Postcrossing

Not to be confused with crossposting.

Postcrossing is an online project for people to exchange postcards with other project members globally. The project's tag line is "send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world!"^[2] The name Postcrossing is a union of the words postcard and crossing, and its origin "is loosely based on the Bookcrossing site".^[3]

Postcrossing

Type of site	Project website
Available in	English
Owner	Postcrossing Lda
Created by	Paulo Magalhães
URL	postcrossing.com
Registration	Yes
Launched	July 14, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-07-14)[1]

Members can get details of other randomly selected members to send a postcard to, then receive cards from other random members. Official exchanges between the two members occur only once, but unofficial ongoing swaps between members are possible. As of January 2025^[update], Postcrossing had over 805,000 members in 211 countries and territories,^[4] and over 80 million registered postcards had been exchanged.^[5]

How it works

To be eligible to receive a postcard, a member must first send one. When a member requests to send a postcard they are given the address of another member and a unique postcard ID (e.g. US-787). They send a postcard to that address with the postcard ID displayed. Costs of postcards and postage fees are the responsibility of the user sending the card. When the recipient registers that postcard ID, the sender becomes eligible to receive postcards.^[6] Each member can write profile text visible to the sender which can contain personal information and postcard preferences. The Postcrossing system allows two members to exchange postcards only once. By default, members will exchange postcards with countries other than their own but they can decide to exchange postcards with other users in their own country. Users can express a preference not to send to repeated countries but it does not guarantee that there will be no repetitions.

Initially each member can have up to five postcards traveling at a time. Once five cards are in transit they need to wait for a card to be registered as received before they can request another address. The limit increases as users build experience exchanging cards, up to a maximum limit of 100.^[7] A small proportion of postcards do not get registered as received because they get lost en route, have an unreadable ID, or are received by members who are no longer active. The system attempts to adjust for these issues to reduce the difference between the number of sent and received postcards of each member.^{[citation needed]}

Members

Membership is free and anyone with an address can create an account. The greatest numbers of members, known as postcrossers, are in Russia, Taiwan, and the United States.^[8] Globally, most postcrossers reside in North America, Europe, and East Asia. As of January 2025^[update], about 40 % of the combined total of postcards were sent from Germany, the United States, and Russia.^[5]

Countries with most users[8]a Rank Country Users 1.  Russia 114,391 2.  Taiwan 111,445 3.  United States of America 75,695 4.  China 70,926 5.  Germany 63,321 6.  Netherlands 35,610 7.  Belarus 31,525 8.  Poland 29,494 9.  Ukraine 24,590 10.  Czech Republic 21,709 11.  France 18,537 12.  United Kingdom 18,317 13.  Finland 15,998 14.  Japan 12,696 15.  India 11,363

Countries with most sent postcards[8] Rank Country Sent postcards 1.  Germany 14,211,440 2.  United States of America 10,251,353 3.  Russia 9,074,862 4.  Netherlands 5,542,743 5.  Finland 4,498,604 6.  China 3,281,113 7.  Taiwan 3,160,549 8.  Belarus 2,910,401 9.  Japan 2,045,049 10.  Czech Republic 1,996,981 11.  Poland 1,749,963 12.  United Kingdom 1,683,630 13.  Ukraine 1,673,357 14.  France 1,609,969 15.  Canada 1,430,007

^a Table last updated January 18, 2025

History

Postcrossing was created by Paulo Magalhães. It was initially a hobby based on his enjoyment of receiving postcards:^[9] "The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you would probably never have heard of) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises–and who wouldn't like that?"^[10] He started the website on July 14, 2005, hosted at his home on an old computer in a clothes closet. The project rapidly grew internationally, initially via word-of-mouth then promoted by media attention.

