I got a user who wrote a lot of “I DON’T LIKE” in all caps and repeated the type of card they don’t like several times with many “!!!” marks. I tried to avoid those cards but ended up with a card that is different type but I think the recipient still wouldn’t like. I didn’t have any other card so I sent it as it is. Even now the card is still traveling for almost a year and will soon be removed by the system. The user is still active and register postcards regularly. I will be positive, maybe the card just got lost somewhere. I’m not really interested in trying to send a second card so I’ll say goodbye to it forever and move on.
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I agree with you. There might be a little chance that the profile text wasn’t updated since years - when you have 1.000 recieved cards the expectation that senders should look through some pages is ok, but when you’ve reached a 5 digit number this expectation is just unreasonable. 
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I have once sent an art card. The guy didn’t ask to check for duplicates but I did because I only had one card and I wanted to send it to someone for whom it would be new. I went through all of his received cards because it was the kind of card that you can send from anywhere. Well in the hurray message he wrote that he had received the same card two days before mine haha. 
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Just curious, as I haven’t heard of people throwing away postcards. Why do you only keep 80% of the cards you receive?
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One time I draw an adress, where the user said like: “please NO NO NO xy!!! And NO NO NO xy!”. I think, it’s okay to write down things you don’t like, like spiders, if somebody has a phobia against them.
Another time, I draw an very picky profile, where the user wrote down the exact way the sender “should” design the back of the card, like “write down the weather, temperature, date and the ID twice! Also write down “Stand with Ukraine!” for two times!”
I’m quite new to Postcrossing, but I hate it, when people wrote down instructions, that a written in an offensive way a bit too much. It’s okay, to ask for a date etc., but a “please” is always nice! 
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I sometimes throw cards away. I keep maybe 95% of the cards I receive even if they don’t fit any of my collection. Someone gave thought to the card and spent time writing and or decorating it. However I sometimes receive cards I really do not like. Why schuld I keep it? I only have limited space so some cards have to go.
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I don’t keep cards where the message, stamps, and image add up to a card I do not find interesting. It’s not often, but it happens.
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That makes me sad to think I have spent money, time picking out just the right card, time personalizing a message just to potentially have a card I sent thrown away. It kind of makes me rethink doing this.
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It doesn’t mean that it didn’t make the person happy! Would you feel better if they put it in a box in the attic and never saw it again? The result is the same in my opinion, although in the second scenario the person kept the card. After hundreds or thousands of postcards people have to start thinking about the practical aspects like space etc.
What happens with the card after being received is up to the receiver and what is comfortable for them. However, that doesn’t change that your card has brought them joy! I put some cards that I especially love on display. They can stay there for months making me happy every time I come home but eventually, they too will make it into a trash bin.
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Most people keep most cards - its just a space issue when you get into thousands…
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I don’t keep the cards I get. I enjoy them while reading them, the stamps get cut off and sent to Postcrossers who collect them via private swap, and the rest of the cards go into the recycling. I grew up in a hoarder home and have worked very hard to avoid that life for myself. I do have trouble with clutter which quickly becomes overwhelming if I don’t deal with it frequently. As I’ve gotten older more and more of my collections and ‘stuff’ I kept have become burdens rather than joys. I’ve downsized houses several times and plan to do it at least once more (with hopefully am overseas move) and a lot of material possessions doesn’t fit into that plan.
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Totally admire how you handle this (my life is affected by hoarding as well). Good for you. 
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@KimberlyOR It is something that unless a person has experienced it, they cannot truly understand. My best to you. <3
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I wouldn’t have liked to encounter that either! I don’t mind a simple request - stated as a request - like “please put the date on the card” but I’m not going to waste time/space writing about weather unless it’s doing something noteworthy. And as for trying to put words in the sender’s mouth by demanding a specific political statement from them, that is going way, way, way too far!
You can express your opinion on outgoing cards, but you can’t make others express your opinion on incoming cards 
Well, I certainly would, yes! That’s more than half the point of real snail mail versus electronic communication in my opinion. That treasure trove of old postcards or letters some lucky individual gets to find in an attic in the future 
It feels to me like the effort was mostly wasted if all the card does is bring momentary joy to the original recipient, because it had the potential to mean so much more as a nugget of original source history!
I can see tossing an occasional card that is so bad/boring you don’t want to subject the future to it 
but it really does make me sad to think of people throwing away all received cards no matter how interesting the message on them 
That said, I know that once I send a card out into the world it’s fate is out of my hands
Me too! 
I wish everyone cared about saving cards for the future the way I do, but I accept that they don’t, and are participating in this hobby for their own reasons. So, I just try not to think about the possible sad fate my outgoing cards might meet, and focus instead on preserving incoming cards. It also helps to keep in mind that most people save them, so by sending a lot out, you can be fairly sure some will survive 
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I toss a few cards that hold no interest but I am currently clearing out my garage in anticipation of my next move. The reality is one can’t keep everything and my last move taught me how frustrating it is to keep so much stuff. The next move will be much smaller!!
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You only joined Postcrossing a few month ago. You do not have many cards so it is easy for you to keep every card.
I am doing postcrossing for 10 years. I engage in Forum games such as round robins and I do private swap. I have receiced over 10,000 cards over the years and I still keep most of them. However, space is limited. Depending on a persons housing Situation there might just not be that much room to keep every single card you ever receive. I have the luxuary of enough space to store my cards. Others might not be so lucky.
Do not feel sad. Think about how your postcard makes someone happy ones he or she finds it in their mailbox. And maybe yours is so special they will keep it.
Also keep in mind: you can never please everyone. Maybe some day you will receive a card that the sender thinks is perfect for you but for whatever reason you can not enjoy this card as much. Tasts differ and this is a good thing.
Enjoy every card you send and I am sure it will be appreciated by the receiver.
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So have you encountered postcrossers not registering a received postcard they don’t like? Soo cruel 
I think I might be in this situation even though I put a lot of effort and money to sent via airmail a touristy card that is from a very unique series to a certain person in Belgium and there is a very, very long, unusual time the card is still not registered… And this person regularly logs in and registers other postcards from my country and others.
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How can I know? I have sent postcards, that never were registered, but I do not know if the recipient did not do so on purpose or just forgot it or because they never arrived.
And now it is holiday season, maybe the recipient is on vacation. Yes, postcrossing requires a lot of patience and it already did so, when I started back in 2013 and that also annoyed me a bit.
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Earlier this year I sorted all the cards I received since 2021 and threw some away for the first time. I’ve received over a thousand cards and I don’t value them all the same
I categorize the cards I receive in this manner:
A = cards that fit my collection and have meaningful messages
B = cards that don’t fit my collection but have meaningful messages
C = cards that fit my collection but don’t have meaningful messages
D = cards that neither fit my collection nor have meaningful messages
I recycle or throw away cards in the bottom category after I’ve thanked people for them.
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Is that not considered spamming people? I wouldn’t think this would be allowed
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