Speaking for myself I have received over 5000 cards…even if I did keep them I would probably never look at them again however I do up load all my sent/received cards to my gallery…
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This is a great question I have also thought about many times when pondering why exactly I do Postcrossing!
I am sure everybody has different answer for that, but when speaking of myself: I enjoy the moment of surprise, the waiting to see what is in my mailbox, and the brief connection to people from other places. It fascinates me that I can contact with somebody for so short time, share a bit of thought, and then never heard about them again as we both continue our life just as it has been before. There is also the added excitement of waiting to receive (and send to) card from “new place”, and the writing of cards gives me a nice can-be-done-at-home hobby to do during weekends. Of course, I also collect stamps, so that is a big thing BUT I started collecting them because of Postcrossing, not other way around.
So to put it shortly: for me the goal and meaning of Postcrossing is the process of receiving and sending a card. The card itself is merely a nice outcome that I like, but I don’t hold emotional attachment on cards and even if I kept them all I wouldn’t come back to rewind the fleeing moments with strangers… As there are always new moment to look forward for.
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I would say maybe recycle them but take off any personal details.
however I haven’t done that.
Thanks this helpful to think about. 
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I rarely get rid of cards (the storage boxes in my parents’ home will attest), even after 11 years of Postcrossing, private swaps, and approximately 9 long-distance moves (including 4 transatlantic moves).
It would have to be a really homely or disappointing card for me to dispose of it – and I don’t dispose of it right away. I keep a stack of these disliked cards and review them again before deciding I definitely can’t keep them.
Once the decision is made, I cut off the stamps to save for my collector friends and put the rest in the recycling. I have never thought about obliterating the address…I move so often, what would anyone gain by having my address on part of a postcard?
One thing that I get stuck on is that I dislike duplicate cards. For that reason, I often collect postcards blank – then, if someone sends me a written duplicate, I will send the blank card to someone else. However, I’ve kept all my w&s duplicate cards and don’t know what to do with them. 
Suggestions?
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@Joyful_SMILE Postcards were always a thing when I grew up. We would get them from friends and family on vacation and they would be displayed in the kitchen for a year or so and then one day, they would make room for new cards.
I used to think that that was heartless when I was young and so I stored my correspondence in a little box.
When I started postcrossing, I displayed the cards that I received on my wall and I filled a little book – but that was full soon – and then I started on another wall and another book…
But one day, a horrible thing – or a good thing? – happened. I had to move. I had to move from a very spacey big room to a rather small cramped room and I had to get rid off a lot of stuff (my books 
).
So when I moved, I started to adopt the “tradition” of my family again. I still don’t have enough space to keep all cards that I received and I don’t plan to one day have a big wardrobe full of postcards that I would possibly never look at again. Keeping too much stuff can also make you unhappy! I have postcards on almost all of my walls but I don’t collect them and they make room for new cards now and again. Some are favorites though and will probably still line my walls in years to come.
In the end, postcards are also only a means of communication, aren’t they? Albeit a very pretty one.
I do collect stamps! They are interesting, I like to look at them and you can keep hundreds of them in one thin album, that is quite neat. Maybe I will have to restrict myself in that regard one day, too, but that day hasn’t arrived yet.
I don’t always bin my cards. Often, I cover the text and reuse them as postcards to my friends or in recycling groups in the Socially Good Cards RR 🕊 or ♻ Environmentally Friendly Tag.
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This is a thing I have done with some cards as well. A fun start to some new mail art.
I scan the front and back of all cards I receive, so I can keep them without keeping them. (That being said, at this point I’ve only recycled or thrown away ones I actively didn’t want, as opposed to ones I’m neutral about.) I have 4 containers I store them in, and the space is about 2/3 full - I imagine that once it starts to get full, I will make that my limit for keeping cards and start making some harder decisions.
One reason I started doing this in the first place was so that I could scan and send postcards I liked instead of keeping them and starting a monstrous collection, so it follows that I should really do the same thing with the ones I receive!
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Thanks for your reply. It is so helpful getting all the replies. I hadn’t though too far ahead about collecting except that I wanted a new hobby of some sort. 
Definitely something to start thinking about that’s for sure.
I don’t dispose cards, ever. 
I keep them in some big clear boxes and so far my 5000 or so cards take less than 1m² in my 35m² apartment. I can live with that. 
