So I just got matched with a “high volume member”. They have sent and received tens of thousands of cards. Does anyone else just not want to get matched with someone like that? Maybe I’m making too much out of it. But I guess it makes me more anxious to send a card to them because they have so so many and in this case their profile is a mile long and lists all the cards they don’t like (hand-made etc. Seriously why do people hate hand-made cards?) I’m gonna send a card anyway and to their credit the profile says “any card is welcome.” But I find that statement suspect after they just told me all the cards they don’t want. Anyway I’m off to send this person my silly little card. I just wondered if other people felt the same way as I do? I like getting matched with someone who’s newer to the site because I guess I feel like they’ll appreciate it more? I’m sure I’m overthinking it. Thanks for reading my ramble.
Yes, it can be a bit intimidating, but most folks I’ve sent cards to, who are in the 5000+ category are very gracious about whatever I send them.
Don’t worry about it, you’ve done your best & that’s all you can do.
I feel there is no correlation between how the card will be appreciated and number of received postcards. Even postcrossers sending and receiving a lot of postcards can be excited to get a new one. I myself like to get matched with these postcrossers, it’s like a little challenge to send something they might not seen 1000x over already
I understand what you are saying because when I send a card I love decorating and using a good variety of stamps and sometimes I think a user who has a lower amount of received cards might treasure it more. Like hang it on a fridge or display it somewhere. I like to think maybe for the postcrossers who only have a few they might not have received something like a decorated card before. I think that makes me feel happy I can make their experience a little different 
I feel the opposite… I feel happy and relaxed when getting someone that has zillions of cards because to me it shows how committed they are to postcrossing and how passionate they are about cards. And they’ll definitely register it, if it gets there at all. And if they are still around, it means that they don’t mind receiving any random stuff that is not in their preferences - otherwise they would have left long ago.
Don’t get me wrong, people with less cards are also reliable, but some come and go or register sporadically and I am always a little scared that they will not register my card because they’ll suddenly lose interest, or pick it up again a year later.
(I have less than 100 cards a year myself (just broke 400 and have been around 5 years) so while I am not a very low-volume postcrosser, I am not one of the top senders either).
Oh yes and also (I thought of this after re-reading previous replies), a member with loads of cards gives me the freedom to possibly send something a bit unusual, since they already have all the most typical cards.
And if you have 15,000 cards, I’m sure you enjoy the message a lot because not all cards will be your favourite themes or images. Maybe you (opener of the thread) just came across someone who would be picky regardless of how many cards they have.
But I’d rather get someone with 15,000 sent received than someone who sent 5 cards, registered 1, last seen 29 days ago… (but is still owed a card so I have to send it, and yes a lot of the times they are actually active and will go on to send and receive a lot more, but a lot of the times they also are not and disappear, as we tend to complain in other threads).
I’m happy to get the high-volume Postcrosser, because I can usually send a card I really love, and I can tell them about it. They might already have the common tourist cards of my area, so I’ll send something less common. But I don’t stress about duplicates, because every card is unique with the stamps, decorations, and most importantly the message.
One thing I would like to ask high-volume Postcrossers is how they found out about Postcrossing so early. I wish I could have! But better late than never 
I always wonder how one becomes high-volume Postcrosser having sent/received cards above 5K/10K and so on. I am into Postcrossing since 2015 and I am still at 902/844.Just asking.
.
send. send. send.
I like when the higher volume post crosser states that duplicates are okay and that they are looking forward to my message. Ideally, I want to send something new to them, yet when they say they value the message I feel less pressure. Ironically, a handmade card would be one of a kind! And a vintage card may have less chances of having duplicates. I think if a person is still active, they will still be gracious and interested!
At first I felt the same as @gatton , I was really intimidated by the numbers and the looong list of specifications. But it turned out that very often there are very nice people behind those profiles. 
(Who knew?! 
) They responded with very warm hurray messages. So, the amount of postcards is not scaring me anymore)
I am at 8800 cards now, so I guess I am a *high volume postcrosser".
I can say that I still enjoy every card I get. They all are different. Sometimes you like the motive of the card, sometimes the stamps, sometimes the messages and most times a combination of all. I have uploaded almost all cards (the walls were not there at the beginning of postcrossing) but I would never expect one looking through to prevent duplicates. Even if a card shows the same motive it can’t be a duplicate because every card comes from a different person who took time and money to write to me.
Well how to become a high volume postcrosser… I started in 2006 so it’s been 15 years now. No other pricey hobbies, don’t go out or smoke for example. And here in Germany stamps are not as expensive as in many other countries
So don’t be discouraged by such a profile, most of the high volume postcrossers will appreciate the card you send. Postcrossing is not about hoarding cards, it’s about having fun with others 
@gatton My jaw just dropped! 
