Is it considered as a postcard?

What condition did it arrive in? Sounds very vulnerable, whereas even sturdy postcards sometimes get mangled.

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Handmade postcards are officially allowed on Poscrossing, as described in the FAQs:

What can I send on Postcrossing?
Postcrossing is a postcard exchange community, so each exchange that you make must include at least one postcard. It can be a postcard you bought in a store or a handmade postcard, as long as it hasn’t been previously used.”

However, this doesn’t mean anything with a stamp and an address label will be considered a postcard! If in doubt, contact the Postcrossing team and send photos of your received item.
A few things I received I didn’t need to register.

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It was surprisingly in good condition

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Depends, who is sender and where from. If any vulnerable person, who can’t do better…

I remember when I started with PC, someone (9 or 10 years old) stated in her profile, that a homemade postcard is also okay. I was also quite young and didn’t have much money at that time and thought it was nice enough to send the postcard, that I’ve made. Looking back it’s actually really, really bad. Drawn on paper and glued on a piece of cardboard with tape. So it depends who the person is, I guess.

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Personally, I love Handmade cards. It means the person took the extra effort to put their heart into what they sent me. I wouldn’t report it.

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I’m new, so my POV lacks experience, but here’s how I looked at PC coming in – it’s a grab bag, a crap shoot, some good experiences, some less good, perhaps a few bad. Fun, just like life. No expectations, just hope for the best. Or like presents, sometimes you open the box & wonder, what was this person thinking. But you give them the benefit of the doubt that their intentions were good. :grin: I’ve received just one card so far & it was pretty lame, like a reminder card my dentist would send.

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Yes, that fits the definition of a handmade card - some people like to send handmade cards & some folks don’t have the money to send a professionally printed card eh?

Hi @nuuskamuikkunen!

What is considered as a postcard is a common question on the forum and has been discussed in this thread, for example, too:

Ana, one of the founders of postcrossing, answers the question this way:

So, the question in your case would be mainly whether the paper was “thick enough to safely travel through the mail”. If you are not sure if you should register it, it is probably the easiest to contact the team, because members’ opinions about handmade cards are quite diverse! There are many beautiful handmade cards out there which are definitely within the guidelines, but what Nadjafee said is also true:

And the team seems always willing to help and I think it is very legitimate to ask them if you are not sure.

Happy postcrossing!

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Thank you @industria :blush: I realised that I’ve read that thread previously but somehow had forgotten :joy: I guess it is Monday brain today. I shall move ahead with these advices :innocent:

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I recently received a postcard that clearly ment to be a postcard - it has lining for address, information about image author, information about publisher - but it was paper thin. Literally peace of paper, not even thick paper, just paper. I received it in perfect condition by some crazy luck.
When I encounter cards like that, I really wonder what publishers are thinking about. And what should I do about cards like that. I mean, it’s not like someone sent me a piece of paper, it is a postcard technically :woman_shrugging:t2: And is not like it’s ugly. It’s a nice picture that could be torn in pieces in any moment.

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On my behalf this topic can be closed :innocent:

I checked the postcard you received.
Strangely enough it’s actually from a series a lot of people collect. The sender probably thought he couldn’t do wrong with this card.
They exist from most countries and a lot of people like them because of the info on the card.
But I understand why you say it looks like a dentist reminder.
Tastes are indeed very different :wink:

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Maybe it can be just for other purposes, like crafting?
I know some old cards are very thin, but there are many “postcards” that are only meant for decoration or journaling cards.

Not everything that says “postcard” is good for sending nowadays. (Here, before, only part of magazine paper survived the mail as if you ordered something from mail order, the slip was cut out from a magazine :slight_smile: it seems weird, when I buy old stamps, and they clearly are on thin paper).

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As soon as I read the description of dentist reminder, I knew what series it was. I also really don’t see what people like about it, but yes tastes differ and if the message is nice it really doesn’t matter I think.

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Your dentists all seem to have very exciting cards! :grin: :joy:

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It’s just fine, I tend to exaggerate :stuck_out_tongue: The format just surprised me, not at all what I expected – and it had a lovely note. I didn’t mean to sound so critical, but for my first “received” – well, it was a bit meh – no mountains or dinosaurs or pixies! But like I said, it’s all good. Anyways, thanks for the info about this series, that’s interesting.

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i do not get cards looking like that from my dentist. well i don’t get cards at all actually. i feel like i’m missing out :joy:

it’s fine, i’m sure nobody loves all the cards they receive. i have to say though, you don’t ask for anything specific on your profile and especially because you’re new people are gonna send you a lot of those ‘basic’ cards. honestly i wouldn’t send dinosaurs (for example) to anyone not asking for dinosaurs, it’s very specific (if you want to though just send me your address :grin: )

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This conversation is getting a little off-topic, so let’s wrap it up here. :slight_smile: