Postcrossing Blog

Would you like to be able to exchange more postcards at the same time? If so, then we might have some good news for you!

If we could just choose, we would love to allow everyone to send as many as they wish. However, limits are necessary in Postcrossing to keep the system balanced for everyone and also to keep the project safe. But we know that the current limits are particularly hard on new members who want to get started quickly and must wait for their limits to grow slowly. So, we have been working on a way to allow new Postcrossers to exchange more postcards, while still having the required limits – by adjusting them slightly.

Today we are doing an update on the formula for limits in Postcrossing. From now onwards, the limit for new accounts will start to increase after the first 5 postcards sent (and registered). Afterwards, the number of postcards you can send will increase by 1 for each 10 postcards sent (it was for each 20, so it grows twice as fast!). After the first 35 postcards sent, it increases by 1 on each multiple of 50 postcards sent.

We know this might sound a little confusing, so we made a little graph to explain the difference between before and after. Here it is:

As you see, the limits grow faster initially, allowing the account to reach a more comfortable level sooner.

How does this affect you? If you have sent under 100 postcards so far, you will be seeing an increase on your limit between 1 and 3 extra postcards. But not only new members get to send extra postcards: if you have already sent 100 postcards or more, then you’ll have one extra postcard as well. That’s right! Everyone gets (at least) one extra postcard with these changes – merry Christmas! :).

The limit continues to increase up until 100 traveling postcards – we believe that should be more than enough for everyone. And of course, it is the limit that we are changing – you are free to send any amount you want within your quota. You can learn more about the new limits here.

We are quite excited about these updates and we hope you’ll enjoy these changes. Happy Postcrossing everyone! :)

Hi! We’re the Little Mail Carriers, Little Paulo and Little Ana! In the last months, we’ve been busy cruising the world in the hands of postcrossers, but we’ve recently came back to the office for an impromptu visit… You see, we’ve heard rumours that there was going to be a huge Postcrossing meeting in Germany, and we didn’t want to miss out!

We’ve been to a few meetings before, but nothing compared to this one! There were almost 60 people in attendance from a dozen different countries (including Australia!), all staying in the same house… we knew it was going to be a blast! :)

Let us show you what we did there:

On Friday, we took a day trip to Münster, the “bicycle capital of Germany”. We did the tourist tour through all the main sites with a big group of postcrossers and visited a few Christmas markets. We loved the gingerbread hearts, and the giant nutcracker!

Postcard shopping was, of course, an important part of the trip. This little shop was crowded with all the postcrossers ooh’ing and aaaah’ing over the cute postcards!

While we were waiting for everyone to finish their postcard shopping, we spotted a postman on his bike! We asked him if we could take a ride, which he graciously allowed!

Back at the Einschlingen Guest house, there was much to be done! Have you ever received a postcard from a meetup? They’re usually filled with signatures from all the participants. In a meeting this big, it takes a long time to sign all the cards… We chose a few, and made sure that Paulo didn’t miss a card. Then, we gave it a go as well!

All the postcrossers seemed to have brought something sweet from their country, and the tables were piled up with deliciousness!

And oh! There was a huge pile of presents for the Christmas lottery! Everyone’s names were entered on a bowl, and norbaer helped people draw out names and presents! In the end, all postcrossers had received something cute or funny :)

On Saturday morning, there was an article on the local newspaper about the meeting! We didn’t understand all the words, but it sure looked good.

On Saturday, we also wandered on the streets of Bielefeld. We visited a famous postcard shop, met a few local postcrossers, saw the Christmas market … and a crepes stand which had soooo much Nutella! :)

We were almost the last ones to leave on Sunday afternoon, and we were quite sad to go… We loved meeting so many people that share in common a passion for postcards and Postcrossing. Old and new, from near or far… we had a lot of fun in the days we spent together! Perhaps we’ll see you there next year?

PS – Can you guess how many postcards were signed on this meetup? Answer on the forum in this thread for a chance to win some prizes! :)

Wow! Did you see that? There were hundreds of comments on our last giveaway! You really like the Go Green postcards, don’t you? :)

So, without further waiting, the postcard packs go to Deern, super-hero and nt – congratulations!

Once again, a big thank you Brenda for sponsoring this giveaway. And for the rest of you who didn’t win anything this time, don’t be sad, there are more giveaways coming!

In other news, did you see this fun compilation of Christmas facts by MOO?

(click for bigger)

It’s full of really interesting tidbits, like how many cards Santa Claus receives in a year, and how long it would take for him to open them all! :)

MOO would also like to remind you that you should order any Christmas postcards before December 13th, to ensure a timely delivery!

You might have seen these stamps and postcards around… they’re part of USPS’s GO GREEN program, meant to draw attention to the little things that you can do to make a difference and have a positive impact on the environment:

Out of milk? Walk or bike to the store. Repair that drippy faucet—the noise was driving you crazy, anyway. Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs. Put on a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat. Sun dry your sheets—they’ll smell wonderful!

Each postcard has a mix seeds of wildflowers, so you can plant it and watch it grow!

On this weekend’s giveaway, we’re offering 3 packs of Go Green oversized postcards, which come with matching forever stamps. You could plant them or just send them to your friends with a green message! To win a pack, leave a comment below. We’ll pick 3 random winners by midnight next Sunday, CET time.

These postcard packs were kindly offered by 9teen87. Brenda has a very neat postcard blog that you should visit!

PS – I did plant a couple of postcards, but nothing sprouted… I blame my non-existent green thumb, and I hope you have better luck!

The Singapore Philatelic Museum is once again preparing their annual exhibition dedicated to the Chinese Zodiac, this time featuring… dragons! These magical creatures have inspired legends and stories all around the world – from Saint George and the dragon, to Watatsumi, Tianlong or even… Dragon Ball!

No matter the dragon you know best, the Singapore Philatelic Museum would like you to share it with their visitors! So please send your dragon postcards to:

Singapore Philatelic Museum
23B Coleman Street
Singapore 179807

Mishelle Lim, who works at the museum, tells us that many visitors, young and old stop to admire and read the postcards sent by the postcrossers.
The exhibitions are usually very interactive, and especially attractive to the younger visitors of the museum – so please send a message to the little ones! You can tell them about your favourite dragon, or just say hi! Bonus points if you can find stamps with dragons as well!

As usual, all cards received before the end of the year will receive a reply from the museum – so don’t forget to include your address.

PS – Curious about what these exhibitions look like? Take a look at the previous editions!