Sadly I am not such a high-volume Postcrosser, I wish I had the energy to send more cards, however, I have been postcrossing for a very, very long time and love it now as much as at the beginning, if not even moreso each day! 
If people specify, what they like, that is only helpful and many people just don’t like every kind of card. Like they say (in different places here on the forum), some are in Postcrossing for the “connection”, some for the “collection”!
Most people would just like best to receive what they like best. That is almost needless to say!
But sometimes cards come, one wouldn’t even think about, and they might be totally brilliant. That probably really broadens the horizon!
Also, personally, I like when people are passionate about what they love and stick with it! 
I would rather have the same gorgous cards repeatedly, because, like is mentioned above, they are still different.
My best advice is: just send the best card you can match to the profile and don’t consider it “silly” or “little” (unless, of course it is particularly small! 
).
Those, that have sent a lot must have been around for quite a while, so they are used to all kinds of “feelings” when receiving a card!
Welcome to Postcrossing and stick around, gatton!
I don’t yet have more than 5k sent cards but I have more than 4k sent and received. So speaking from my own experience: I was more picky about cards when I started Postcrossing. When I had received a cards that did not have anything to do with cards I like, I was rather disappointed. With time I got more relaxed about this and realized that behind every postcard I receive is a member that hopefully puts thoughts into the card sent to me plus they spend the time to write on it and maybe even decorate it. The back of the card became much more important to me over time.
I am also not a big fan of handmade cards but have received some over the time. You can still send whatever you like. Handmade cards can be really nice and done very well. A reason why I do not favour these cards is that also over the time I have received some kind of “trash” that was declared handmade. Maybe this is just some kind of art I don’t understand.
Long story short: I am sure many of those who have received many cards and have been on postcrossing for a long time think the way I do. They appreciate the card for what is written on the back and the time and thought the sender put into this. At some time it can’t be avoided so send a card the receiver already has. It happens but because the back is different all the time you will never send the same card for that reason.
When Postcrossing was about a month old, an American penfriend, who ended up writing only a handful of letters to me and then vanished, wrote to me about Postcrossing.
I was very, very lucky to have found out about it so early and am thankful for it every day! Postcrossing has enriched my life immeasurably, I can’t emphasize that enough!
She obviously only came into my life to tell me about Postcrossing.
And YES: better late, than never!
I definitely sympathize. And I think it’s a natural reaction for anyone new to a hobby to have a preference toward engaging with it with people who seem more on the same level with themselves. I’m newer/low card count myself and I do feel a stronger affinity for those who are in the same boat. High volume members can be intimidating. I have had one who requested no duplicates! At the same time, one of the nicest hurray messages I’ve received was from a high volume member who was very happy with the card I sent showing my small town. That’s one thing I’ve learned: if you do have a good source of hyperlocal cards, milk it for all it’s worth! But on the whole, I think it’s just another aspect of playing postcrossing: sending postcards to all sorts of people all over the world at various stages of the hobby.
@gatton Oh, haha, I only just realized that you have been a Postcrosser since 2011! At first I thought you were new, because of the “39 cards”! Silly me! 
So, my “welcome” is totally belated! 
I’m not in the 10k or more area, but I guess 4k+ probably is enough. like others before I have to say that I became much more relaxed over time. Send me something I never thought of? How cool! Send me the same card for the 5th time? I wonder how many copies I can collect!
We’re really not monsters, just people who really really love Postcrossing.
i can understand you are a bit intimidated by so many sent and received cards. for me the profile itself makes the difference. sometimes people have thousands of received cards and they ask to check 28 links to 3827 collections to avoid duplicates. i’m not doing that.
if someone has a lovely profile which makes it easy to pick out a nice card and write a nice message then i don’t care about any numbers, or where someone lives, or anything like that.
Regarding the Handmade cards:
There are a few threads about this topic. Check out this one for example:
I think the biggest reason is that they think most of them aren’t really nice. The sender didn’t put much effort into it and so on. I guess with some handmade cards I could even agree. But I also received some that are just a piece of paper glued to a card and they are beautiful it just depends on your taste. I mean, I also receive store bought cards that I find ugly But I don’t mind that because taste is different. And since the sender made the effort to send me that card I like it, even though it’s picture isn’t to my taste.
If you like to make handmade cards and send them people who love them, then you should check out the handmade RR
Oh and you should also check out this thread to see that there are also A LOT of people who love them!
You write as if everybody with more than tenthousand cards received would be so picky. I have written to many of them, but I never had a picky profile among them. In fact they are the easiest to please!