It has few words of where they are from. I would have had no problem if they had written a couple of sentences, a quote, stickers, doodle…but there was no real effort. I have received homemade postcards, kid’s postcards…and enjoy receiving them. For me, this is not about what I like but about sending what is in the spirit of postcrossing…
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I can perfectly understand how you feel - and would appreciate if you get an official answer from admins, if or if not this counts as postcard. And I would be very happy if you let us know the answer.
Maybe I would appreciate most if there would be a real (online) contact between the sender and you, and some neutral witness(es) and both of you expressing how you feel. That would really make a diffrence. And if there was one more thing I could wish for, than it would be that you are free after exchange of feelings, to decide to register or not.
Best for a beautiful solution satisfying for everyone!
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Good that you have reported it. I have received bookmarks, cardboard pieces, and other trash items. I wish these people would find another hobby.
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Fellow Postcrosser from Poland recently received a poor quality “postcard” printed at home on a thin piece of paper. The support team’s response was to register but kindly mentioned her concerns in the message to the sender (“thank you” message).
Unfortunately, some people like to get nice postcards, nice messages, unique stamps and so on, but are not willing to give the same in return. I understand that not everyone can spend a lot of money on this hobby, but as @rainwatcher1 mentioned, you can see who put their heart and effort into what they’ve sent.
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I would register it, thank them kindly, and move on. We never know the situation.
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I try to have a drama-free approach and ignore a lot of things that should bother me. I would register this postcard. Esp. since I have info on my profile that I appreciate handmade postcards, even if someone doesn’t consider themselves an artist. And I like polka dots and patterns so I actually like how this card looks 
. But postcards have a higher grammage for a reason. Stick this to the sturdy backing and it would be so much better.
Many times on this forum it has been raised about what people consider to be “real postcards”.
Some would be embarrassed to send a thin piece of paper, and some think it’s ok. I don’t think the situation requires a request for a second postcard. However, such thin paper may not have survived the journey (postal machines). I’d write about that to the sender in the “thank you” message.
Some stores sell postcards that are also bookmarks. Eg Postallove. I always thought they are okay to send, even to people who has on their profile “only real postcards please”.
I would be ok with that. I have received some beautiful homemade cards, postcards made from food boxes, recycled greeting cards and calendars. I love receiving different types of cards and “meeting” people through postcards.
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I’d be curious what the team decides ^^ Maybe you can let us know 
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When I said bookmarks, I meant bookmarks that you put inside books - not postcards that are bookmarks. The Admins thought I had a valid complaint and had the sender resend a proper postcard. Trying to explain what a real postcard is to some people…I am sorry, but that ship has sailed long long ago. You [plural] don’t join a postcard exchange group if you don’t know what a postcard is. My opinion.
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Wouldn’t a homemade postcard have to be made of postcard material though? We can’t just start sending each other pieces of paper without envelopes.
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Do you mean you send a thin long piece of cardstock as a postcard? This would be problematic in many countries. In Canada, the smallest postcard allowable is 3.5" x 5.5".
People use all kinds of materials to send postcards - pizza boxes, cereal boxes, cork, metal, origami, construction paper, magazine paper and scrapbook type paper clearly has made it through the mail many times.
And I haven’t even scratched the surface - there’s a whole thread devoted to unusual kinds of postcards.
Here’s Ana’s definition from the longer thread What is a real postcard?:
It says right in the description that you just posted that the postcard is to be paper stock quality. That is much thicker than a piece of paper. Cardboard would be fine. It’s the durability of the paper that’s the problem; not that the card is homemade.
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I’m sure we could have long threads about what is paper stock, but I’m not going to. I read that as the noun & there is tons of different paper stock.
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I suppose. It is typically used to mean stock paper or card stock around here. I have never heard someone use it to refer to scrapbooking paper or ordinary notepaper. Might be different in Ontario?
I take paper stock to be the generic & there’s tons of kinds, weights etc. Card stock is a particular kind.
I don’t worry about what people send me too much these days after being on Postcrossing for 2 years.
Some cards I will love, some I will like & some I won’t like so much, but they all did participate & I have to respect that even if I don’t like what they sent me. I have no idea of their circumstances, tastes or motivations so I accept what I get & move on.
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But if you take preference out of the conversation, there is a problem with sending a regular piece of paper through the mail without an envelope. You aren’t even allowed to do that in Canada, right?
I think that the person you quoted was using the term “paper stock” in the way that I explained. If your read the whole sentence, you will see they specified that it had to be thick.
“A postcard is a piece of paper stock, thick enough to safely travel through the mail without an envelope.”
So, while you personally may appreciate receiving someone’s junk mail, journal page, scrapbooking materials etc. in the mail, that doesn’t mean that those things are, by definition, postcards. And, just as you are thrilled with them, others are allowed to be disappointed. Most people would not expect these things if they signed up to swap post cards.
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We’ll agree to disagree - I don’t think paper stock implies any thickness other than it makes it through the mail, which this one did.
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They are generally of the same material as regular postcards. They just have different dimensions (17x7 cm or something like that) and on the back have a note that can be used as a postcard and/or as a bookmark. I always check if this could be a problem before sending something like that. Same with shaped postcards and panoramic postcards.