I opened the link and first one I saw was that Beautiful 14p Valentines Day Stamp…
… For £2.50 
I got these off Ebay before Christmas, paid £12 for 20 1st class stamps, effectively 60p a stamp as opposed to 85p.
Wow beautiful! Thanks for sharing 
I get scared that they’ll be fakes or something but will definitely take a look on good 'ol ebay!
I think you can use any stamps you want and it isn’t wrong as long as they aren’t spoiled or manipulated.I personally use real stamps only for international postcards and selfprinted for domestic ones. Self printed looks like this (attached)
I will never get it why someone would use these. Sure, I sometimes use them when I need to send some stuff to my insurance etc. but for private mail? It’s not hard to get stamps in Germany (many post offices and lots of small shops sell them, ordering online is free of delivery charge since the pandemic started), even the ATMs are way prettier. Whatever you choose here, you always pay the face value (except for charity stamps). So there is no advantage in using them?
2 Likes
I like using special / commemorative stamps on my cards, but it happens sometimes that I have the use the normal ordinary stamps. And more then once the recipient told me that they liked those stamps very much.
So what we may find common and banal can be very appreciated by other people
2 Likes
Nice stamps are the easiest way to make a card look good. You can also use drawings, stickers, fancy handwriting or a particularly interesting anecdote to achieve the same. I don’t think it makes any difference what you do as long as you make an effort to send something that might make the recipient smile.
No I don’t think so. Using what one has readily available is perfectly ok. For varying reasons it’s not always possible to obtain the prettier/more interesting stamps. I too, have noticed some people state that they prefer the unique stamps but, for others, it just always isn’t possible. What matters is that the postage is adequate to be sent off.
I just received a card from my brother in the UK - the £1.70 stamp he used depicts a Chieftain tank. Some collectors of UK stamps would be very keen to obtain this stamp correctly postally used, as such usage is sadly no longer common, and you have to go out of your way to send anything other than the Machin Queen’s portrait definitives. For Postcrossing purposes, as others have said, any stamp ts fine so long as it correctly pays the required postage.
I stopped collecting stamps years ago, too many issues not even really intended for postage, just to make money out of collectors.
1 Like
I will remind you that this section of the Forum is English only.
Please edit your message to show English.
Vicki
I realised this some time ago and that there are specific pages here where certain languages are used.
I took down my foreign language comment.
Ive tajen to popping in Post offices in random places and asking what they have Lissy just in case. I recently got some lovely ones in Polperro Cornwall… worth a try but not essential xx
It’s almost a year since you’ve written this, but in case no one told you so far: you can find the special stamp issues calendar of Royal Mail at their website in the shop area
1 Like
Use whatever stamps you have and whatever postcards you have. Postcrossing was originally (and still is, although it’s become much more full of collectors and picky people as the years have passed) literally meant to be a random postcard to a random person in a random country.
You will get an occasional complaint about the card you sent, whether it be subject matter, condition it arrives in, stamps or stickers you used, etc. etc. When I get these I just roll my eyes and move on, although it gives me a bit of annoyance for a moment.
1 Like
I feel even worse when my country doesn’t have it’s own stamps and we have to use stamps from our "Emperor ". People get excited to get a postcard from me but then they see stamps from another country and being canceled outside of the island. 
5 Likes
Shootingstar, I agree with you regarding your comment. A seagoing career long ago took me to Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and of course they all used U.S. stamps, rather than having their own designs.
Here in Oz, Australia Post issues specific stamps for the territories of Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Australian Antarctic Territory, all of which are valid for use in Australia, and are on sale at my local post office - so plenty of choice!
2 Likes
I have a question for people who are stamp collectors or who (for whatever reason) request special stamps.
Do you clip out the stamp or soak it off the postcard? If not, what do you do with it?
Any postcard I send is for the recipient to do with as they like, I just sometimes wonder if it’s primarily a vehicle for a stamp 
Australian stamps are one of the best worldwide. Plus I can’t believe thwy even produce for their Antarctic territory, that’s so cool!!
What I do with the special stamps is probably embarrassingly nerdy 
First I take pictures for my stamp gallery & to send to my dad who has always loved stamps
Then I try to find out what the stamp is about & sometimes go down quite the rabbit hole learning about the stamp itself or who/what it’s featuring.
Then all the ones with special stamps & from the As Many Stamps As You Can Tag go into a separate binder with plastic sleeves so it’s easy to see back and front. I include a sticky note with info about the stamp if it’s interesting.
I rarely clip the stamp from the postcard. If the postcard itself comes damaged, but the stamp is cool I sometimes will.
For me the postcard isn’t vehicle for the stamps and I never mind if just regular stamps are used. I find those cool too since they aren’t my country’s. It just triples the enjoyment I get when special stamps are used too!
8 Likes
Thanks for your reply! I enjoyed reading it, and really appreciate just how much care and devotion you put into the philately aspect of it. And saying that stamps simply increase the enjoyment! I’ve kinda assumed that’s the case with most people, even if they’re not stamp collectors, and it’s why I like to include at least one “special” stamp on the cards when I can. It’s even more fun to get a card when it’s got an attractive, interesting stamp on it, right?
1 Like
I do something similar to @moneill but without philatelist father.
I never take them off the postcard, but I attach the postcard to a cardboard in my folder with a piece of washi tape that works as a hinge. This way I can write data about the postcard itself and it’s image (dates, distance, place, title, author…) and when you turn it you can see the writing side an the stamps, and I write the info I found about the stamp (Date of issue, peculiar characteristics, print run, designer…) and the event or person it depicts when that’s the case.
7 Likes