Postcard Exchange Round 58 Sign Up

Don_ih · Jan 30, 2023

BHuij said:
I got so excited I already printed mine. Took a surprisingly short darkroom session to get out 8 postcards, I think next time around I'll definitely sign up for more.

It's not too late to change your number for this round, if you wish.

BHuij · Jan 30, 2023

I want to see how well they survive the mail before going all in

George Nova Scotia · Feb 1, 2023

Looks like we have 23 for this round. Sign up is officially over. I have a couple errands to run now, so you might just squeeze in if you are late to the game. List should be out later today..

George

MattiS · Feb 1, 2023

I'll be back in round 59 or 60 - there are too many projects going on here at the moment. Have fun!

George Nova Scotia · Feb 1, 2023

Thanks everyone, lists have been sent. Please check your conversations and enjoy.

bedrof (12)
BHuij (8)
cramej (10)
Daniela (5)
Don Heisz (15)
drpsilver (ALL)
Dunga (MAX)
henryyjjames (20)
hkbenji (ALL)
Jim Christie (10)
John Patrick Garriga (15)
jonmon6691 (10)
jvo (ALL)
koraks (15)
Laurent (20)
mfohl (ALL)
Michael Howard (10)
mikeg (MAX)
mshchem (ALL)
MToma (8)
negativefunk (20)
rcphoto (5)
Tom Taylor (15)

koraks · Feb 2, 2023

Received and everything looks A-OK!

BHuij · Feb 2, 2023

Same here.

mfohl · Feb 2, 2023

Me three. I dug up bedrof's Uzbekistan address, as USPS is not sending to Russia. Or at least it wasn't.

George Nova Scotia · Feb 3, 2023

mfohl said:
Me three. I dug up bedrof's Uzbekistan address, as USPS is not sending to Russia. Or at least it wasn't.

Yes, a lot of countries are not accepting mail, the alternate address is near the bottom of the message.

George

mfohl · Feb 4, 2023

George Nova Scotia said:
Yes, a lot of countries are not accepting mail, the alternate address is near the bottom of the message.

George

USPS is accepting mail from Russia. I have received one or two cards from Ilya. I (we) just can't send there.

BHuij · Feb 6, 2023

My postcards went into the mail today. This is my first time participating in this particular exchange. Is there some way I should be notifying all of my recipients, or do I just kinda let the USPS do it’s thing?

koraks · Feb 7, 2023

BHuij said:
Is there some way I should be notifying all of my recipients, or do I just kinda let the USPS do it’s thing?

The latter is perfectly fine
It's appreciated and encouraged for recipients to post a notification that they've received a particular print.

I hope to get to printing mine next week.

koraks · Feb 17, 2023

I have yet to make my prints - I'm behind on schedule because some other stuff took precedence. Hopefully next week...

Also, in case you're in the US and have people in Europe on your mailing list, observe the following: consider sending your print as a regular letter - which is indeed what most people in the exchange generally do in my experience. This requires a simple USPS stamp at the sum of something like $3.00.

In the recent alt. print exchange, I had a few people send me their prints as parcels instead of regular mail. This is far more costly (around $22) and it moreover carries the risk that your print is intercepted by local customs and the receiver may have to pay import duties on it (another $20 give or take). If you really want to send your print as a parcel, be sure to mark it as a gift with a value below $20 or so. This should prevent customs from levying duties & import taxes on your print at least in my country, but probably most EU countries as well.

So for sending prints as regular mail from the US to Europe, please refer to the USPS website and consider using the simplest method as outlined here: https://www.usps.com/international/letters.htm
Don't let yourself be lured into sending prints (unless framed, perhaps) as a parcel, because costs are dramatically higher both for you and possibly also for the recipient, and for an exchange like this one, there's absolutely no benefit to it over regular mail.

Don_ih · Feb 17, 2023

koraks said:
Don't let yourself be lured into sending prints (unless framed, perhaps) as a parcel

We had this discussion on the Blind Print Exchange a while ago. Someone got dinged for duty. The issue some might have sending prints: they want tracking. You don't get tracking with regular mail.
However, I don't think it's a concern in this exchange.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 17, 2023

Where can I get an explanation how this works, what I do, what it costs, etc? Maybe I'll join for next time.

Don_ih · Feb 17, 2023

@Alan Edward Klein -- just read the first post in this thread.

koraks · Feb 17, 2023

Don Heisz said:
We had this discussion on the Blind Print Exchange a while ago. Someone got dinged for duty. The issue some might have sending prints: they want tracking. You don't get tracking with regular mail.
However, I don't think it's a concern in this exchange.

Yeah, I see, and I sort of understand the tracking argument. However, sending a parcel my way from the US costs you around $20. Sending the same print as regular mail costs $3.00. Suppose it somehow gets lost - which is extremely unlikely, as the postal services are really incredibly reliable in my experience - doesn't it make more sense to just send a new one at $3.00? Or, alternatively, just keep it at an "odd, too bad your print didn't make it, better next time and let's hope for the best" - which would work fine for me.

The thing is, and none of you over in the US can help it: I've been stupid enough to accept the charges for a print sent my way in the alt. print exchange. I felt bad for ordering it back to sender (my only other option) because they went to the lengths of sending me the print and paying up the 20-odd bucks to get it here. So I figured, let's take the risk, accept it, pay the duties and then get a refund from Dutch customs since the duties levied are unlawful anyway. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get that refund. In fact, I doubt I'll ever see my money back at all.

Hence the heads up, because it saves everyone a lot of money and time if prints are just sent as regular mail.
I do agree it's unlikely to be a problem with the postcard exchange, but in all honesty I hadn't anticipated this in the alt. print exchange either since we're just sending bits of paper around. In that sense it's no different, so the same mishap could just as well happen here at some point.

Besides, I see at least one participant on this exchange list who was also in the alt. print exchange list and who paid a ridiculous amount to get his print sent to me - which I really, really appreciate! But I'd like to save him the hassle and cost this round.

Don_ih · Feb 17, 2023

koraks said:
I sort of understand the tracking argument.

I wouldn't bother with tracking - but some people think they need it.

I can't send an 8x10 print for any less than $12, from here to Europe. But I wouldn't even dream about getting tracking on it.

BHuij · Feb 17, 2023

Don Heisz said:
I wouldn't bother with tracking - but some people think they need it.

I can't send an 8x10 print for any less than $12, from here to Europe. But I wouldn't even dream about getting tracking on it.

I think I paid about $20 to get an 8x10 to Europe recently, with tracking. I'm pretty sure I specifically asked at the post office counter for the least expensive option to get a non-stiff, 9x12 envelope to the destination with tracking, and it ended up being super high-security registered mail IIRC. Seems like the extra $8 for tracking isn't too bad, but next time I'd still probably opt for the $12 version and not stress so much about tracking.

koraks · Feb 17, 2023

Well, if anyone prefers to send to Europe with tracking, feel free to do so, but please mark the item very prominently as a gift. This may be sufficient to not make the customs dog bite.

BHuij · Feb 17, 2023

Got my first postcard today from @mfohl - a nice scene with a harmonious balance of several different types of trees. Thanks!

Postcard Exchange Round 58 Sign Up

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BHuij

George Nova Scotia

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Don_ih

Alan Edward Klein

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koraks

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BHuij

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BHuij

Postcard Exchange Round 58 Sign Up

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