Registering cards only once in a while

I have a few cards travelling and I clicked on one of the profiles I sent a card to see if it was active recently and I noticed that this user waits to register a lot of cards in one go by as much as a month or more. I register a card on the day I receive it so that the person who sent it to me gets to receive their card and of course send a new card. Sending a card is my favourite aspect of postcrossing and I find it frustrating when I reach my send limit and have to wait for people to register my card. I would be interested to know if people wait to accumulate lots of cards before registering or if they register as soon as they can, like me? Thanks!

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It’s different. Most people register as soon as they get the card. But some people may have a post box at the post office and can’t get there every day, so they register every time they empty their post box.
Also, there are users who only register from time to time without an obvious reason. It’s rather rare though.

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I didn’t think of someone having to go somewhere to collect their mail which of course would explain doing a lot of cards in one go.

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I use PO Box. Before pandemic I checked my PO Box 3 times a week. During pandemic I limit myself to go outside, I only check my PO Box once a week.

I register my cards right after I received them. I usually go to coffee shop nearby Post Office, open PC web from laptop or my mobile phone then register them one by one.

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I once sent a card to someone who didn’t register it and didn’t register it…59 days later, right before it expired, it suddenly got registered. Then I looked at her statistics page and saw that she’d registered about 40 cards on the same day, and that that was her usual habit. She only logged in every couple of months and registered masses of cards all at once.

Maybe as a result of that, my thank you message was just that: thanks. If you’re registering a great stack of cards all in one go, you’re unlikely to say more than “thanks” to each one. At the time I was somewhat miffed, but in the end, :man_shrugging:

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I agree that it’s often due to people collecting from a post office or similar. I used to get frustrated by having to wait, but now it just makes me realise how lucky I am to have my post delivered through my front door!

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I register my received cards weekly. So all the cards arrived Monday-Friday are registered on Saturday or Sunday. I realize that couple of days extra wait might annoy, but I decided it is better for me to keep this routine. When I registered cards daily, I would move them around to different piles and often be tired, so the thank you messages were really short and I kept finding misplaced cards. In fear of accidentally not registering a card because I misplaced it while going through the cards when tired after work, I established these weekend routines.

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I try to register my cards the day they arrive, but sometimes life gets in the way, or I get a business trip at short notice, so setting myself inactive won’t help the cards already in transit…

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Good points, and reminded me about this one exchange student that I met at my old uni and wanted to send card to once she would be back to her homeland. She informed me that it would take a while before she can pick up the mail, because she didn’t have a mail box and had to give me her uncle’s address who is only one in the family having a mail box. So there really are differences between countries!

I have also heard that in some more remote places they have to collect mail and can only send it in once or twice per month. I doubt there are many Postcrossers in such places, but who knows. We are preatty much everywhere.

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I register them right away because I can, I have time, easy access, etc, but aside from access to mail issues like having a post office box, or having to travel a great distance to pick up mail or very sporadic delivery there’s also the issue of internet access.

Not everyone has easy internet access or affordable access so registering cards may also get held up because of these issues.

If I had to travel somewhere or pay everytime I had to register a card, I sure wouldn’t register my cards so quickly. And the pandemic can make doing these things even harder.

Even in Canada & the US, rural & remote communities often don’t have easy internet access.

The world is very different in different places and we forget this sometimes.

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There are many factors: geographical, cultural, personal, etc. Let’s keep that in mind, since we all lead different lives.

I, for once, usually don’t register the cards the same day they arrive. Some might see this as disrespectful, but I’m a human with mental health issues and sometimes it’s hard to sit and write something proper to someone, even a simple thanks (and I try not to write that only). So I wait and do it few days later when my brain is working and I can say something remotely nice.

This is just an (my own) example. I understand that is frustrating sometimes, especially when waiting for such a loooooong time for a card to be registered, but it isn’t something that happens all the time so, well, as it was said around lately: Postcrossing is, among other things, patience. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I think I’d be miffed too tbh! They must know that not registering it prevents you from sending someone else a card but like you say :man_shrugging:

I’ve noticed a lot of people registering on weekends so I guess you’re not the only one with that routine!

Yes you’re right and the responses are making me realise this so it was good to start this topic!

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Dear James, on a side note, you can reply to multiple posts all at once. It’s no big deal, however. Just trying to be helpful. :smile:

@JamesF True. I have noticed that especially cards to Germany are often registered on Sunday. Might be just coincidence, but I have started to wait a bit longer with scanning the cards because so often somebody from Germany has registered just after I scanned, giving me one more slot to fill for the week… And to start the scanner again.

Postcrossing is not a work. This is a hobby.
Everybody enjoys it on his/her own way.

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I always try to register my cards the day I get them, but if someone looks at my stats it might not seem that way. For instance, last month I received more than 30 cards in one day (they had pile up during a mailworkers strike) and I must say it was tiresome to register each one, write a nice thank you message and scan the pictures. And even when there is no apparent problem with the mail, usually I get 3 or more cards at once from time to time.

Personally, I don’t overthink and just wait for people to register my cards. It is always a nice surprise (while writing this post I got a Hurray message :laughing:). But I understand it can be annoying to wait for more slots - I recommend patience and perhaps sending unofficial cards while you wait :wink:

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Some people receive their mail at home but work somewhere else and just get home every fourtnight or so.

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I live in an urban area that has 5 days/week delivery (6 for parcels) and still my cards are delivered in big batches :slight_smile: It’s how post sometimes work, especially in these weird times when everything is so slow :woman_shrugging:

THIS!!! I worked a lot on web accessibility and it really opens eyes for how privileged most of us generally are.

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