How Much Does it Cost to Mail a Postcard?

Although technology now allows us to send any written, visual, or audio information in real time, it still cannot match the charm of sending a postcard that encapsulates the entire experience in a well-crafted illustration.

Maintaining such impactful habits can strengthen personal and professional relationships much more than simply sending a text. This is due to the fact that sending a postcard requires more effort and involvement both in terms of searching for the ideal image and the most suitable text and also the actions necessary for the actual sending.

 How Much Does it Cost to Mail a Postcard?

If you want to send a domestic postcard using direct mail anywhere in the U.S., you should expect a standard postcard postage rate of around $0.50. On the other hand, Forever Stamps would cost you around $0.70. So, if you purchase the right type of postage, you will save around 20 cents per post. These savings will make a difference over time, if you are purchasing a roll or two, or you are sending multiple postcards throughout the year.

In case you want to send your postcard anywhere in the world, outside the United States of America, you will have to pay around $2 for USPS Global Forever stamps. Regardless of whether you send a postcard or a letter, you will be charged the same when it comes to international mail.

Can I Get Cheaper Postcard Stamps on Shipping Software?

As you can get a lower shipping price by using shipping software to purchase discounted postage online, you may wonder if you can also get cheaper stamps (both First-Class Mail and Postcards) if you follow the same steps.

The answer is no. Unfortunately, there are no shipping software companies that charge less than $0.50 for sending postcard stamps. So, you should visit your local United States Postal Service Office next time you want to send a postcard.

Postcard short history

The idea of postcards started from the Viennese doctor Emanuel Hermann, who, it must be said, had a fight with the resistance of the Austrian imperial post office, which did not want to allow the use of this means of correspondence.

The main objection was that the use of the postcard abolished the secrecy of correspondence. Doctor Hermann then even addressed the emperor, to whom he presented his arguments, that there could be no question of violating the secrecy of correspondence, as long as the world would be able to choose, deliberately, the use of the postcard-only for those communications that do not claim this secrecy – otherwise, they would use classic letters enclosed in an envelope.

You might also like our articles on the cost of a PO box at the Post Office, a PO box at UPS, or Faxing from a library.

The emperor was convinced, and on October 15, 1848, the use of the postcards was officially introduced, through an imperial decree. Decades passed before the first illustrated postcard appeared.

It wasn’t until 1881 that someone had the revelation that a postcard on which an image is printed can become an excellent means of promoting – “vulgarizing”, as it was said at the time – tourism.

And the one who had this thought was a Frenchman from Marseilles, who turned out to be a daring merchant, but also an honest Marseilles.

Important things to consider

There is the Postcrossing.com project that aims to allow people to receive postcards from around the world. The main idea is this: if you send a postcard, you will receive at least one back, from a randomly chosen Postcrosser from anywhere in the world.

Postcards are sent because they are cheap (or the cheapest) everywhere and, because the message is visible, they can easily pass the possible censorship in some countries. And then the postcards have pictures, and a picture is worth 1,000 words and very interesting collections can be made with the pictures.

How does it work? After you create an account on postcrossing.com, where you write something about yourself and what kind of postcards you would like to receive, you request an address to which you will send a postcard. Another postcard will be sent to you at that time.

You register in the system the code of the postcard you received and another address will be immediately generated for you to send another postcard. Don’t worry, your address is only visible to the person who needs to send your postcard.