📨 Postcrossing Peeves 📨

As you all know I’ve been on Postcrossing for about three months and, largely, it’s been a fun and rewarding experience but recently there have been a few little things that have really bugged me – some are specifically to do with the website and others are to do with the transport of postcards. I decided the best way to think these problems through and work out if I’m just being picky, or if other people have the same problems with Postcrossing as I do I would write a post about it. Rather than just moaning at you all I am going to try and be objective about these problems!

My first issue is elusive postcrossers. This is something I only stumbled upon recently but it really got to me. Usually I request a few addresses at a time, read each persons profile and then write a batch of postcards -tailoring each one to the specific person, ready to mail all at once. Now I did this process last week as my last batch of postcards had all reached their destinations (Yay!). The first five addresses I requested were all fine, each one had some specific requests about what they like so I did my best but the sixth address I requested was for somebody who had an empty profile. Now by empty I don’t mean they were vague – or sparse on the details, I mean they literally hadn’t written anything. At all. My first thought was – ‘Hey, maybe they’ve just joined and haven’t had time to complete their profile.’ I scanned my eyes over to see how many postcards they’d sent and it was a huge number; yet they hadn’t even provided their first name!! How am I supposed to buy a postcard tailored to their interests, write something they’d be interested to read and decorate in a way that they’ll appreciate if they don’t provide a single piece of information for me to work from. It was so annoying, I just don’t understand why you’d bother to set up an account if you aren’t going to let other postcrossers know anything about you.

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This next issue is less to do with the actual postcrossers themselves and more to do with the delivery. I guess this is a local issue but oh my goodness the amount of postcards I’ve received lately that have been bent or folded in half is unbelievable! I’m not sure where along the line they are being manhandled and bent, maybe it’s by a sorting machine or something but it’s really irritating. When someone takes the time to pick out a postcard for me, write something nice and then mail it, the least I expect is the postal service to try their best to take care of it. I appreciate that once in a while a postcard may get damaged in transit – because they do travel a long way, but this seems to be happening regularly now and I’m not happy. Looks like the first thing I can be adding to next weeks planner spread is ‘Speak to the Post Office.’ It might even be the postman doing a half arse job of shoving the post through the letterbox that’s the problem – I’m going to start making sure I’m the one collecting the post from now on to check that nothings getting caught in the letterbox flap.

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Maybe I’m just one of those people who are always looking for things to complain about because earlier I mentioned that empty profiles are really getting on my nerves, but at the other end of that scale there’s another thing that gets on my nerves. It’s people who’s entire profile page is taken up by a list of postcards they don’t want. Now I can understand why there are certain types of postcards people would prefer not to receive, for example if you’ve been on Postcrossing a long time and have been sent hundreds of postcards of generic green hills you might be sick of them and prefer it if people sent something different every once in a while. That’s fine. I have no problem with people asking you not to send a certain type, it’s just when the list of don’t sends is as long as my arm that it annoys me. We’re all on Postcrossing because it’s fun, right? Well that’s why I do it anyway, and I have to say it really takes the fun out of it when I feel like there’s this huge pressure to make sure I don’t accidentally buy the recipient one from their don’t send list. I live in a city where there aren’t an abundance of shops that sell postcards so I try my best to accommodate peoples wishes but I can’t always guarantee to be able to get a specifically requested postcard, and dodging generic British ones can be hard. So when someone’s don’t send list looks something like this:

  • No landscapes
  • No ad cards
  • No animals
  • No plants
  • No Christmas
  • No cars
  • No doodle cards
  • No photos

It ends up being virtually impossible for me to find something to send and just ends up making the whole process extremely stressful. By the way this is half as long as some of the don’t send lists I’ve come across, and all of the examples above are one’s I have come across on the Postcrossing site when requesting addresses. Personally I express that I welcome any and all postcards on my profile as I believe if it means something to the sender, it should mean something to me.

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My final Postcrossing peeve is people that can’t be bothered to send a note when they register your postcard. Often postcards are waiting for me when I get back from college, and I’m very busy trying to finish of the days work – but as soon as they arrive I make the time to register them and send a quick thank you note via the message box. I don’t know if sending thank you notes is a very British thing to do, but every time I receive anything in the mail from family or friends, I respond with a thank you note – just like I would after being given gifts on my Birthday or at Christmas. It lets the person know that you appreciate them taking the time to send you something, and that you liked it; when people don’t bother to write anything in the message box, once they’ve registered the postcard I sent, it makes me feel as though I did something wrong – or sent a postcard they didn’t like. Ninety-nine percent of the time I’m sure this isn’t the case but it’s really disheartening. I’m not expecting a paragraph, you don’t even have to tailor it to the card I sent if you’re really pushed for time, but just a simple ‘Thank You’ followed by your first name is enough to make me smile and feel like I’m helping to make someone else’s day better. I always send a message because you never know who needs cheering up, the simple format I use is ‘Thank You for the postcard, I really/especially liked (……). I hope you’re having a good day. Sophie x’ It’s simple and doesn’t take up too much time when I’ve got work to do but it feels like something people will appreciate so I send it.

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I know this has been a rather long, moaning post but thanks for sticking around! Despite the way this post may paint it I do actually really enjoy Postcrossing and have had some wonderful things through my letterbox recently, as well as some wonderful profiles pop-up when I’ve requested addresses. It’s not all bad!

