For they sent more postcards. I have seen a statistic last year, that their number of sent postcards reduced from more than 1 million to 600,000, but I cannot find it right now.
I’ve started 8 years ago yesterday (have eaten the traditional digital cake already 
), January 2014. Third quarter of 2015 my stats* show ~25 cards sent/received a months. So I guess it takes 20 months (for a European with many active countries close)
One time a year one is allowed to make others jealous, so: I can have 57 cards traveling, if I want to, that’s almost two cards every day of a month. (but I hardly ever use all these slots, maybe close to/after a meet_up or after hunting a special ID (600k, here I come)) 
*you can look up the basic stats of others, also in your region, in their profiles, to get a feeling for various traveling duration.
PS: it’s funny that I’m seeing another AT-user replying just right now - hope I’ll win this race (hi, Robin)
edit: I can have 58 cards travling after a new registration today 
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I can’t remember! 
But when I started, I could only send 3 cards.
There was no forum.
There was no possibility to contact other members by a private message for an exchange!
The passion was there, but one just had to wait!
When I was young, we also, only had 2 TV channels in Austria, no cable TV, and those 2 channels didn’t even have a 24h programme!!! 
I can laugh about all this now, but at the time… 
I think I don’t have to mention, that there was also no internet, when I was young! 
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How did you see, that I was writing too??? 
One does see a user’s icon on the right side - guess not to induce a race, but to avoid double answers or too much traffic.
And of course I know your avatar …
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There is a whole section devoted to handmade cards, mail art & ATCs (artist trading cards) including a thread where people can show what they’ve made lately - it’s very inspiring!
Pay attention to get not overwhelmed with all that stuff, for there is also a rest life with working, meeting friends, paying the rent etc. and Postcrossing can be quite time and money consumptive. Cards and stamps cost and in forum activities the people usually expect at least a thank you message!
Have fun! 
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I started in May 2014 with I think 3 postcards. If possible I wrote on regular basis every month as soon I could send postcards again. In the beginning it goes very slowly receiving postcards and then being allowed again to send postcards. If your “send a postcard” is going up in numbers the possibility of sending postcards increases too…This takes time. In the beginning I was not so happy with countries close by, but that changed for me. Those countries are the ones who receive your postcards fast and then you get the change to write again new postcards!
2021 I joined the Postcrossing Community and became active with tags, RR, notebooks…and that increased for me to receive more mail! Also the opportunity to find your favorite subjects like handmade postcards or exchange thoughts about a favorite topic/theme.
Now a days I can send up to 15 postcards and still write once a month. I’m content with how it goes even though I receive much more mail through the Postcrossing Community. For me it is not about increasing so much the number of sending postcards, but more about the value of contact through paper one way or an other…
H🙃ppy Postcrossing❣
12 days and 2 received already! From over here it sounds like you’re already on a roll
I’m in Australia and I’ve never had a postcard take less than 14 days to arrive but that is rare. So even though I’ve sent 122 in 16 months and I send one within a day of one being registered I still feel like I’m always waiting for cards to arrive both in my letterbox and at their destinations.
I look at other cards that have arrived at their destination within 3-4 days with amazement. And envy!
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Hello!
We joined Postcrossing on December 3rd (2021). We send a new postcard the minute one is received, because we are so anxious to get “on a roll” as you describe. At present, we have sent 8 cards, received 5, and have 6 travelling. In our opinion, it is VERY slow and tedious to start with Postcrossing. Our ideal would be to send 5-8 cards per week, but it will definitely take a while until we get to that point. As it is now, we get to send 1, sometimes 2 in any given week.
Best,
Mychal & Tara
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I think if they grant e. g. 10 slots instead of 5, people will start to select the addresses being worth a card, instead of sending to everyone they drew. Yes, it is slow for a long time, but this way you exercise patience.
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HI RalfH - I think you’re right. While it is slow in the beginning, it’s likely for good reason! It’s obviously working because here we all are!
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Thank you!
Hi Stevyy - Thank you so much. That gives me a great long-term look. Now if you’d like to grant me some of those card slots…feel free. (Yes, I am jealous!) 
Thank you Buona!
Robin, you crack me up! Nobody is getting any younger here! I guess I’ll be happy with my 5 cards and the forum. I’m also a “pre-internet life” person. Don’t you miss that life often? I do!
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It takes several months at the very least to feel like you are receiving a good number of cards. That wait is what sent me to the forums. I got involved in the monthly RRs that were for my own country for quicker swaps and several that were for International. I still do more swapping thru the forums than I do thru officials 4 years later. I have yet to receive 20 official cards in a single month. I can have 21 cards travelling at a time and generally do always have all of my cards travelling, but mail delays mean that I receive cards in clumps and many cards will take several months to travel.
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I work for the postal service. We no longer have 3rd class mail. It is either first class or it is a bulk rate mailer. The problem with postcards is that they often get jammed in the sorting machines or stick to the back of other pieces of mail. The sorting machines run too fast to ensure that every piece is separated and run thru separately so a lot of postcards get the wrong orange tick marks put on them and they go to the wrong city first. Even cards that arrive in the right city often are not presorted into the right route and have to be hand sorted. I live on my route so I see a lot of my postcards come thru the hand sort pile rather than the machine sorted.
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Wow! Thank you for that information and correction! Is there anything we can do help with the process? Would it be better to send the postcards in an envelope? Thank you for your work!!!
There are many people who do ask for an envelope because the machines tend to mess up postcards…particularly in the USA. Our machines run faster than any other country because we process more mail than any other (most of it is indeed junk mail! haha but that is the bulk of our financing). You can ask for people to send to you in an envelope and many will if it doesn’t cost more, but this is a postcard exchange and most people like to see the marks of travel. It is just something to keep in mind that shaped cards and really thin postcards do get lost and mangled in the sorted process. I send shaped postcards in a clear sleeve and either cut a hole for the stamps to get cancelled or put the sticker type postage on the sleeve directly. Otherwise my cards are sent naked unless someone requests an envelope.
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