Sorry I don’t know whether it is right to start to this topic but, i just want to bring to the notice of the admin a request relating to the allocation of address for sending postcards in the official postcrossing.
My request is related to the new members joining postcrossing.
Some times card expires even in the first five cards sent - request is if possible please assign countries which can easily receive cards from the fresh members country.
Atleast till the limit for traveling cards reaches 10 cards at a time- request is can assign different countries as destination so that their cards can reach atleast to few countries which will encourage them to send more and attach with postcrossing.
If possible please make sure only two or three cards in the list of cards traveling to a single country for relatively fresh members.
Please provide additional features for new members to encourage sending and receiving more official cards, like special provision for sending one or two cards extra in early days to encourage them.
Sorry and forgive me if this topic is already discussed and have reached solution. Also please correct me if this topic is opened in wrong category.
Thank you so much in advance for considering my request…
Thank you for your post and suggestions. I will give you my observations as a 12 year member. Generally speaking, the more tweaks you make to a process, the less appealing it becomes. Why do people (especially newbies) not follow the process about sending a card / receiving a card? The list of reasons are endless: school, lukewarm interest, illness, impatience, increasing cost, etc. You [plural] really don’t know.
The majority of members here, some with long tenure, didn’t need incentives to encourage them to send/receive more postcards. Something else to consider. The Postcrossing team does all of this on their own time. Asking them to implement changes ignores one principal fact: the team knows what their doing…over many many years.
I wish I could be more positive here. But sometimes you have to create your opportunities. I hope you might explore that. Best wishes to you in your endeavors!
No one can promise that your cards get to the receiver, even you’d given an address to the country with reliable post. Something weird can happen to card, then it gets lost and expires. The more slots you’ll get (after being an active sender) more expired card you’ll get. But most cards will arrive.
This hobby develope patience and tolerance of uncertainty. It’s defenetely worth it!
When I first started, I didn’t max out my Five postcard allowance, (it appears many Newbies max-out straight away, then complain after a week, they can can’t send anymore postcards)
I sent one and waited for it to be recieved and registered, just to understand how the postcrossing project worked. As I was weary in the begining.
… And you know what, I love it how it is, Don’t Change a thing!
Even I’m frustrated with the Ghostcrossers and expired postcards, but that part of the postcrossers life!
Edit - also the top three countries get drawn the most as they have the most active postcrosser, and efficient(ish) postal systems.
It is very difficult to decide where the mail is fast and reliable, and where it is slow. I live in the USA, presumably fast and reliable? But it is a very large country, and the mail delivery is inconsistent depending on where in the US one lives.
I experienced this myself because I lived in my hometown Seattle until January 2022, and the mail service in Seattle was very fast and reliable.
I moved to Portland, Oregon in February 2022, and learned the mail is not reliable here at all, and the mail is much slower here too.