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17 thoughts on “📨 Postcrossing Peeves 📨

  1. Neva Topolski says:

    One of my recent postcrossing recipients tries to do a theme for a month or a year. One year she wanted postcards of umbrellas – I looked at her received cards and it was amazing. This year she was going for purple – anything purple or with a bit of purple on it. I think it is a fun idea.

    Like

  2. Lissa Clouser says:

    I agree with your peeve about overly-filled out profiles. I have zero issues with someone naming one or two things they really don’t care for or naming a couple of things that they love best and going “if you happen to have one of these, please send it my way!” But the ones who are extra picky (and have a snooty tone about it too) drive me bonkers. I will always send something the person loves (or avoid what they don’t) if I can… but if I get your address I’m sending you a card one way or another. If you’re going to be all hatin’ on it, that’s not my fault. Not everyone can afford a huge variety of postcards in their stash.

    Well-filled out profiles I can respond to are my favorite, but empty profiles don’t really bother me. (Mine is mostly my name, a hello, and a request to send anything that is important to the sender. I am developing favorites, but there are so many styles out there that I don’t want to ask for them and miss out on ones I’ve never seen.) And I always send a thank you, but it is usually a generic one. Occasionally I will respond directly to the card if it was filled out in a way that encourages it, but often not. It doesn’t bother me much one way or the other how people respond. I joined postcrossing for the one-off contact through the postcard itself, so the digital side doesn’t grate on me all that much.

    However my opinion of the site and process is overall positive. I haven’t had any butchered postcards, but my best friend has. I like seeing them at least a tiny bit battered, because that tells me they’ve traveled. I can imagine the frustration though when they are ripped or have chunks missing.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sophie says:

      Hi Lissa, first of all thanks for reading! Your profile doesn’t sound like one that would bother me, as all I ask for is something (anything) to go on. It’s the people who have literally blank pages that annoy me, I mean how difficult is it to put hi and your name? Not very!
      I’m glad your experience is positive overall though as at the end of the day we all do it for the fun and the experience – and that’s what it should be all about.
      Sophie xx

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  3. Inge | The Belgian Reviewer says:

    Hey Sophie, thank you for your like on my blog. I haven’t encountered empty profiles yet, or people who don’t bother to send me a message. Lucky me :-). I do see long wishlists of what to send or not but I just look at what I have gathered here and there. I haven’t found a good online shop yet who sells all of the desired images (fire trucks, anime, lighthouses etc.). I like animals and cards with ‘something pink on it’ most but I’m really happy with any card I get.

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    • Sophie says:

      You sound like the kind of Postcrosser I would be happy to get, I think it’s perfectly fine to have a few specifics you like as long as you also express that you are happy if people can’t find them to send something they think you’ll like. The empty profiles really do drive me insane so I’m very jealous you haven’t encountered any yet! Thanks for stopping by Inge xx

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Idle Emma says:

    I completely understand your frustrations! I think every Postcrossing user has encountered the empty profile or long list of ‘don’t send me…’
    I do like to do my best to find a postcard that I think the person will like (as best I can seeing as I mostly just have tourist postcards – I get them for cheap because my sister works in a tourist shop xD) so when there’s nothing to go off, it can be really annoying. And when the person only wants one specific kind of card – well, I just ignore them usually and send them whatever I feel like, I feel less inclined to add a personal touch when someone is being so picky and in it more for the collecting rather than the joy of brief connections with strangers around the world.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. marinegirl1 says:

    I’ve encountered both the empty profiles and the don’t send lists a lot on postcrossing as well (I think everyone on postcrossing has). While I generally always try to pick postcards that the senders like depending on the profile, I do think it is important to remember that it specifically says from the beginning when you join postcrossing that even though you can state which postcards yo prefer or maybe not like to get, you can’t demand only specific ones. So if I encounter those long lists of don’t likes I try to not stress to much. I mean we all at some stage receive cards that we don’t like but thats just part of the experience. Sorry to hear about the problem with your postal system though, I hope you can sort it out so that the cards don’t get bend anymore.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sophie says:

      Hi there,
      I completely understand why you don’t stress over it and that’s great! I really wish I was more like you when it comes to Postcrossing, unfortunately I’m a people pleaser and I guess that’s where my downfall is. From now on I’m going to start trying to be more relaxed about picking the postcards I send!
      Thanks for stopping by x

      Like

  6. thesnailmail says:

    I enjoyed this post because these are exactly the frustrations I encounter–and moan about in so many of the posts in my own blog! Moan isn’t even the correct word: I RANT! 😉 If I can’t get fun from the Postcrossing interaction, heck, I’ll burn some calories ranting about it on my silly blog! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    • Sophie says:

      I’m so glad I’ve found somebody else who feels the same way I do, I think I’ll head over and take a look at those rants of yours. I’m sure they’re well justified – thank you for stopping by!
      Sophie xx

      Liked by 1 person

  7. elinorlife says:

    Reading around blogs and the forum I think those are all issues that come up fairly regularly… Some people argue you should just send what you like and move on but I think it’s great to make more of a personal connection. I’ve been going through phases with Postcrossing recently – I’ll send a load of cards then get frustrated and back off again!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sophie says:

      Hi Elinor,
      I’m glad you agree about making a personal connection because I really do think it’s half the fun of Postcrossing in the first place! I can’t understand why people bother otherwise. Each to their own though I guess. I’ll continue to try and add a personal touch to the cards I send and hope it makes someone happy anyway!
      Thanks for stopping by ~ Sophie xx

      Like

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