Hello fellow postcrossers,
I’m quite new to postcrossing and just got an address that seems to be incomplete - what would you suggest I should do? I couldn’t find anything in the help topics.
Thank you for your help! 
Dorothy
If you are unsure about an address, it is best to contact the Postcrossing team directly:
https://www.postcrossing.com/contact
Some countries for example do not use a postal code at all, if that is what you are worried about.
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What makes you think it is incomplete?
Just check their received card. If they have received card, it is probably correct address.
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You might want to check out these two websites. Maybe they can help you figure out if the address is complete or not.
Universal Postal Union – Lets you see the correct address format in different countries. Go to “Postal Addressing Systems (PAS)”, select a country and download.
Informatica – Lets you do an address verification.
Sometimes the mail arrives with a delay due to imcomplete addresses. And maybe the member has changed their address recently.
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I think postcrossing actually checks if the format of an address is correct before that person is able to receive any cards, but I’m not completely certain.
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Thank you, I will do that!
It only has a first name, no surname. Also, the country and city/postcode seem to be mixed up. There is one received card though.
Thank, you that’s very helpful!
It seems like the address was mixed up somehow.
In some countries, it’s ok to skip the surname.
Some countries write [Postal code] [City], while others write [City] [Postal code].
When it comes to Russia, the Russian postal service prefer this format:
[City]
Russian Federation
[Postal code]
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Wow, ok, I didn’t know that! I just wondered how the mail delivery identifies the right person, when the address is xxxxstreet 8-40, with only the first name (like Sascha)? 
If the mail box says “Sasha Ivanov”, it would be equally easy to deliver the mail to “Sasha” as “Sasha Ivanov”; Given that the address gives the street number and the apartment number if needed. When the address says “xxx street 8-40”, the postal worker knows which apartment it’s going to anyway. (If the mail box says the apartment number as well, it’s even easier. Same goes for PO boxes.)
Normally street names like this are the following: the first number is the street/house number, the second one the apartment number. Therefore there can’t be that many Saschas in this apartment I suppose.
I sent card to US member who only gave her nickname.
And I sent card to Portugal member who only gave his postcrossing ID.
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Ok, that makes sense - in Austria we would write it like that: 8/40. I assumed 8-40 means any apartment number between 8 and 40.
Thank you for that information! I thought first and second name are always obligatory in an address. I am a bit careful, because even thogh I just started postcrossing, cards are already expiring… 
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Wow, now that’s interesting 
In Latvia 5/8= number of corpus, if there are few buildings under one number.
5/8- 40 = 8-th corpus of nr 5, flat 40.
Rural addresses sometimes includes the name of the house. No street, no number but name.
In Poland, there is no need to write any name, the post is delivered to an address, not a person.
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In the UK, many people don’t even put their name on their door, so the mail gets delivered to the address exclusively by street name, house number and flat number (if applicable). The island I lived on even had its own postcode for most buildings, and the post lady knew everyone - so I could receive mail addressed to “(my first name) - name of the island - UK” or “POSTCODE - UK”. Never ceased to amaze me.