Postcrossing Blog

As some of you might have noticed, Postcrossing closed the Paypal “donation box” for the Sichuan Earthquake relief fund a few days ago.
We took some time to mail all the postcard packs to the generous donors and today, exactly a month after the earthquake, we headed to the bank and made the deposit: 12289.2 RMB (or 1149.2 Euros or 1776.4 U.S. dollars) .

Thank you very much to everybody that contributed! Your kindness and generosity will surely have a meaningful impact on the lives of the millions of people affected by this disaster!

Like they say around here, 谢 谢 你！

PS – If you would still like to make a donation, please do so directly to the Red Cross, through the numbers on this page.

(Image from wang qian on flickr)

To help the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, Postcrossing is raising donations which will be sent to the Red Cross society of China. As a bonus, we will send a set postcards to the first 100 people who donate over 15 US dolars or 10 euros.

For more details, please visit the Sichuan Earthquake relief page we have set up.
All help is appreciated. Thank you!

Over these 2 years, the most requested feature we received here at Postcrossing headquarters was from users that wanted to send more than 5 postcards at a time. We hesitated and thought about the issue for a long time… until we decided on a fair way to implement this change.

So, from now on, the number of postcards you can send will depend on the number of postcards you have already sent. This should encourage new users to (slowly) test the system, while allowing more experienced users to send more postcards.

The new limits for the postcards you can send (ie, have simultaneously traveling) are now:

• If you have sent between 0 and 19 postcards, you can send 5 postcards.
• If you have sent between 20 and 39 postcards, you can send 6 postcards.
• If you have sent between 40 and 59 postcards, you can send 7 postcards.
• If you have sent between 60 and 79 postcards, you can send 8 postcards.
• If you have sent between 80 and 99 postcards, you can send 9 postcards.
• If you have sent between 100 and 149 postcards, you can send 10 postcards.
• If you have sent between 150 and 199 postcards, you can send 11 postcards.
• If you have sent between 200 and 249 postcards, you can send 12 postcards.
• … and so on, in increments of 1 postcard for each 50 you send.

For instance, if you have sent 21 postcards, you can have at most 6 postcards traveling simultaneously to other users.
Please note that since this feature is currently being tested, adjustments to these limits may occur in the future.

Also, did anyone notice there is now a column of random little avatar pictures in each country page? Check it out on the country pages of Turkey, Spain, Brazil or China or look up a specific country on the countries’ list.

And now, ladies and gentlemen postcrossers, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the results of our “A million cards’ contest”! Here they are, two for each of the five categories:

Best backside texts

jtills, from the United States wrote: “I come out of my shell when I interact with others through Postcrossing.”

maneij, from Finland wrote: “Hi there! I think Postcrossing broadens the mind! Its warmhearted friendship all over the world, like world language, like world breathing. I can get to know strange people, strange cultures and at the same time I can teach other people too. On the written card I can see a tiny flash about ones life and that moment we are close together in spite of miles, borders or races. We are friends. That’s the most important. I’m lucky I found Postcrossing, I has enriched my life. I love it.”

Best handmade cards

Eefjevt, from the Netherlands, sent us this beautifully handcrafted 3D card. The wheel spins to reveal different sets and best wishes.

Sady, from Germany, sent us this relief card that she made from pictures in a magazine. Check out the beautiful backside as well!

Best representative of your country

just_me, from Slovenia writes: “On the picture are Kurants, the main carnival figure of Kurentovande. Kurent is believed to be endowed with unearthly powers, for with its demoniac figure, with jumping and ringing bells, it performs a rite which is supposed to chase the Winter away to bring Spring to the country.”

Elinborg, from Iceland writes: “Hello from Iceland. We have more sheep than people so I love to send cards with sheep :)”

Funniest cards

davyn, from Finland writes: “Have you ever experienced anything like this? You go on your long awaited holiday, and when you finally arrived to your destination, nothing is exactly how it looked like in the brochure.”

Milly91, from France, sent us a mouthwatering postcard of all the things we would like to taste in Paris!

Nicest stamps

From sushis in france		From Isagv in Germany

These 10 lucky users will receive a pack of 20 MOO postcards each, fully customizable with their photos or designs. If your card wasn’t chosen, please don’t be sad, we promise we’ll have more contests soon :) Meanwhile, you can see all the cards received on this flickr set.

Congratulations to everybody and thank you for all your kind words and best wishes!

Postcrossing headquarters’ mailbox has been overflowing with postcards: all lovely and colorful, filled with kind words and beautiful stamps. Thank you for all the effort you’ve put on these postcards – we love each and every one of them and choosing 10 of them will be a very hard job.

Today was the day we were supposed to gather all your postcards and choose the winners. But having received today a postcard that was posted on April 15th, we decided to give them a extra little time to arrive.

So, we’re hanging on until Tuesday, May 6th. If you participated, keep your fingers crossed and come back next week to know if you were among the lucky winners :)