I want to be able to send more Postcards, and I understand that there are milestones you need to reach, and with each one, you can send another card.
I started in Oct 2020 and have 399/397 Received/Sent, but I noticed the stats for a guy in Germany who registered one of my cards and he is about to reach 2000/2000. He started Postcrossing in Apr 2018, which is a healthy headstart on me, but at the rate that I’ve been accumulating the ability to send new cards, it just doesn’t seem like I have a prayer of reaching those activity levels in the next roughly 2-1/2 years when I would be Postcrossing as long as him.
Now, I have been very active since Day 1. The only thing that I can think of is that I should send a postcard the very day I am able to do so. I wait for eight to build up, and then I send out a batch. That’s just a system that works for me, but maybe it is slowing down the rate at which I can send more cards.
I would agree with your assessment that if you send a card once a slot opens up, you should be able to hit your milestones earlier and have more slots open up
Given that cards need time to travel (and especially so in this time of war/pandemic/strikes, cards take even more time than before), if you send as slots open up, you should hit your milestones faster.
Another point to consider is your starting dates.
2018 was pre COVID and war time, hence cards would have been travelling faster than they are today - which means the German would have slots open up faster than you in 2020
Lastly, in December, there is the Cards for Literacy campaign, where many German postcrossers enthusiastically send out cards to raise money for charity. This would also help explain the number of cards sent
Side note: If you would like to send more cards, try the forum for swaps and tags. They don’t count towards your officials but it’s a way of sending more cards
Yes, I would say that waiting until you can draw 8 addresses has held you back. BUT, you’ve been doing Postcrossing in a way that suits you, so why does it matter that you will have sent fewer postcards than others that joined at the same time as you?
Why worry about someone else’s totals? You’ve got a system that works for you now - you could choose to change it but if you’re happy with your current process carry on! You’ll get to a new milestone when you get there right?
I used to send cards as soon as I got a slot open, but since I hit 15 slots, I don’t do that anymore, I do cards when it works for me. I started in July 2020 & I’m about to hit 600 sent cards in the next 7-10 days or so & I now have 20 slots. That’s enough slots, lol
… or have a look at my send/received cards … I’ve started at about same time like you did, but have much less cards (though living in Germany and sending a lot cards inside my country). Maybe comparing to such statistics is more fun for you?
I don’t worry about doing all my slots all the time anymore, I do a bunch when I want to and I’m doing a lot less swaps on the Forum because there are just a lot less people offering swaps these days (probably for budget reasons or just busy lives).
And I see you’re one of the original PCer’s - congrats on being involved this long!
Regarding Russia: because they are a big Postcrossing country + many countries don’t send to them at this point in time, hence countries that can send to Russia have to pick up the slack
I have repeated countries turned on but have gotten mostly Germany and US, no India at the moment
Regarding Belarus: the US cannot send mail to them at the moment, hence these addresses have one less country that can draw them, and are ever more likely to go to people who can draw them, like you
Again, for recent Postcrossers who have joined Postcrossing, the changes that have happened in the last few years (COVID, war, strikes etc.) means that mailing speeds will not be as fast as before (pre 2020) so you might get cards “stuck”
Postcrossing has definitely taught me patience
How true! I could rack up higher numbers if I selected the “Send and Receive Postcards from my own Country” in my profile settings because domestic mail is faster (and the postage would be cheaper), but I choose to send international postcards only.
We are about the same. I started July 2020. Sent 411, received 413.
I do not have it set on receiving cards from my own Country. I am sure if I did, my numbers would be much higher.
I just don’t pay attention to any statistics.
My recommendation, just do what works for you–enjoy the sport
and was very happy to get involved again.