The millionth Postcrossing postcard was received on April 11, 2008.^[11][12] The project's popularity continued to accelerate, reaching two million in February 2009.^[13] The five millionth postcard was received in August 2010,^[14] shortly after the project's fifth anniversary,^[15] and the 10 millionth postcard was registered in January 2012.^[16] As of 2025^[update], approximately one million postcards are registered every two or three months, passing the milestone of 80 million postcards received on January 7, 2025.^[17]

Postcards exchanged per month^[5]

Postcard Milestones

Million	Date	Time (UTC)	From	To	Postcard
1[11][12]	April 11, 2008	3:03 pm	Turkey	Romania	TR-8482[18]
2[13]	February 26, 2009	6:34 am	Germany	Norway	DE-292437[19]
3[20]	September 24, 2009	4:09 pm	Finland	Slovenia	FI-637138[21]
4[22]	March 28, 2010	10:14 am	Czechia	Netherlands	CZ-48446[23]
5[14]	August 24, 2010	7:14 pm	Italy	Thailand	IT-98823[24]
6[25]	December 30, 2010	12:03 pm	Spain	Germany	ES-97547[26]
7[27]	April 19, 2011	6:59 pm	China	Netherlands	CN-357628[28]
8[29]	August 2, 2011	11:28 am	Finland	Japan	FI-1149781[30]
9[31][32]	November 3, 2011	5:13 am	China	Russia	CN-450151[33]
10[16]	January 27, 2012	4:56 pm	Japan	Germany	JP-232027[34]
11[35][36]	April 3, 2012	8:04 pm	U.S.A.	Iceland	US-1615550[37]
12[38]	June 12, 2012	6:28 pm	U.S.A.	Netherlands	US-1710034[39]
13[40]	August 22, 2012	5:08 am	Hong Kong	Russia	HK-45392[41]
14[42][43]	October 25, 2012	8:52 pm	Netherlands	Honduras	NL-1464473[44]
15[45]	December 31, 2012	1:46 pm	Germany	Italy	DE-1800737[46]
16[47][48]	March 4, 2013	7:21 am	Ukraine	Russia	UA-487482[49]
17[50]	May 1, 2013	12:20 am	Russia	Australia	RU-1658153[51]
18[52]	July 3, 2013	6:57 am	Finland	Taiwan	FI-1791281[53]
19[54]	September 2, 2013	9:56 am	Ukraine	Germany	UA-737378[55]
20[56]	October 29, 2013	5:49 am	U.S.A.	Taiwan	US-2449004[57]
21[58]	December 23, 2013	10:54 pm	Netherlands	Italy	NL-2232945[59]
22[60]	February 17, 2014	3:03 pm	Netherlands	Poland	NL-2339217[61]
23[25][62]	April 10, 2014	10:47 am	Germany	Australia	DE-3043747[63]
24[64]	June 8, 2014	12:40 pm	Latvia	Japan	LV-150063[65]
25[66]	August 10, 2014	11:02 am	Netherlands	Germany	NL-2612179[67]
26[68][69]	October 10, 2014	3:36 am	U.S.A.	Hong Kong	US-3009516[70]
27[71]	December 7, 2014	2:05 am	Japan	Taiwan	JP-612910[72]
28[73]	February 5, 2015	7:13 pm	Netherlands	Germany	NL-2863567[74]
29[75][76]	April 2, 2015	4:04 pm	Netherlands	U.S.A.	NL-2930266[77]
30[78]	June 2, 2015	12:27 am	Germany	Portugal	DE-4221494[79]
31[80]	August 5, 2015	11:39 am	Netherlands	Philippines	NL-3078076[81]
32[82]	October 6, 2015	6:40 pm	Romania	U.S.A.	RO-109708[83]
33[84]	December 5, 2015	11:37 am	Netherlands	Japan	NL-3242698[85]
34[86]	February 4, 2016	7:41 pm	Finland	Germany	FI-2619857[87]
35[88]	March 31, 2016	11:49 pm	Hong Kong	U.S.A.	HK-407034[89]