Maybe I’ll dispose them in the future. But it’s super interesting to read how we all take Postcrossing differently here!
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So far I keep all my postcards I have received (except all the postcards from my childhood / youth, they got lost when I moved). But with three persons on 72m² sooner or later all space will be gone and I also don’t like to live in a room full of boxes. So I think one day I have to sort out.
At first I’ll dispose the duplicates. I still don’t know what to do with them. Cutting out the stamps to give to collectors I think.
Aaah…I don’t want to think about it yet…
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I have that same issue. I toss them in a fabric cube or photo box meaning to organize at some point… its been nearly 3 years and several thousand cards and I have no organization yet. Haha. Some winter I hope to undertake the project of putting them on Flickr or something similar, then I would likely organize them somewhere by person and keep only the ones that were chatty so I could reread and continue the conversation…oh, and handmade ones need a place of honor as well. I have some that I have framed around the house.
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I thought I was going to use the pandemic to finally sort out my ‘piles o’ cards’ but I haven’t. Actually making a start on it right now!
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That is a really interesting topic! I personally, do not discard any postcard. I respect the fact that the sender, took the time and put effort on sending me the card, even if it isn’t one that matches my preferences. Of course, I don’t blame anyone who wishes to think and act different.
Taken the opportunity of this topic, I offer myself, as a volunteer, to whoever wishes to get rid of some cards he/she doesn’t like. You can all send me a message and I will send you my address. I believe, it is better for someone else to keep or store these postcards, rather than be thrown to the recycly bin.
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I don’t think every card is special, but I used to keep them all out of respect for the person who sent it… until this year.
Between moving to another country, being a person who doesn’t enjoy having meaningless things laying around and the realization that I am here for the message part (as I always say, and pardon me if this sounds rude, if I wanted to have just pictures I’d print/buy them myself) and creativity, I had to get rid of some who were sent out of obligation with no care/interest/effort at all.
What is my approach? I cut the stamps to use them to create or decorate postcards (or even to send to some people who like them) and I throw the rest of the card in the recycling bin. These stamps have brought some joy into some people’s mailbox, so I’m glad something good came out of it. 
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to hear that postcards sent are almost easily thrown away makes me sad even though I understand that you have so many that I don’t know where to put them. rather than the pulp, send them to you who will keep them preserved
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Hey, Tizy78! Welcome to the forum! 
I used to think like you, and I know it seems I’m just discarding them but I assure that is not the case. I don’t take them out because of the quantity - I had more postcards than clothes on my bag when I moved to Finland, for example, as I treasure them - I got rid of them because they have no personal, historical, geographical, philatelic value. They are just printed pictures that someone sent out of the obligation so they could receive a card in return for their collection.
I know some people have the possibility to have them preserved in some storage place, but if I can make something special out of it than just send them away to someone else who won’t see them ever again, I’d rather take that approach, that’s why I cut the stamps and reuse them to create, send or decorate postcards. 
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I could never throw away a card. Well, I just started postcrossing so we’ll see in the future. 
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Yeah, I feel you on both of those things. I generally don’t collect things because I find that collections weigh on me after a while. But having to decide what things to bring with you to another country will certainly even further impact one’s opinion of what “needs” to be carried around.
I scan them, and I use the folder they’re in as a rotating background for my desktop, so I continue to see them. But I don’t want to feel oppressed by keeping cards that aren’t meaningful to me (plenty of the ones I’ve received are meaningful in some way, though).
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Oh wow! It’s good to see that I’m not the only one who hasn’t fully organized my postcards, like I wanted to do during this pandemic.
Though I don’t think I have an emotional attachment to my postcards, I know (for now) that I don’t want to toss them out.
Postcards and Postcrossing, especially, are great reminders of all of the good that still exists in our world.
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I keep all my postcards except one I received that stated I was going to hell for not being Christian. I deleted it off my wall as it was digitally uploaded. But I have all 2200 postcards in binders organized so I can look at them and show them to my young nephews who are obsessed with travel and monuments. I have seven 3” binders in my craft room of postcards and I pick a different one to take to look at with them each time. I even started him an account so he can collect them and have a binder for him.
I see this as a way to collect and connect and unless I get another awful message, I probably won’t throw another one away. I almost worry now that the effort I put in to writing and sending is wasted if so many people just throw them away.
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