I live in Italy so I can mail through the Italian post office. I also have access to an American military post office here in Italy. So if I mail through the Italian post office it will be postmarked from Italy and if I mail it through the military base it will be postmarked from the USA. Does this matter one way or another to people? Thanks!
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mail sent thru APO will have an american postmark. the postmark will say “ARMY POST OFFICE” on top and middle will have the date. the lower part will have “APO AE (and the zipcode)”.
sorry, after re-reading your message - i do apologies. some people really do not care about the postmark and some do. it depends on the person. i get mail thru the APO from germany but really do not care where it is mail from - just getting the postcard safely in my mailbox is my concern. sure others will have their point of view.
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I could see three points, while
a) most of the people don’t care
b) some people would like to have an italian postcard with italian ID with italian stamps
c) others might find it interesting to get a postcard from a foreign military base.
I would do the normal “postcrossing” with italian ID with italian stamps.
But offer in this forum some swap with saying sent from italian US-military base.
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reading your profile, i would suggest changing your wording to say you can send and receive mail thru the italian and usa mail service. this would be more clearer to understand.
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Thank you for that suggestion. I will make that change!
For Philatelists like me, place cancellation sometimes makes a huge difference. If I get a war-related, especially plane stamps on the card/cover through APO, I consider myself as the luckiest one. It will help me to fetch some more points. In exhibitions, the date of cancellation, place, pictorial cancellations all does matter.
But when we are sending through a normal PC network, I don’t think the place cancellation matters. Anyways it’s a pleasant surprise from a surprise sender.
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If the ID is Italy, I prefer Italian stamps with Italian postmark, unless there is a huge difference of postage cost between these to methods.
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For me I would prefere the Army base stamping. As it makes the card somekind of more special. One more question it is still stated on the postmark that it was sent from Italy?
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I think some people would care and some wouldn’t, but there’s no way to know unless a person specifies in their profile. Personally, I would like to have the Army base stamping, but I’d never think to say that on my profile (I may now, of course).
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Strictly speaking, when it comes to postcards, it is the picture side on the front that is key. Like many others here, I love nice stamps & postmarks on cards, but those are very secondary in my opinion. Where it is mailed is secondary; ideally from country of origin.
If you’re using an Italian ID, I’d expect an Italian postmark and I think most people would expect the same.
Some may be interested in a US base postmark, but I’d ask first on the Forum if you want to offer that option.
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Personally, I never look at the postmark because the only thing I’m looking at is the stamp. As long as it has an Italian stamp, I still think it’s super cool! I think most people, like me, mostly look at the picture, what’s written, any decorations on the back, and the stamp. As an American, if I really did notice, I would probably think it’s pretty cool it was sent from an American base. But I have a feeling people from other countries wouldn’t share as much of the same sentiment. For me as long as it has an Italian stamp I’m perfectly fine.
This case feels a little complicated, because in normal situation I wouldn’t care much about postmark, but then again it is not every day you get American military post so I could imagine myself keeping that card just for that BUT USA postmarks tends to be very heavy on ink so if the card was my absolute favourite: horse card with horse stamp combo, I would be worried about the ink covering the whole stamp.
So… I guess which ever way is the easiest for you 
I think it would be cool to get one of those postmarks. But I would like it to be explained on the back. Otherwise, I will be puzzled by an Italian ID + USA postmark.
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someone mention about price. if a postcard sent from italy to the usa via the apo (army post office), it would cost just 36¢ but if sent thru italian post office, it would cost about $5.25 - so a big price difference. to keep the receiver happy and sending thru the apo, would find an used italian stamp and attach it somewhere on the postcard. but am sure some will not like this. to each their own. the usa is increasing the postage rate at the end of this month, so the amount would be a bit more but way cheaper than using italian post office.
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Thanks for sharing this infomation. Now I understand the situation better. I such case, I am perfectly happy with any stamp/postmark because it would be a great relief to the sender in terms of cost.
I’d like to get a card with a cancellation by the APO.
An I think the postal service of the U. S. Forces is quicker, cheaper and more reliable than Poste Italiane.
Carrier pigeons are quicker and more reliable than Poste Italiane, let’s be real 
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