36[90]	May 31, 2016	6:34 pm	China	U.S.A.	CN-1943122[91]
37[92]	August 2, 2016	7:08 pm	Russia	U.S.A.	RU-4866496[93]
38[94]	October 4, 2016	4:09 pm	Netherlands	U.S.A.	NL-3579375[95]
39[96]	December 7, 2016	7:56 am	Taiwan	U.S.A.	TW-2105862[97]
40[98]	February 13, 2017	6:39 am	Taiwan	France	TW-2118751[99]
41[100]	April 17, 2017	10:46 am	Czechia	Japan	CZ-1159412[101]
42[102]	June 28, 2017	6:15 pm	U.S.A.	Germany	US-4715663[103]
43[104]	September 2, 2017	2:23 pm	China	Germany	CN-2281671[105]
44[106][107]	November 7, 2017	10:46 pm	Russia	Costa Rica	RU-6019041[108]
45[109][110]	January 16, 2018	6:26 pm	Australia	Czechia	AU-590448[111]
46[112][113]	March 20, 2018	6:00 pm	Germany	Russia	DE-6951547[114]
47[115][116]	May 28, 2018	8:03 am	U.S.A.	Taiwan	US-5301280[117]
48[118][119]	August 7, 2018	3:47 am	U.S.A.	Thailand	US-5456394[120]
49[121]	October 16, 2018	1:32 am	Russia	U.S.A.	RU-6804601[122]
50[123]	December 27, 2018	7:13 pm	Israel	Russia	IL-60207[124]
51[125]	March 4, 2019	10:56 am	Slovenia	France	SI-174914[126]
52[127]	May 13, 2019	5:47 am	Russia	Russia	RU-7247664[128]
53[129]	July 25, 2019	5:25 am	U.S.A.	Sweden	US-6129158[130]
54[131]	October 7, 2019	5:27 pm	France	Russia	FR-1208264[132]
55[133]	December 18, 2019	4:56 pm	Germany	Belgium	DE-8811634[134]
56[135]	February 28, 2020	11:49 am	Netherlands	Russia	NL-4570321[136]
57[137]	June 5, 2020	7:15 pm	Germany	Russia	DE-9251821[138]
58[139]	August 28, 2020	9:17 am	Czechia	Germany	CZ-1723155[140]
59[141]	November 10, 2020	8:51 pm	Taiwan	Germany	TW-3064528[142]
60[143]	January 24, 2021	10:17 am	Belarus	Czechia	BY-2711325[144]
61[145]	April 1, 2021	12:57 am	Netherlands	China	NL-4843833[146]
62[147][148]	June 8, 2021	12:01 am	China	U.S.A.	CN-3120100[149]
63[150]	August 18, 2021	07:12 am	U.S.A.	Taiwan	US-7750150[151]
64[152]	October 26, 2021	1:07 pm	Finland	Germany	FI-4039073[153]
65[154]	January 4, 2022	8:39 pm	France	Hungary	FR-1467922[155]
66[156]	March 9, 2022	7:44 pm	Finland	Netherlands	FI-4130313[157]
67[158]	May 25, 2022	1:11 pm	China	Belarus	CN-3322046[159]
68[160]	August 10, 2022	6:13 pm	Slovakia	Germany	SK-278899[161]
69[162]	October 22, 2022	7:18 pm	U.S.A.	Germany	US-8785398[163]
70[164]	January 4, 2023	11:36 pm	U.S.A.	U.S.A.	US-9001590
71[165]	March 14, 2023	12:32 pm	Germany	Russia	DE-12712886
72[166]	May 28, 2023	1:36 pm	Germany	United Kingdom	DE-13026949
73[167]	August 12, 2023	7:35 pm	Germany	Germany	DE-13280232
74[168]	October 25, 2023	7:35 pm	U.S.A.	Germany	US-9786292
75[169]	January 8, 2024	3:13 pm	Germany	Russia	DE-13658011
76[170]	March 18, 2024	8:32 pm	U.S.A.	United Kingdom	US-10179025
77[171]	June 6, 2024	8:58 am	Germany	Switzerland	DE-14252655
78[172]	August 16, 2024	12:46 pm	Germany	Bosnia-Herzegovina	DE-14335070
79[173]	October 27, 2024	8:52 pm	Australia	Germany	AU-960950
80[17]	January 7, 2025	2:32 am	Netherlands	Germany	NL-5891077

