I also have them as a “Do not want” on my profile. The heyday of Ad cards / Freecards / Rack cards ended some years ago. At one time, they were quite popular with some. Certain topics like perfumes, movies, etc. were quite attractive. As I said, I personally don’t care for them. Whatever cards I had of that type, I either sold, traded or gave away.
I think these types of cards were more popular in Europe. Here in the US, the two main publishers of Ad cards are no longer in business. If you like this type of stuff, you can find it on eBay. Even my wholesale source has stock he can’t move.
@MrsTiggiwinkle Very interesting points… If I really enjoyed the image on the card and the message, I would not be bothered by a “not for sale” sign on the card. I don’t think in terms of how much money someone spent on a card, especially since international postage is often more costly than the card itself. However, I do understand this way of thinking, too.
I feel the same as you about ad cards. My favourite part of a postcard is the message so I don’t mind them. I’ve seen some beautiful home made cards on the forum and main website that it would be a privilege to receive too.
“Note for sale” doesn’t have to mean the cards are ad cards. They are probably free cards, but not necessarily advertising something. I have a set of cards showing the different Euro coins of various countries. They were issued by our ministry of finance and are not advertising anything, but they are marked “not for sale” on the back. You could order them for free at their website many years ago.
I never understood the cost argument anyway. You may have bought an ad card (on eBay, for example) just as you might have gotten regular postcards for free from someone, or at a heavy discount. We never know how much someone actually paid for a card and how much of a dent that made in their personal budget, and I really think it doesn’t matter one bit. I like a card or I don’t - money plays no part in that.
YES! I also think it’s a pity that most users categorically reject ad cards. I’ve sent over 2.000 cards so far and I didn’t solve the mystery “Why?” neither…
I also have some very cute ad cards or what I think are ad cards…
Sometimes I acquire postcards via unknown ways (or forgot where i got them from) and their info on the back are on a different language. So I cant tell if it is an ad card or not! I mean if it doesnt say “shop from Prada” in the front there are chances I wont understand it!
Point is I try to avoid it for people who state it clearly on their profile. If it suits to the likes of someone else I send it. What i hate are the beautiful ones with NO SPACE to write… such a waste!
I don’t “hate” them, but I don’t like them for several reasons:
I’ve never been a friend of advertising neither in TV nor on paper
a lot of them are just - ugly, boring, printed also on the backside (which then is here a so-called “flyer”)
some (more) of them have just a low quality, thin paper
I don’t have any problems that they are for free, as I never calculate the costs of a card 1:1 - for me that’s nonsense.
And if an ad card matches my interests and is a real postcard, well yes, of course it’s welcome.
I wouldn’t mind beautiful cards but a lot of ad-cards boring at best. Also it’s always sad to see flyers on Gallery. They too thin to send, and not good looking at all, why would you send this stuff?
I would love that! That actually shows some of the culture or at least the language (and I can have fun looking for the translation online, unless of course I don’t know the script but some services can do photo translation sometimes).
I don’t like to have restrictions on my profile (except one notable one) so I don’t mind receiving ad cards. It doesn’t happen often. I got a couple of nice ones from hotels/pubs. However for me the default card is a view of a place so from a rare country I would prefer that. I got a really boring ad card, with the ad written in English, from a country I rarely receive from and it was a bit disappointing. But then it can happen with anything (not just ads, and really you can’t describe your taste down to each detail to always get what you like most!), and the message was rather nice.
I used to be open for them but then I slowly got more and more ad cards where I had the feeling that the person wanted to get rid of them. For example I got an adcard for a political party in Poland and I’m not that into politics and the postcard itself wasn’t looking somewhat special. It’s also with quite thin paper, not like cardboard.
I am also confused about the “No-Ad” Card requests. I enjoy all cards I get no matter what the content. I figure the time spent to buy the stamp and fill out the card is priceless so that makes every postcard priceless in my mind. I do not have a large collection of cards to chose from and usually buy a set of cards and send them to everyone until they are gone. Then I move on to a new set. Sometimes I am lucky and am able to find some vintage cards at an antique store or something. But usually my receivers just get one from whatever set I am working out of. I understand the concept of requests, but then again that is all they are is requests, not demands or hardfast rules. I see it as if you really don’t like my card, then toss it. Once it leaves my hands it is yours to do what you wish.
I don’t mind Ad cards as long they are real postcards. But I understand when people don’t want to have them. Mine are quite rare (Freebie from my favorite tea shop and only available if you order from them online) and so I don’t send them out without thought.
The problem here for me are not the ad cards but the hoarders who send you whatever card and even cut out pictures from wrapping cardboxes and magazines. I was so frustrated with them that I took a long pause until I decided that the text and decoration on it is what makes my day. I even put the cards with the written side up in my albums now. Only the great ones on both sides get a single clearfile.
Home made cards made with heart are the best postcard in the world for me. It’s always an honor to receive them
It allows to see the artist in each of us beyond the world
I used to be naive and say in my profile that I don’t prefer AD cards because of what I had seen in my own country: ugly ad cards. But I edited that away pretty quickly as I realised it’s so different from other countries. Even more exciting to see, what is “normal” to them. What to they advertise.
And also in the same topic about free cards. What does it matter? I have many free cards in my “collection”. Or cards I paid almost nothing for from a thrift store.
I received this amazing ad card from Switzerland that advertised a vegatarian restarant. I thought it was amazing. Then I really realised how stupid it was to say I don’t really like ad cards.
I love fountain pens & bottled ink and collect cards showing these. I would be over the moon to receive ad cards for them!!
I send ads cards but only if the profile says they are welcome and the ones I have on hand match their interests (cars, fashion, music, art gallery exhibits etc)
Basically I’ve no problem with free or ad card as long as they are written ! But the problem is people who send whatever and don’t even write on it (I got some of these), to me it’s just people who don’t want to make any effort and just get beautiful cards from others. I feel it’s not respectful and unfair, like, you would just message me the poscard number to register it if you could…
A decent upgrade for all beautiful ad cards with not enough writing space.
I understand the concept of requests, but then again that is all they are is requests, not demands or hardfast rules. I see it as if you really don’t like my card, then toss it. Once it leaves my hands it is yours to do what you wish.