a lot.

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I had a Belarus card that took about that much time, so yours might be registered soon.

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So far this year 3,75% of my sent postcards have expired, that’s a bit more than last year (3,15% in 2021), but less than in 2020 (4,17%).

It’s not fully comparable because this year I’m sending less cards (I often have free slots).

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