Yes, it does state that sending little items is allowed
Also good thing to know when sending to other countries, to check what items the country allows and if there needs to be a customs form filled.
For example if there isnāt one, and I should clear it through the customs, I should pay almost 27 Euros for our mail company to do it, and I wonāt, so it will be returned.
Im confused XD
Exactly that - in Poland, Polish Post can decide they want to apply a āhandling feeā for a thicker envelope, even if it has a customs declaration and the items are declared as gifts, it has happened to my Mum with mail from our Canadian cousin.
If I suddenly were asked to pay a fee to receive an envelope from a stranger, sorry, I will not accept such mail and it will be returned to the sender.
I realize people are just trying to be extra nice to other people but it may not work out the way you want to. Better just send postcards or if you really want to send in envelope, donāt put extra stuff.
Where did you get that 27 euros? For gifts under 45 euros you donāt have to pay anything.
From the letter I am looking at now
For private persons itās 26,85 ā¬ to Posti to do it.
Now I read your comment again, do you mean when there should have been that customs form but itās missing? So 27 euros is a punishment for you instead of the sender
Yes (some think it arrives more surely to me, if there is no form, but when/if it doesnāt, I canāt know who it is from, and what is inside )
Maybe someone wants to punish me (no)
But it can happen itās forgotten, so Iām not accusing, just something to remember. Even with small items. And if thereās no return address then I think itās destroyed?
But you can clear the customs online yourself. I did it so and didnāt had to pay that amount.
To the topic itself: I appreciate mail in many forms but Iām still expecting postcards (at least) on the website.
Yes, Iāve done it too, when I know who sent it and whatās inside.
But I canāt guess. I have received a letter where the sender is " , ". And no idea who sent me and what.
And to topic, yes, I too love many kind of mail, but this is for postcards, I canāt just decide to do my own thing opposed to the founders rules. (When someone tells they collect tea, or stamps, I can send if I have, with the postcard )
This is a postcard swapping site. People spend a lot of money and time because they want to receive postcards. I almost quit soon after I joined because in one week I received three junky folded note cards, one of whom came from a member who had sent over 10,000 postcards and clearly stated in her profile that she did NOT want to receive folded cards. I felt that was pretty nervy. I did report it after I registered it, but I felt pretty cheated that week.
Itās hard buying postcards where I live too, but I buy tons of postcards online and print my own via VistaPrint. I also pick up a LOT when I find them on my travels.
Homemade postcards are great. I donāt mind if someone makes it by hand or cuts out some type of pretty packaging, as long as they have taken the time to actually craft a postcard. Those follow the rules just fine.
I would do the same.
Over here in Romania, anything that is heavier than my postlady is willing to carry in her bag that day doesnāt get delivered - instead I get a delivery slip and I have to go to the post office and pick it up personally, and sign for it, and show my national ID. This costs me a few hours of my time if I go in the wrong day or at the wrong hour (depending what queues I end up facing).
Iāve never had to pay for anything yet, but I know some envelopes never reached me - I was never notified about them, or maybe they are still stuck in customs.
There was this guy from the US that thought he had a lot of cards that Iād enjoy so he tried to send me an envelope with a few of them. This was more than a year ago, and it never reached me. In the end he sent me a regular postcard and it arrived perfectly fine.
So I know a lot of you new folks are enthusiastic and mean well - but please make sure the recipient is in a country where your kindness wonāt end up biting them. This site is about postcards, written and stamped and sent alone on their way. If your recipient prefers this or that extra thing, it is just a preference. You can follow it or not, at the risk of costing you more, and at the risk of it never arriving.
Not to mention that some countries are safer than others, and if somebody along the way decides there might be something of value in your unregistered envelope, they might just put it in their pocket instead of where itās supposed to goā¦
If I want a notecard or folded card or greetings card which clearly not a postcard, I could get them myself.
I have a request for used stamps on my profile. I once received an envelope full of old Finnish used stamps with a note paper written with the postcard ID and not a single postcard is included. I didnāt report it and put the envelope aside.
A month later the same member sent me a second envelope with the same content. Over 100s of used stamps, notepaper and no postcard is found. Again, I didnāt report it. I waited for three weeks later to get the postcard ID to expired. Then I sent in the report to complaint both envelopes.
The Finnish user is an experienced postcrosser who has sent over thousands of postcard (she put her username on the notepaper).
After reporting her case, she sent me a proper postcard. I registered it as soon as it arrives.
If you are planning to send a non-postcard, you are in the risk of not getting it register and wasting of postage stamps.
Feel free to take up on the risk.
Wow this is a heated debate, unlike other topics Iāve readā¦
Iāve sent folded cards myself if the postcrossers said itās okay. I havenāt received them yet but I have no problem registering them. I joined Postcrossing because I like connecting with different people around the world, not because I want to collect postcards. I understand people have different reasons for joining and sometimes I will get cards that I donāt like and thatās ok. To me, itās a practice of patience and embracing diversity. I appreciate the effort people put in sending me anything.
P.S. @louloufish, I agree with you and I appreciate your feedback
Why did you wait for it to expire?
I normally report as soon as possible, but is there a reason waiting would be good?
This is like a calm sea compared to some older ones.
I was then honestly amused how mean people write and how bad they see the whole person who like postcards on a postcard swapping site
I think this is common reason to join, but we canāt decide for others that they should think itās ok for them that one sends something else (and Iām not saying you claim this, but sometimes I get the feeling that if someone is ok with f ex photos, others should be too).
Yes, this is not meant for collectors, but itās still meant for postcards. Connecting with postcards. Not all who like postcards, are only collectors. They signed here to send and receive postcards. They might not register other things out of respect to the founders and the rules they agreed to follow. Not to be petty, or greedy, or a collector. Not that they see the non-postcard sender bad or wrong, or anything negative. Maybe they want to be nice and help them to understand what is sent here.
@bvaughn
As per Postcrossing rules stated at the F.A.Q.s
āIt can be a postcard you bought in a store or a handmade postcardā
So if you donāt have real postcards available you may cut a notecard to transform it in a postcard (it must be sturdy enough of course)
Many people also state in their profiles that theyāre open to all kind of cards, handmade, cut out from food packages, etc
You may also have a look at tags and RRs at the forum where a proper postcard is not needed
I sincerely think the most valuable thing we have in Postcrossing is the communication between people of the world, a āpostcardā is just the way for it to happen, so for me anything can be a postcard
The monitors are a very small group of people. They canāt be everywhere and check all the mail. They made the very simple rule " Send a postcard" and expect people to follow it without having to breathe down their necks. It is called trust.
And when non-postcards are reported, the monitors often do tell the receiver not to register it until a genuine postcard is send.
Human is a mysterious creature even I am not sure why I did it.
Just sayingā¦ I have also registered cards that were never in the country the sender comes from. One can get a postcard printed from another country and have the postcard sent to the recipient without actually touching the postcard. I feel like the sender didnāt want to communicate with meā¦ point and click and have 1000s of postcards (cards sent through the mail) sent out. Then they just want to have an actual postcard sent to them. For someone who writes them and maybe decorates the postcards themselves. I feel cheated. But thatās okay because technically itās a postcard right.