Is there a way to cancel a travelling postcard?

[anon95027724]

@elanlei

Could you cut a piece of cardboard and draw something on it? Maybe use food packaging for less effort. Still a postcard they have to register but won’t cost you a nice card. You can create something they may even like!

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

[wolfshadow424]

All the answers so far have been spot on. The profile description is ultimately just a suggestion. Send whatever you have and if they don’t like it, don’t worry about it. You can focus on enjoying the postcards that you receive back

[nekelin]

@anon95027724

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

Sorry, but you don’t know what this person wants.

Maybe this person doesn’t like view cards, but they do like ad cards, free cards, handmade cards.

We don’t know anything about this profile and please, let’s keep it that way. We are merely making suggestions on what someone could send to someone whose preferred cards they don’t have.

[SailingBy]

@anon95027724

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

What’s “trash” to one person, is gold to another. It’s all a matter of opinion/taste/style. Indeed, there is no such thing as “trash” in this context.

[SiLV]

Write something interesting about thar card, and should be ok.

[shugal]

First of all, welcome to Postcrossing, @kyrku!

I’ve had situations like this myself. I sent a card that I thought might be the one the recipient would like the least bad. As others have said, per the rules you must send a postcard but the preferences in the profiles are just suggestions, not requirements. Don’t let yourself be discouraged by such a profile, you will find ther profiles with no postcard prefernces as well, as some just enjoy interesting messages.

I don’t always get cards I really like. I’ve been lucky that I never got a card I found really ugly. I like photo view cards, but it seems that in many areas of the former Soviet Union photo cards are difficult to find, but illustrated view cards are very common. In Germany it’s the exact opposite. Cultural differences… So my way to deal with illustrated cards is very simple: I know other Postcrossers who like illustrated cards, so I swap with them. They get illustrated cards for the photo cards they don’t like, so everyone is happy.

One time I got a card from someone saying there are no postcards at all of her really small village, so she went and drew a picture of her village’s small church. Yes, that’s an illustration, but first it’s a really great drawing, and second that was the first time ever someone made a drawing just for me. So this card is a very special treasure for me.

Bottom line: Even cards not fitting a person’s interests may be received joyfully. Every postcard has two sides, and you can use the back side to your advantage: Interesting stamps (if the recipient is interested in stamps), decorations, stickers, tape (if he recipient likes that) , and explain in the message why you chose that card (both that you don’t have one matching the preferences and why you chose exavtly that card) and what it means to you. Yes, the recipient may not love the card, but you’ve done your best to give them another reason to love what you sent.

[yudi]

I saw many Japanese members collect food packaging card in their flickr album.
I believe it is because food packaging in Japan is kawaii. What is not kawaii in Japan? Everything is kawaii

[J-Francis]

I requested some addresses not long ago but can`t remember the last one; I must of requested it and forgot due to tiredness however I will keep an eye out just in case this happens again.

[manuchka]

@J-Francis in case it is an official postcard you can retrieve the address by clicking on the postcard ID, you can then see the address again.

[RalfH]

@nekelin

@anon95027724

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

Sorry, but you don’t know what this person wants.

And you don’t know which cards kyrku has available. The guidelines say you have to send a postcard. But it does not say, that the addressee has to regard food packages as postcards.
@kyrku I would send a simple viewcard. That is definately a postcard and I think the addressee will register it, even if it is not his/her favourite kind of cards.

[nekelin]

@RalfH

And you don’t know which cards kyrku has available.

Indeed I don’t. We could go on forever about what we don’t know.

What we do know is that we want to help someone by giving them advice and help them in a positive way.

Which is what you did, you made a suggestion on what someone can do when they are in the position of not having a card that fits a profile’s preferences.

Edit to add:
And thank you for that. Even though I have been on Postcrossing for almost two years and I have literally thousands of cards, I still come across profiles that I have a hard time finding the right card for.

[anon95027724]

@RalfH

@nekelin

@anon95027724

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

Sorry, but you don’t know what this person wants.

And you don’t know which cards kyrku has available. The guidelunes say you have to send a postcard. But it does not say, that the addresse has to regard food packsges as postcards.
@kyrku I would send a simple viewcard. That is definately a postcard and I think the addresse will register it, even if it is not his/her favourite kind of cards.

