I did so after registration.
If I get someone with a lot of demands, I find a post card Iām not bothered about losing, write a message on it & thatās it because I know itās more than likely going to be binned.
I get excited when I pick out post cards, decorate the card & find something they are interested in. I had one recently. Out of the 9 cards I sent, 8 of them were decorated etc & the 1 just had a message & some facts about the card. I try not to worry about it too much now. Iām still fairly new.
Itās a concern when youāre putting something like stickers on archival quality/acid-free paper. Most postcards are unlikely to be made from such high quality materials!
Yes, I have run across many profiles with very picky postcard preferences and each usually gives a very long list of what they donāt want. Well, I only have postcards that feature things from their ādonātā list. Out of my collection, I try to pick the one that I think they would like even if itās not their favorite thing.
Got one of these profiles again I feel there is more and more of such profiles ! To me it takes away all the joy of sending a card when people are doing this, itās more like theyāre āorderingā something to you and Iām not gonna make every shop to find something from theyāre wishlistā¦ Also theyāre favorites is also getting a wishlist so you canāt even get some inspiration from it ! And theyāre usually asking for very specific collections that are often more expensive than normal cards ! And I donāt really want to bother picking a card when I know they wonāt like it anyway -_-
I also have my favourites as wish list.
But I think it can also then be used as a āhintā list, similar things are good too, and what the person might like.
And any other card of course.
But if itās really something that looks like an order, or too many no-topics, only way to get rid of those is to report those. These donāt go away by itself suddenly.
Take the profile name or link, write to the postcrossing team, explain it seems too demanding and they will look what makes the profile be better. Of course you can do it too.
You can do it now, and soon the next one getting that profile doesnāt need to feel inadequate.
About collections card, Iām not interested in buying those. I send what I have.
If someone only likes mainly specific collection, they can direct swap those.
And to see the brighter side:
when I have very little cards, and canāt find a card the person has on their wish list, I of course send something. Funnily, then I feel people like it more. Instead of āthank you for sending a card to my collectionā I get replys and comments to my message, and very often they like the card image too.
To someone who only had topics I find hard, I sent a christmas card.
They loved it, as they didnāt even know there are christmas postcards.
But if and when there is many noās, only one or two what they like, reporting will help.
I think this is fine to mention some topics you like in your profile as long as itās not too specific, but to me this is not ok asking only for specific collections, often these profiles have a long list of specific collectons with another long list of āI already haveā¦ so please checkāā¦ This is not the essence of postrossing to me, youāre not in a shop, picking what you like and thatās whatās getting me madā¦ And itās often the same collections a lot of people ask for (gotochi, lou paper, blue cat, inge look etcā¦ just to mention a few) which most postcrossers wonāt have since theyāre issued in a specific country. Also when I take a look to specific collections in my country, it cost a lot (like 3-4ā¬ a card when itās around 0.50cent for a normal tourist card) so I never buy these. Even if I could afford, it would be unfair to spend a lot for picky postcrossers and less for simple onesā¦
But idk if itās āappropriateā to report such profiles cause thereās a lot of them !
If they only ask for specific collection, hinting others are not good, yes, then itās appropriate to report it.
It doesnāt mean bad. They will look at it, and decide what they do or say.
Itās to help every one else and also the profile owner.
I understand those āplease lookā¦I have number 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, ā¦896ā
What ever I do or check, I still might send something that someone else sends around same time. There is no guarantee.
Sometimes those are meant for swaps partners, but of course we donāt know. They can add there: āfor those who swap with meā as Iāve seen in some profiles.
Personally I think specific wishes are ok when there is other ones too, or some mentioning that the sender isnāt put in position where they feel their card isnāt liked.
Out of curiousity I looked at your sent cards, you send lovely cards!
I feel so sorry you feel these profiles take away the joy of your sending
At one point I got many cards apoloqising they didnāt have anything from my wish list.
I am thankful they wrote so (but sad they felt obviously the list is too hard, and that I wouldnāt like others), I tried to make my list more āfreeā, and even wrote not to apologise.
If itās a normalish friendly people, they will try to understand the sender too and not only think their own collection.
I understand it feels you are wasting your money, so instead of trying to make the receiver happy (and not likely succeeding), do what makes you happy. Write the message so itās worth the postage. Or take another address and send this one later, pretending itās a new address, just take a random card and donāt read the profile again.
Sometimes I feel like a profile is so hard, but then I remember, if they are here for somewhat long time, they know they will get all kinds of cards.
And if no one does anything, yes there will be lot of those profiles, and they will say āothers do it tooā, āno one else ever complainedā.
But to think everyone mentioned it, or reported, they can start to think maybe they should change it.
(And Iām not wanting to flood the team with reports, but if this is a problem, something has to be and can be done )
I think itās okay to write down like āPlease donāt sent cards with spidersā or something like āplease no war themeā, because these are understandable and written in a nice tone.
But I came across some profiles with like: āDONāT SEND ME XY!!!ā
It can sound a bit rude in the way they write
I donāt mind people with language problems (English is my second language aswell), but I also saw native speakers wrote in a rude tone
Amyway, what I wanted to say:
Itās more nice to read: āPlease donāt send me XY.ā
than: āDONāT SEND ME XY!!!ā
I always look for a nice perfect card, but when I donāt have a matching one and the member wrote like: āDONāT SEND ME TOURISTIC POSTCARDS!!!ā (in such cases I often send touristic view cards), itās hard to please
Yes, I think the same.
And in general, wishes are ok, even specific, but so that it doesnāt look or imply only those are ok.
Even when I know I can send anything, sometimes I get a profile that makes me feel they only want such or such card, then Iām happy to see the occassional reminder Postcrossing addes, that I can send anything.
Sometimes I write āyou only wrote you collect viewcards, but of course you know not everyone has those, so I send you this card that I bought from x, and I like it because y and bla bla blaaā. So they know I read their profile, and maybe they will add some other themes they could like.
Often the no-themes are something I would not send unless someone wants it, like nude, erotic, gun, war. But if someone has a fobia, then itās good to tell if they donāt for example like a water scene, or dog etc. that otherwise could be common.
For me, the DON*T THIS THIS THIS THISā¦!!!" firstly, itās hard to read, and I think instantly, you donāt tell me what I do, stop shouting you child. Obviously I donāt write that, but I have sometimes written how this long text with capitals, I couldnāt read it, itās hard for my eyes.
I think a lot of this boils down to a simple issue. There is a huge difference between listing preferences but being open to anything (which I canāt help but feel is the āspirit of postcrossingā) and demanding a certain type of card. Personally, I have a fairly long list of things I like on my profile but state more than once that these are just things I like, send me anything with the only things Iāve asked not to have being NSFW cards and things relating to Harry Potter, that still leaves almost any card available.
Iāve noted a few other people saying this too but I am very very sceptical about people who ask for a completely blank card in an envelope. Iām cool with writing the card and putting it in an envelope if thatās a personās preference (again, personally I like my postcard to be a postcard, not a letter and donāt care if it gets a bit damaged), however I draw the line at an unwritten postcard in an envelope. I canāt help but feel thatās very impersonal, unless I add a separate letter thereās no text! As well as that, maybe Iām a cynic, but I canāt help but feel itās a ploy to get free postcards to send back out. If you want to collect pristine postcardsā¦ you can go to a shop? IDK, as I say, Iām probably being cynical but itās how it always comes across to me.
One final ending note, almost everyone Iāve come across on here has been lovely and there are few people who cause any issues, and those issues are mostly very minor from what Iāve seen. I for one wonāt let any bad apples spoil the bunch.
Yeah, I also donāt really like receiving them, sometimes I do, and maybe they are even beautiful cards, but I add them to my cards to send, as they have no personality imo
Actually, on the FAQ page of the official site, it even states (under āIs Postcrossing suitable for collectors?ā):
Not on Postcrossing, but I got an adress from a member, who wrote like: āFor postcards, I like xy, xy, xy. Every card is welcomed, BUT IF YOU DONāT HAVE CARDS OF THESE, PLEASE SEND ME A BLANK CARD IN AN ENVELOPE!ā
āEvery card is welcomedā? It doesnāt sound so lolā¦
Sadly, the likings are very specific aswell. I will look for a nice postcard and will send it
Exactly, itās why I wonāt send blank in an envelope. Happy to send written in an envelope if that is a personās preference, but never blank.
Another thing: One of my favorite parts of Postcrossing is to look for a matching/perfect postcard.
Sometimes, I draw profiles like: āHi, Iām xy. I really love football, so I would love cards showing the football team of your town.ā or like: āHi, my name is xy. I love to go hiking or go to a bar with my friends after work.ā
First one is very specific. I would love to send a card with my towns football team, but I never saw a card like this in my country (Germany)
Second one donāt give me many ideas for cards. Cards showing people hiking? I didnāt found any cards like this. Go to a bar? Sending a card showing beer?
Edit: I finally found a card showing a football team (soccer team)! It waits for the right member to be send
Sorry, I couldnāt resist this card from a photo I took at a bar.
What about cards showing nature, landscapes?
8h, a good idea, thanks!