is there any limitation of the size of international ordinary letter?
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This handy chart shows the dimensions of a “standard” size letter and postcard:
I’m new to sending postcards and picked up some US postcard stamps today. However I have realized that international mail costs $1.45 and using three $.48 stamps only totals $1.44. Do I need to buy international stamps or should I not worry about the one cent? It seems a waste to use a fourth stamp to make up the one cent difference.
The cards you sent will probably make it. You can get an one cent stamp to add on to the cards.
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Thank you, that’s good to hear!
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Just an FYI - it’s going up to $1.50 in July
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Fun fact: US sorting machines can only tell if there is a tagged stamp, not its value. All stamps 10¢ and above are tagged. So you can send a letter with just a 10¢ stamp (or a large postcard with the regular sized postcard rate), and 90% of the time it’ll go through. Only when the underpaying happens to be caught by a postal clerk will it be returned or held at the post office until the recipient pays the postage due.
Also there have been threads where senders have just stuck a forever stamp for international mail and it’s gone through, so you should be fine 
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I’ve been tempted to flag/delete one or two of these posts, but have decided not to in order to address an issue here. The spirit of Postcrossing is to make connections through the simple and kind act of sending a postcard, and not to cheat your country’s postal system because you’ve discovered you can often get away with it. The Postcrossing Community Guidelines state “Write the address and the Postcard ID clearly and exactly as they are given to you by Postcrossing, and always include correct postage.”
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Hi! I am new here. Just curious for those in United States….one of my first postcards was sent to a state not too far away from mine about a week ago.
It hasn’t been registered, and I am wondering if USPS delivery times in the states has been delayed? It should have arrived by now.
My local Post Office tends to have issues, so now I am worried they are losing mail.
Sadly yes…I sent a card from Toledo to Chicago, a 4 hour drive away, and it never arrived.
Delivery time is taking much longer than before
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Give it a bit more time, I had one travel a few states away that took about two and a half weeks to get there even though most of my others take around 4-8 days
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@wmiz77 Sorry to hear about your experience; but I am not totally surprised. Last year, I sent a customer purchase via First Class Mail envelope to the state next to mine (NJ to PA). Two weeks later, they still had not received the item; I asked them to wait another week and if not received, I would refund their purchase. They didn’t receive it, so I cheerfully refunded their purchase. Four days after issuing the refund, they notified me they got the item. Told them to keep it with my compliments.
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Oh no! 
Thank you. Hopefully it’s just slow and not lost.
That’s too bad that happened. Our mail has been a mess here with misdeliveries to wrong addresses and mail lost. Was looking forward to it arriving so close by. Just feeling a bit impatient and disappointed. Maybe it will still arrive yet.
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I had a card to me from Maine that took three weeks. However, most cards arrive within five days or so.
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Depending upon the location and where logistics forwards mail, it’s nit unreasonable for some cards to take 10-12 days. Not all mail routes are direct. Sometimes mail goes a little West at first to go far east, for example, which adds additional time beyond what’s expected.
I’ve had cards in my own town take a week! 
. Rest assured - put the card ID, correct postage, and use non-smudge ink and you’re in good shape!
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It’s pretty hot or miss. I recently had one to the US expire, and then one a couple hour drive away currently at 40+ days. But some have ben registered within a week. 
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