If, like me, you have bought postcards in boxes, packs, sets, of 25 - 100 cards, what do you do with the ones that you personally don’t like?
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I’ve seen the thread about Favourite Postcard Box, so I know there are many other people who buy these. I’ve bought Pantone Box, Botanicals, various landscapes, flowers, animals, art deco and so on, but I’ve just ordered another box of something else. For variety for me as much as the recipients!
I send them in this forum!
The card you want to get rid off - tag
Boring Postcard Tag
" Ugly " card tag
“Ugly” card / beautiful stamp TAG
Taking out the trash - tag
Taking out the TRASH Tag x 4 cards (TRASH ) in an envelope
There is also a “Bottom of the Pile” group in the Postcard Set, Box, Book, Calendar RR.
Before the pandemic, I would take them to Postcrossing meetups and let people take as many as they want.
The thing about boxed sets is: they are very affordable, but sometimes they are largely composed of stinkers. Even sets that are pretty cool are often of such a specific topic that I could Postcross for 20 years and never draw enough profiles who want those cards.
I also do as @Feuerstuhl and give some away in tags. (We just need a textile tag now, so I can give away 99 Pendleton wool blanket pattern cards!)
Er, @aerobear why did you buy that box set, then? You can send me one if you ever draw my address.
@Feuerstuhl your enthusiasm is wonderful to behold, but I clicked on the top one and couldn’t make head nor tail of it. I’m often busy here and don’t know if I want to get into that… 
I changed the first post of the The card you want to get rid off - tag. Now it should be clearer. Tags aren’t complicated. Most tags work this way and they are often only explained not in the tag itself but here: How do Tags work?
But some have special rules and therefore it is always better to read the first post before you participate anywhere.
@aerobear The set looks rather nice! We really need a pattern tag.
I have box of local pattern.
I will vote yes if you open poll.
That’s such a hard one too! I sent a mate of mine a pack because she was just getting started on Postcrossing, she sent me another pack in return! Both packs were space related but she did such a fantastic job picking out the ones for me… I like so many of them and I am reluctant to send them off, but I choose to see it as sharing the knowledge of space! Who knows, maybe someone will get involved in astronomy bc of one of our postcards!
Like second marriages, it was the triumph of hope over experience.
But seriously, it was affordable and I really liked the few patterns they showed on the website. I was even able to send a perfectly themed one to a recently drawn profile ( US-7089812 ). But even if I send one per week, that’ll still take nearly 2 years to empty the box. (But you can DM me your address and I’ll send you a nice one 
)
I have noticed there is always somebody who is looking for ugly or weird cards, so even if I personally don’t like the card, sooner or later the right profile will show up and get a real jackpot. People have so different taste with things so I usually don’t buy the cards according to my own taste, but try to get a wide variety of the different ones.
I just previous weekend had an honour to send cards to postcrossers looking for cards with toilets and “the ugliest one you can find”. I can’t wait for those cards to arrive! Those cards waited for their turn over a year.
Though, the tags seems to be a great way to send off different cards and be sure that they are welcomed. I am not big fan of tags, but would definitely do that if I was more active with sending mail.
I send them? 
All the cards I buy are to send to other people, even if I buy the boxes accordingly to themes I personally like. As they are not for me, it doesn’t matter if I personally don’t like some of them included in those boxes/sets: the right recipient will come along eventually.
Edit: what about the cards you personally like so much that you have an hard time getting rid of them?
If I come across an “ugly” card in an otherwise fine collection of cards, I send them to someone in the “Ugly Card” tag. I have, in return, received some truly ugly cards with wonderful messages, as well as some cards that I do not find ugly at all. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
Oh my, I hadn’t realised that this was so complicated. Here’s what I do with a new set or box or pack.
I immediately go through it and pick out all the ones I really like (as if they’re too good to post to a stranger 
) and put them in a separate box. I don’t look through this separate box very often, but it’s a joy when I do.
Then I pick out all the ones I would never post to anyone, because they’re too boring, bland, twee, cute, stereotypical or meaningless. They get thrown away. Yes! Thrown away without a backward glance. The remainder are either Just Right, or Good, or - good enough. 
But I get tired with looking at the Good Enoughs, always here in my stash. Eventually I throw them away too. Life is simply far too short to have unexciting not-sent postcards hanging around for months. Then I buy another set or box. 
Ooops, I meant The card you want to get rid off - tag instead of the Taking out the trash - tag 
@SailingBy I’m too cheap to do that. Buying cards just to throw them away? Naah… If I get tired of looking at specific cards, then I send them away.
While I’m still awake and have your attention 
I still can’t work this out. If I or you started a tag with ‘Archie’s unwanted cards’ and please don’t do that!, then someone would respond. Then I’d send them ALL my unwanted cards? In a package overseas? Then what? Sorry to be so dim about this.
Only one card!
There are also tags where you send several cards in an envelope. E.g. in the Taking out the TRASH Tag x 4 cards (TRASH ) in an envelope, you send 4 trashy cards to the last person and the next person sends you 4 trashy cards in turn and receives 4 trashy cards from the next tagger and so on, it is an endless game.
But in most tags, you only send one card to the person above you and receive one card from the person below you. Like a one-time swap but you send and receive cards to/from different people.
You also can’t simply start a tag, because there are so many of these endless games already, they are rather strictly regulated and have to be proposed and voted on here.
I bought this box set a while back when I saw that it was 50% off at one of my local bookstores. I personally don’t find it a dud because I enjoy patterns.
you throw away perfectly good cards just because you don’t like them? that hurts my postcrossing heart. also. you don’t want cards for months? i’ve been having some cards for years. there’s always someone i will make happy with those cards.
so i completely agree with @alter3ch0 , i just send out all the cards i buy, even if i don’t personally like them. though i don’t have a lot of cards that i don’t like. for example, i’m not a fan of trains but if i do buy a train card i buy one that i find pretty.
Yep, I agree with this. I generally don’t buy postcards that I don’t also like, but yeah, there are sometimes odd ones in box sets that I can’t control for. But there will be someone out there for it eventually, so I end up keeping them around.
Er, I buy a second set. 
