Hi, so I drew the name of someone who has been a member for a number of years and sent many cards. This person lives in a large city in the US.
I read the profile and chose a card I thought they would like from a boxed set I have. However, not wanting to send something that perhaps this person already owns, I looked at their wall to see what they have sent.
Apparently for the last hundred at least, they always send the same card. It is a pretty card showing a whimsical image related to the area they live in.
But seeing this completely shut down my enthusiasm for choosing the card I had picked out as to me it feels like they have no interest in the person they send the card to and make no effort. I don’t know if the cards they send are purchased or free, but I just felt “disappointment “. I ended up picking another card to send them. Maybe to me the sending is what matters, and to them the receiving is. After all they are fulfilling the requirements. Perhaps this is an easier way.
I guess I’m just looking for other people’s opinions. Thank you!
I wouldn’t be so quick to judge why someone sends the same card - there can be many reasons for that - it could be money, it could be lack of access to cards, maybe they can’t get out to get them or order them or it could be they prefer keeping it simple in terms of choosing a card.
People participate in Postcrossing in their own way and there are many, many ways to participate and all of them have value to someone - you have control over how you participate so do what makes it work for you and brings you enjoyment - I wouldn’t worry about others’ motivations too much.
But if the sending is what matters to you, I think you’d send the first card you had chosen.
I might have thoughts about someone sending the same card to everyone, but I have no real idea why they do it. Considering that, I can’t judge it.
Maybe that person just really likes that card and believes they are sending the best card to everyone.
And I disagree that they make no effort. They wrote the card and put it in the mail. And we have no idea what they write on the back.
I did a class project and we got donated the same card for 450 students. I have some left and I use them where appropriate but I have many others. depends the situation but if it is that way for years no clue why they would do that
The reasons can differ. For example i am only a beginner, but after several different postcards I decided to make a limited edition of my own postcard that tryes to sutisfy almost all the profiles possible. I like the idea that there is only 100 same postcards in the world that I made and they are all around the globe. I always write the number on it and believe or not, they ale almost always “favorite” I am really putting some effort into stamp arrangement and it has nothing to do with money or me not caring about the person receiving it. If he / she has some special wish, I would try to make him /her happy, but mostly my limited edition postcard can meet their preferences 
after 100 postcard send, I am switching to a regular one. And no worries about sending one card all around because probably they will not receive this card multiple times.
While it seems a bit boring to do so, and perhaps some who do this do it for minimal effort vs receiving many different cards, their same card goes to a different person every time. So while it makes an impression to see it on a “sent” wall, if you think about it, it doesn’t matter so much because so many people in so many different places will receive it…
When I used to send a lot cards from holidays, there was always this question about is it rude to send the same one to two different people, at the time I used to make sure that if I had to send the same one twice (e.g. for lack of many options) it was to people that didn’t know each other so they couldn’t compare 
Nowadays, I wouldn’t care, I’d just tell them I liked that card so much that I thought both (or more) people should have it!
I always like to look what kind of cards they sent and what they have received, and truth to be told, when I see someone send the same card to everyone, I feel a little bored, or my good card writing mood sinks a bit.
Of course I know there might be many many reasons for that, but from my experience, these often are the ones there is no “effort”. For me, it’s not effort to have a card factory, probably readily written card, only my address glued and sent. It’s not any effort that they send the card, they are just doing their part with the least effort possible. Yes, they did their part, and I actually don’t want to people having too much effort, but I do prefer a little personal card.
It reminds me of a situation when meeting someone new, and they tell what they expect from me, and what I should do and be like, and when I ask what I get, they are like “I’m like this, take it or leave it”, and when I leave, I’m the bitch 
and I should think good things about that person.
For me, if you expect things from others, show some flexibility yourself 
I kind of admire the ability to think everyone who send the same card is poor, sick, having some restrictions, how they actually take time to write the card, and all kind of noble reasons but also little annoyed, like people with disability or not so good financies would be like that and treat others like a big mass. I think it’s healthy to admit, some are not putting any effort, they just do their part, and I don’t have to think there’s a secret reason for that. Some only send the bulk card, and it’s ok, and I don’t have to like it, and it’s ok too.
I only mind when it’s the same card with the same preprinted message that gets sent to every recipient. I’ve only received maybe five of these. If it was just the same card, who cares - you’ll only get one card from them anyway. If it’s the same message, they are just churning out rubbish and should be told off for it.
I only occasionally look at someone else’s sent wall, but most of the time, I’m actually not interested in what people send to other people. They might put in all the effort in the world or be incredibly lazy, but this is something that I can’t control. What I can control is what I send to other people–and I’d like to think I put in equal effort for everyone regardless how their profile is worded. I enjoy sending more than receiving so I concentrate on the sending aspect more. Besides, this isn’t a direct swap situation–I’m not going to receive a postcard from the person I sent to unless that person has multiple accounts.
There are all sorts of people on Postcrossing and they will have joined for different reasons. Aside from what is already in the guidelines, the site has no requirement or benchmark as to how much effort someone should exert in sending a postcard to another random member. So we can’t expect that everyone has the same tit for tat mindset.