People don’t want cardboard / cereal box creations. Send a genuine postcard, not trash. If you are just starting and don’t have a great stock, write me and I will send you free postcards. I have mailed out hundreds of Free postcards over the past 10 years. There is a solution; people just need to make a move.

[RalfH]

Some people like cards made from food packages, others do not even regard them as postcards.

[Feuerstuhl]

@anon95027724

Sorry, but no one wants to receive trash.

@anon95027724

People don’t want cardboard / cereal box creations.

Beg to differ! The Food package postcard and Environmantally friendly tags are rather popular:

Food package postcard tag

Food package postcard tag Take a cardboard package : tea ,cereal, granola bars , etc. Cut it up and use a panel to make a postcard. Write something about the food on it , for example , you drink this tea in the evening because it’s relaxing. Maybe draw a picture, example: what you eat with the cereal, berries, sugar. Please use dry food boxes only, nothing that had fresh food in it. We dont want to spread any weird germs or bugs.

Environmentally Friendly Tag

Reducing waste is as important as it ever was before. Who needs new and shiny. Let’s send each other old stuff that might otherwise go to waste! In this tag you can send: old postcards you bought at flea markets, second hand shops, that you inherited or found in your attic crooked, bent, yellowed cards, cards which are missing a corner or have accidentally been addressed to the wrong person, cards that have been drawn on by your three years old child; don’t throw them away, send them in t…

But this has gotten off-topic…

@kyrku As many others have already written, unfortunately, you have to send a card. Some people dislike narrow wishlists so much, they even intentionally send cards that the receiver states that they don’t like. Others quit postcrossing because of too demanding profiles. Everyone who sticks around, develops a thicker skin eventually. Sometimes, it is just a language or culture difference/barrier. Never judge a postcrosser by their profile! They can have the most rude sounding profile and still be the sweetest person hidden behind it. And the opposite can be true as well. Just send a card, a random card, the card that you like least, the card that was cheapest, doesn’t matter, just send one card and hope for the best

[SailingBy]

@anon95027724

People don’t want cardboard / cereal box creations

@RalfH

Some people like cards made from food packages, others do not even regard them as postcards.

I just saw a profile containing this text. I will have to assume that it’s not lookup-able, so here it is. I had to laugh, bearing in mind this thread.

• You can always cut A PIECE OF CARDBOARD FOOD PACKAGE SOLD IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY (cookies, fried meals, dry fruit, etc.) in about postcard size, use the other side of the cardboard for stamps, address and add a few words what the product is about, translation of the text etc. I will love it, for no cost!

[kyrku]

I’ve already filled it out! I’ve gotten some great advice and I wish I could close this discussion now since it has gone a little off-topic. I ended up just picking the card I least liked but I made the back of it look nice Also we (me and the recipient) literally have opposite tastes since all of the cards they didn’t like were my favourite types, so who knows, maybe they’ll love it.

[SailingBy]

In fact, inspired by this thread, I’ve just changed my profile to add something like “why not send me food packaging, it’ll make a change!”. I had to restrain myself from deleting the other preferences and just typing “Send Me Food Packaging”. If I get any, it will make a welcome change from the usual twee sentimental or frankly boring tourist cards. Thank you, thread people.

[very_epistolary]

This reminds me of how frustrating it can be when people are too picky with their requests. Isn’t this supposed to be fun and lighthearted? I would send this person whatever you have and move on.

Also, I love the idea of an upcycled, handmade card. I find them very endearing. All types of arts and crafts are made from recycled materials.

(Fixed for grammar)

[nekelin]

@kyrku

I ended up just picking the card I least liked but I made the back of it look nice Also we (me and the recipient) literally have opposite tastes since all of the cards they didn’t like were my favourite types, so who knows, maybe they’ll love it.

This actually happened to me once. I sent someone a card which I personally didn’t like very much, but it kind of fit their profile. They loved it and wrote the most wonderful thank you message.

Seeing as you started this thread, you are most likely still watching it and getting notifications of every reply. If you scroll down to where it says ‘watching’, you can change that.
(Not sure if you can close this thread though.)