So many postcards...Now what?

I have been with postcrossing about 5 years. I have received a lot of postcards! I have to downsize because of moving to a much smaller home with very little storage space. So I can’t continue to keep them all. I want to continue to send and receive though.

What have you all done with hundreds of postcards that you have received? I have just about all of them on my “wall”, so I can enjoy them virtually, but I feel weird just throwing all the hard copies away.

What do you think?

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You have a few options. You could offer them to other members. Periodically, I gather together all the cards that aren’t a fit for my collections and ship them to a stamp auction house here. I don’t get much money if the lot sells, but $75.00 is nothing to sneeze at. Lastly, I have purchased collections from PostCrossing members over the years. Most of them have left the hobby. If this is of interest to you, send me a PM.

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Do you have a website for the auction house? I’m going to have a similar question in a few months

I have been keeping mine in different boxes :package:
I really need to get organised :thinking:

I have them all in boxes (about 10K+ received in 10+ years plus blank ones and supplies, mind that in Russia we mostly live in apartments and the ‘big’ apartment is usually way smaller than average ‘small’ European or American house), so the storage problem is crippling

I donated very small amounts to other postcrossers with specific topics of collections, and physically destroyed some of the cards (both sides scanned, all of them had simple ‘happy postcrossing’ or similar in the message, stamps sent to stamp collectors, made a post in my blog about every destroyed one). Now I use postcards for showing objects and animals for my toddler, he likes to go through them. I plan to re-sort, make sure all of them scanned for my blog and digital collection but then cut the ‘boring’ ones into stamps for stamps collector friends and the rest left pieces use for new handmade cards

I do feel very weird to throw them away, somehow full destruction of reusing partly feels better. I also think that postcard once received becomes a propriety of receiver, and I wouldn’t mind that other postcrossers cut or throw away or do anything with the cards I sent to them. Because each card was a moment of joy - while writing or upon receiving, if it sparks the trace of same joy when I accidentally come across its’ digital copy or in box, then card stays, if not - it will go eventually, destroyed by the paws of a toddler or by me.

On other hand I gently store all received handmade cards: for me they are sort of magical artefacts which survived the unlikely journey of the steel sorting machines :smile:

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you could give them away in a lottery for people who collect postcards or stamps. Im guessing there is no personal data issue since only your address will be shown on the cards.

I guess in other countries second hand, charity shops or auctions are a thing as well…

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Definitely don’t throw them away. There are so many ways you or someone else can use re-use them for art projects, collections, etc.

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Thanks everyone. This is my first time exploring the forums. With your suggestions I am going to organize my collection and later post what I have for trade or for “lottery” later for the stamp collectors or postcard collectors.

Thanks again! :heart:

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The New York City Public Library has a huge reference room of nothing but postcards of every description! It is at the main branch. My point is, maybe someplace like this would want them, AND preserve them for posterity.

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Good morning Xute, Do you still donate some postcards ? If possible…I´m interested. Thank you .

I store mine in albums when they fit my collection. They are ordered either by theme and each theme is in alphabedital order (as I mostely collect country related postcards). I also have an album with cards, that I don’t collect but I think they are pretty.

In my album are only written and stamped postcards. Since my collection is growing I am trying to downsize these albums by only keeping those inside that were sent from them country of origin.

All other cards I have received I store randomly in boxes with no particular order.

Thanks for this reference…

I would see if a teacher might like them. postcards of France, Germany, Spain, or England to teachers of those languages. Or group postcards from all the Spanish speaking countries for example.

History or Geography teachers may enjoy a mix of postcards. Science teachers would probably like the women in science series or postcards of different animals. Art teachers would love the Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo’s to name just two.

The teachers might enjoy using them to decorate their classrooms, too.