I’ve received such cookie cutter postcards before, but my suggestion is not to dwell on it and move on to the next person. The majority of Postcrossing participants do put in effort in their postcards. Like any other hobby, most will be fun but there will be a minor thing that isn’t. If we constantly only concentrate on the negative aspects, we might as well not have any hobbies at all.
After receiving an address I read someone’s profile and choose a postcard I have in stock and which I think suits the person - not always their (long) list of requested postcards either will influence my choice. More important is the text I will write. This can be about the image of the postcard or a theme/question from the profile.
I do send the same postcards, because I order mostly online. Nice postcards are hard to find in the stores and I will look for postcards on holidays or days out. At the moment this is hard because of the closed shops…I choose my postcards with care and write meaningful words. A sending or receiving list doesn’t say it all - you never know what message will be on the other side! Keeping an open mind and just be happy with postcards in your mailbox! 
I know this feeling too… Normally I don’t look at the “sent” wall of a member whose address I got, but sometimes when the profile is (nearly) empty, to get an impression of what this person likes. Or when a profile has very specific wishes or sounds a bit demanding, I’ll have a look as well because I’m curious if this member puts the same effort in sending.
And then (perhaps in 5 cases so far) seeing the same sent card over and over again makes me feel disappointed too. 
But then I remind me all the things the others already wrote: You don’t know the reasons for this, they’re within the rules, and - most important - they don’t have to have the same conception as I do. And then I send a nice card and pay in my “Postcrossing karma account”.
(One time, to someone who “hated” free ad cards but sent an impressive number of them, I admit that I deliberatedly chose an ad card. 
)
It would not bother me at all. It is a different person they are sending to each time, correct?!
Everyone is here for different reasons. I am here to connect with people through postcards. One person who sent me a postcard, he sends the same postcard each time–it is a lovely photo of his town. I loved it. He found the perfect postcard that depicts the place where he lives!!
From the Postcrossing Guidelines: "The goal of Postcrossing is to connect the world via real mail, by allowing you to exchange postcards with other random members around the world."
Once I accidentally ordered 20 owl cards instead of two and I discovered that only after receiving them. So I had to send them all a little by little to all owl, bird and nature lovers.
Ah, so you saw the lovely decoration and the warm and heartful words through the picture side! You’re the eighth world wonder!
Sorry, but the picture side of a card is just one side and it is very unlikely that an addressee ever gets the same touristical card twice. I often send pictures of the cathedral of Aachen, but I send it to different people and they all declared in their profile that they like cards showing the place of the sender or UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so that the picture of the card fulfils their wishes. And there is also the textside of the card, which is often more interesting. I received a number of cards with a not very interesting picture side but a very lovely text.
Maybe this is the person’s understanding of justice. Maybe he(she) thinks it’s fair - if everyone have the same.
Hello.
Let me give you myself as an example.
I live in a small-ish town in Lebanon. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of interest where I live. The nearest city is 16 KM away and public transport is almost non-existant.
When I do go to buy cards, my choices are pretty limited. Touristic cards that show sights and places from around the country. I always wanted to get box sets but these are rare and quite expensive in Lebanon (Especially now with the devaluation of the currency they can cost up to USD 80 per box of 50 cards). So there are times that I am forced to send the same card(s) simply because we don’t have much of a choice.
Then there is the possibility that the person sending the same card is very proud of what is on the card and wants to share it with the entire world.
Well, I wouldn’t be too quick to judge on this. As mentioned by some of the others above, there are many reasons as to why someone might send the same card to everyone:
- Lack of cards available in a particular region / country
- Lack of cards available due to the lockdown (unable to head out, shops are all closed)
- The Postcrosser genuinely likes the cards and believes these cards will suit the wishlists of many
- Laziness (of course, this might be the case too)
Personally, I try to vary the cards I send, but there are some which I buy in bulk too, such as the Postcrossing meetup cards, because these are limited edition and won’t ever be produced again. I try to send them out quickly too, once I draw profiles of Postcrossers who indicate that they like Postcrossing meetup cards. Also, these cards are seasonal and if I don’t send them out within the next 2 months, it might seem overdue (e.g. sending a Christmas card in May).
You can see on my wall in my profile that I have a number of repeated cards I send too, and sometimes they appear in a cluster too because ven though I spread out my sending of these cards, the arrival also depends on postal speeds around the world, and sometimes the same cards arrive at the same time.
I wouldn’t only have just one card to send to everyone, because I like to have a variety and I like fulfilling wishlists of Postcrossers. But the same cannot be said for everyone as everyone is here for a different purpose. Also, we will never know what is written on the back side of the postcard. As long as the Postcrosser has fulfilled his/her basic obligation of sending a postcard, there are no longer any grounds to fault someone, be it whether you like the postcard or not.
Postcrossing is meant to be fun, and if we focus so much on the negative side of everything, then there is really no point in continuing this hobby, is there? We do have postcards that we end up not being so fond of, but that’s okay because some time down the road, you will receive one that you really love too.
I’m leaving a last piece of advice here too - you shouldn’t change the way you do things just because others are doing it other ways. If you really dislike sending just the same card to everyone, then don’t do it yourself, but don’t expect others not to do the same. Life will be happier that way.
In the case of last hundred, I think the reason is as below:
That absolutely nothing may be very interesting for other postcrossers, for most of us do not live in Lebanon. Perhaps you can have printed your own postcards with it.