Postcrossing-themed stamps

The first Postcrossing-themed stamp was released by PostNL in 2011. Since then more than a dozen countries' postal services have followed suit and some released multiple Postcrossing-themed stamps.^{[174][175][176]} The majority of the stamps have been launched in partnership with the Postcrossing community but some "unofficial" stamps displayed the Postcrossing trademark without approval of the Postcrossing organization.

List of official Postcrossing stamps

Some Postcrossing stamps; from left to right, up to down:
1. January 2, 2014  Belarus Belposhta released their own Postcrossing-themed stamp in Belarus; the stamp was designed by Inga Turlo and features the words "Happy Postcrossing" in both English and Belarusian;^[175][177] the English text is displayed using many colors and designs; 2.  Russia The Russian Post issued a stamp designed by Olga Shushlebina; the stamp shows the words "Я ❤ посткроссинг" (Russian: "I ❤ Postcrossing") and schematic pictures of world sights.^[175][178] 3.  Ukraine 4.  Belarus Belposhta launched their second Postcrossing-themed stamps in Belarus. The stamp was designed by Marina Vitkovskaya and features the words "Happy Postcrossing" in both English and Belarusian.^[179][175] 5.  Romania 6.  Indonesia Indonesia Post presented three new Postcrossing-themed stamps on Postcrossing's 12th anniversary.^[180] 7.  Hungary 8.  Moldova the Post of Moldova created their first postcrossing-themed stamp featuring postcards zooming around the globe^[181] 9.  Belarus Yauheniya Biadonik designed Belarus' third Postcrossing-themed stamp^[182]

Stamps officially backed by the Postcrossing community are posted on the Postcrossing blog:^[174]

• PostNL, October 2011
• Posti (Finland), December 2013
• Belposhta (Belarus), January 2014
• Guernsey Post, May 2014
• Russia Post, January 2015
• Slovenia Post, May 2015
• Czech Post, September 2015
• Ukrposhta (Ukraine), October 2015
• PostNL, March 2016
• Austria Post, May 2016
• Polish Post, July 2016
• Guernsey Post, July 2016
• Belpochta, January 2017
• Romfilatelia (Romania), February 2017
• Indonesia Post, July 2017
• Swiss Post, September 2017
• An Post (Ireland), October 2017
• Magyar Posta (Hungary), February 2018
• Moldova Post, June 2018
• Åland Post, 7 June 2019
• Brazil Post, July 2020
• Guernsey Post, June 2021
• Belpochta, June 2021
• Austria Post, July 2021
• Post Luxembourg, September 2022
• Deutsche Post, October 2022
• NZ Post, August 2024
• Polish Post, October 2024
• bpost, November 2024

World Postcard Day (October 1st)

On October 1, 2019, Postcrossing organised global events to celebrate the postcard's 150th anniversary. Events included postcard exhibitions, special cancellations marks, postcard writing workshops and seminars, commemorative postcards and special stamp issues.^[183] Postcrossing organised an exhibition at the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) headquarters in Bern, with postcards from across the world sharing messages about the importance of postcards.^[184]

Following the success of these events, in 2020, Postcrossing launched World Postcard Day.^[185] Commemorative postcards and special cancellation marks were issued to mark the day.^[186] A commemorative postcard for the event was chosen in a competition for design and art students. Special events included online postcard exhibitions, postcard writing workshops and online meetings.^[186] A lesson plan was created in eight languages to help teacher introduce postcards to young children in schools. Further events have been held annually since 2020.^[187]

See also

• Chain letter
• Deltiology
• Gift economy
• QSL card