Have you tried posting in the “Buy Nothing” app? I received hundreds of unused postcards from people in my neighborhood. Also you could try “Nextdoor” or Facebook marketplace. You’d be surprised by what people will give you if you just ask.
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I actually got a bunch of mine starting out from here as well! Not quite hundreds, though haha.
But I agree with the sentiment of buying what makes you happy, plus viewcards if those are available. Have fun!
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i’m relatively new also. i went to my local museum and bought 4 different cards of my town… after reading the recipient’s info i try to decide which one they would be interested in receiving. i live in a small town so not a lot of choice of local area postcards… but since i only send 1 card to a person it works. i thought i would be sending several cards to the same person back and forth 5 times!
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Hello,
I send postcard of where I live and I love food postcard.
I bought postcards, which showed my place. So I could tell a bit about my place and the recipient could see it.
UNESCO card is very good choose, Poland have many good UNESCO place!
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My postcards come from different sources. But i like to buy from eBay lots the most. That way, I have a lot of choices.
I read the profile of each person i send to and can choose which one to send that matches their likes. The only con is that many times you must buy some used ones in the lot that you bid on.
My personal favorites are the historical and landmark scapes. I don’t care for the ones with no personal writing on them. I do Postcrossing to discover more about people around the world.
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I think this is important. When I started Postcrossing, I thought it was all about view cards, but soon discovered how much I love illustrations above views. I barely buy view cards now. They bore me and I’m not interested in sending them. When I run out of the ones I’ve had in stock for a long while, I doubt I’ll replace them.
There’s also a practical reason for this. I can’t buy them locally or online, and as I doubt I’ll have a holiday any time soon, I have no opportunity to buy them, whereas so many other sorts can be bought online.
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That’s a great writing prompt. I’m going to use it. Even if it’s 'Why did i buy this postcard online, what was I doing, what triggered it?".
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In my experience, Poland has beautiful “touristic” cards (that are the classical cards depicting towns, monuments, landscapes… of the place were you live).
So I think a bunch of them is a good choice to start. Also, it would be easy to write something on the card, because you can speak of its subject
Thanks everyone for your replies. I ordered tourist postcards and of course UNESCO.
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A reminder that you are not obligated to fulfill wishes for any particular kind of postcard. Buy what you like and what brings you joy to send.
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Kate-G. Here is how new i am to this. i can tell you when i joined up in hours!! This is simple for me. Being new i thought it would be cool to show people who i am thru post cards and the stamps. my likes, Dis-likes, whatever. Each card will be part of my life story and i am capable of doing just that given enough cards! lol. marcus
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I think that illustrated postcards are very attractive and anyone can like them.
post edited by moderator
please don’t advertise here a special shop - that is not allowed according to the forum guidelines
Don’t use the forum to advertise a business or anything commercial.
I don’t agree with the opinion that you should send the cards that you like. Obviously, you are not obliged to find the exact card that a person wants, but it’s a must for me to send a card that is related to something mentioned by the receiver. I want the person to really like the card. For example, many people like landscape cards. I don’t, I find them boring.
As Carnegie said
> Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream.
And the answer to the initial question is: a pack of landscape cards (as most people like them) and a pack of animal cards, preferrably interesting drawings, not just photos. Most people write at least one animal in their profile, and if they have an interesting design, you are more than covered.
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I think Postcrossing is not to bait anyone, it is to connect people. I would not feel well, if I had to send a card I don’t like, just because the addressee likes only card that I do not like. And maybe the addresse would have added my card to their wishlist, if they knew it before.
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Yes, that’s a good point. There are a tremendous number of cards that I knew nothing about when I started postcrossing. I’m so glad people thought to send them to me.
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As everyone else has said, you need to determine what you want to send out - do you want to send out only cards depicting your city or do you want to have a little bit of everything? Do you want to send out cards that only you like or cards that the receiver likes?
I personally try to send something I think the receiver will like which means that I try to keep several different sorts of cards. However, I do find it difficult to send something I personally do not at all like, even if that would mean the receiver would like it (ex. religious or images with funny text).
I try to always have on hand:
cards of my region/city, cats, other types of animals (that most people enjoy), nature images, neutral images (used for when I’m not sure what to send), trains, art/museum cards, and flowers.
I’ve found that having those types of cards satisfies the majority of people - and to be honest, most of the interactions I’ve had with people, the majority prefer and value the written side more than the image.
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According to my experience, I would say view cards, animals, art and maybe some beautiful illustrations. Most of the profiles ask for one or more of those things.
I started with a postcard box I think. Those are quite affordable and because you can order online it was easily delivered at home. Now I have multiple postcard boxes and also other cards. Touristy cards are actually more difficult and more expensive to find for me and I also came across profiles that specifically disliked those. You don’t have to fulfill someone’s wishes but I do enjoy it if I can. If I would have to send a card that people specifically don’t want (some people have do not’s) it would make me feel bad. Most importantly: have fun!
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