Haha, I do indeed appreciate that story, very much! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sharing. I’ve definitely been there with a very different kind of data, so I feel their pain. I’m so glad you eventually got your stamps!
I’m new to postcrossing and have only mailed about 15 postcards. I live in the US and I have sent out postcards, both domestically and internationally, by using one single postcard stamp from The Coral Reef collection.
I am working a seasonal job for the summer and I went to a new post office to buy more stamps. I mentioned that I send postcards internationally and the lady was surprised that they made it considering I wasn’t using an international stamp.
Am I not using enough stamps for each postcard? If the postcards made it does that mean there was no issue with postage? Did the recipients of my postcards have to pay extra postage to receive the postcard? I assume they would have mentioned so in their messages if that were the case.
I thought I was mailing my postcards correctly but after that exchange I’m nervous I’ve been mailing my postcards incorrectly. Any advice, suggestions, and help is much appreciated!
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Sounds like The reef collection stamps are for USA only, I would suggest using Global stamps to start of with, or if you have room, you can use lower value stamps to add up to the correct value.
I have sometimes had postcards from the USA arrive with only a US postcard stamp, the machines and postal staff sometimes do not always catch this and they make it anyway.
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Letter or postcard mail outside the US requires international letter rates, currently $1.45 (soon to be increasing). You’re able to use any amount of postage in various forms of stamps to reach that amount, you don’t just have to use the international stamp (but you can!).
As for postcards with insufficient postage reaching their destinations, the system isn’t perfect and sometimes mistakes get through 
When in doubt, I recommend the Postage Calculator on the USPS website.
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As others said already, international rate is currently $1.45, so you need more stamps than the single Postcard stamp.
Keep in mind, that the domestic postcard rate only applies to cards up to 4-1/4 x 6 in in size, bigger cards need forever stamp domestically. I recently got a bigger card with postage due mark and paid the difference
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You’ve just gotten lucky that those international cards mailed with a domestic postcard stamp arrived. Sometimes the recipient will be charged for the additional unpaid amount, so now that you know I would make sure to use the proper global international stamp or a combination of smaller denomination stamps that add up to at least $1.45 (as of July 9, 2023 the cost will be $1.50) Many people use 2 domestic (letter) forever stamps + an additional ounce stamp, which is overpaying by a few cents but allows for lots of fun combinations.
As for why those underpaid postcards arrived with (seemingly) no trouble,
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Wow! Thanks for your insight. Sounds like a lot of lost revenue if the machines can’t read the stamps correctly. 
Glad I’m only 15 postcards in before catching my mistake. Thanks again!
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If I want to use a domestic postcard stamp on a postcard I’m sending internationally, I add the $1 stamp and it comes out to $1.48. In July, the postcard stamp goes up to $.51, so doing this will cost $1.51. You can buy the $1 stamp at the post office counter or at usps.com.
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Reefs are still good for postcards to US addresses, as are the barns and the most recent sailboats. New price increase is coming so you might stock up
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What is the postage value for a Postcrossing card from the USA to India?
I have received some cards from the USA, but all of them came with USA Forever stamps, with no denomination on them.
Please help me out.
all international postcards and letters under 1 oz (28ish grams) costs $1.45 usd, but the postal rate will go up to $1.50 usd after sunday. this is the global forever stamp cost (usual a round stamp)
if the stamps were domestic forever stamps (rectangular or square), they cost 63¢ each (or 66¢ after sunday).
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Forever stamps are 63 cents USD when you recieved them from January to July 8. The stamps value was 63 cents. Total postage to India from the USA was 1.45 USD. So there had to be add on denominations.
Do I use only an international stamp for mailing to china or do I also need a domestic stamp?
Hi all, I have some larger oversized postcards in my collection and have not used them yet. Does anyone know how much postage I should use to send them domestically and internationally? Thanks in advance!
Maximum letter size is 6-1/8in x 11-1/2in. If your postcards fall into these dimensions and are machinable, the postage is 66cents (forever stamp) domestically and 1.50 (global forever) internationally. Machinable means that length divided by height must be between 1.3-2.5, otherwise a 40cents surcharge applies (e.g. for square shaped cards). Hope it helps!
Yes that makes sense! Thank you for the help!
a couple of days ago i recently found this label stuck on a postcard that i received (marked “undeliverable”…yet it was successfully delivered to me?? 
)
i have been receiving mail as normal ever since, and i havent been able to catch my carrier to ask him about yet. additionally i am 100% at a residential address. was it on another mail piece that accidentally transferred to my postcard during the sorting process?
anybody have any insight?
Help experienced USPS users! I went into the post office of my neighboring town and they were giving away free postcards of their branch (low quality thick cardstock, I would definitely send in an envelope). Friday is 9/22/23 and that is their zip code so they are having a special event, I was led to believe a specific postmark for them that day only.
I grabbed a few cards, would these be something worth making a maxicard for? What USPS stamp would you use? Are there people out there who have interest in these things that would be happy to receive it?
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Sounds like they’ll have a pictorial postmark! Very cool. Many people enjoy them, I’ve even mailed myself them.
When I’ve sent them i just used whatever stamps i had. I used it on official cards or for forum swaps.
There is a biweekly Postal Bulletin that lists the current pictorial postmarks available. You can request them for 30 days, so don’t stress if you don’t make it to the special event in person.
Around page 40 it lists instructions for how anyone can request the postmark. If you ever mail them in and aren’t attending a special event, I’ve found they can get lost, or delayed. So I only send a few that way. Just open the current issue here: Postal Bulletin - Resources - About.usps.com
There is also a topic in the Forum where people show the pictorial postmarks
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Thank you. I checked the bulletin recently when I was learning about maxicards, but I must have missed that such a local post office was doing anything. Since I have to work, I won’t stress too bad if I don’t make it. The only thing I’m not sure about, when you send them in an envelope, do you need to include a self addressed return envelope?