Postcard swapping sites are online websites where you exchange postcards with random people around the world. How it generally works is that you sign up with your real name and mailing address then request an address of a random person in the world who is also a member. Then you snail mail a postcard to that person, and once your postcard is registered as received your name will go into the pool and someone else will send you a postcard.
Following are the postcards I've received in the year 2021.
This was my first postcard received from someone in Brazil.
First postcard from someone in Taiwan. A favorite because they added the cute cat stickers to the written side! Double favorite because I love these illustrated map cards so much.
Resources
Where to buy stamps USPS - United States Postal Service is the place to buy stamps. If you order them from their website they will mail them direct to your mailbox (no charge for shipping!). You can pay by credit card or PayPal. Alternatively you can just go to the post office, wait in line and purchase stamps there.
The current postage for mailing postcards (not in an envelope) as of August 2023 is: Domestic (USA to USA) $0.51 cents International (everywhere outside of USA) $1.50
Where to buy postcards Amazonis a good source, in addition to your local stationary stores, card shops, museums and hotels. Travel stops like Love's usually have a postcard rack with local themes. Sometimes you can find them in drugstores, they still have a few at my local CVS. (The last time I went looking in my local Walgreens and Walmart, they had stopped selling postcards). Etsy and Ebay are some other online places to get mixed lots of new and vintage postcards.
Postcard Swapping Sites (free to use) and Letter Writing Clubs (pay to join)
Postcrossingis the original postcard swapping site, with loads of resources and a very active forum. As soon as you request to Send a Postcard, you will receive a random member address and a Postcard ID. You are then expected to snail-mail a postcard to that member. When the recipient receives your postcard and registers it, your address will go in the pool and you will receive a postcard from another random member. Initially, you can have up to 5 postcards traveling simultaneously. As time goes on, the number of postcards that you can send and receive will increase. Postcard Unitedisanother great postcard swapping site, this onestarts you out with up to up to 7 postcards traveling simultaneously. This site is a bit more rudimentary than postcrossing, and it does not have a forum or any active support, so it's better if you are already an experienced postcard swapper. However, because your card limit increases exponentially, you will receive many more postcards from Postcard United members. For example, since 2021 I've sent 74 postcards and received 101 postcards, and I can have up to 30 travelling simultaneously. (Compare to Postcrossing, since 2021 I've sent 38, Received 37 and am only allowed to have 9 travelling simultaneously).
Geopostcards ClubAnother nice but small postcard swapping site. This one starts you out with 3 postcards. This site has a slew of sister sites for other types of swapping that I've also participated in such as papermoney swaps (good if you already have foreign paper money you'd like to trade), sticker swaps and stamp swapping.
The Letter Exchangeis a subscription-based service (about $23 per year). They will send you a lovely printed and staple-bound booklet that lets you find snail-mail pen pals through listings posted by people like you. The booklets are interesting reading by themselves, even if you don't decide to participate. The listings are mostly for letter writing but there is a section for people interested in Postcard swaps. Bonus: There are people who want to exchange letters written in Fountain Pens here! The booklets are sent to you 3 times a year, with an Autumn, Winter and Summer edition, each is about 30 pages long. They are jam-packed with letter-writing history, interesting articles, nostalgic images and illustrations and much, much more.
Letter Writing and Postal Related Sites
WriteALetter.orgA lovely and interesting blog by a retired postal carrier.
The Letter Writers Alliance is an archive with free downloads, recorded events, and blog posts (it was previously an active member-based organization dedicated to keeping letter writing alive).
Postal News - Daily news digest from the postal world!
Send Me a Postcard! If you include your mailing address on the card I will send you one in return.
Barbara Ann Claridge PO Box 93437 Lubbock, TX 79493 USA I will be happy with ANY postcard you send me, but if you want ideas, here are some things I love:
#1 Any postcard (not in envelope) with lots of different stamps, stickers, doodles and your handwriting! Please write the date! If you want you can add the time, temperature and where you are writing from! (kitchen table, coffee shop, bed...)
Greetings from, single view or multi view Airplanes, Airports, Locomotive, Train Stations, Railway and Bicycles! Post offices, mailboxes, mail carriers, stamps, philately or post related Zoo, Aquarium, Theme park, Brewery, Winery, tourist attractions Maps, Charts, Blueprints, schematics, circuit diagrams, etc Books, bookstores, libraries, authors, any bibliophile related Female power, pagan, druid, earthen, elvin, wiccan House cats, raccoon, possum, dog, wolf, fox, coyote Animals: any common to your land Technology, Machines, Inventions, Robots, AI, Geek, Programming, Computers, Linux, Phones SciFi, Spaceship, Alien, UFO, Extraterrestrial Optical Illusion, Lenticular, 3D, holographic Steampunk, Cyberpunk or just plain punk Cryptids: Kraken, Loch Ness, Cthulhu, Chupacabra, Yeti, Sasquatch, etc Mashups: Centaur, Mermaid, Jackalope, etc Recipes, restaurants, menus, foods, farmer, farming, gardening Handmade: Anything you can print/stamp/draw/paint on! Cut a 4x6" postcard shape from your favorite products cardboard box! Or print your photo/or pic you like on cardstock, mail it to me!
GO SNAIL MAIL! _@/ _@/
Barbara Ann Claridge PO Box 93437 Lubbock, Texas 79493 United States of America
