Getting towards Christmas some members may wish to send the odd Christmas card.
Tip. may be best to avoid sending any from the UK.
Cost to send a Christmas Card from Cyprus to UK = 66 cents (Euro cents)
Cost to send a Christmas Card from UK to Cyprus = £3.40
Cost to send a card within UK to aother UK address = 87p second class or £1.70 first class.
If heading out of the UK it could well be worth taking cards with you, to send back there as postage will likely be cheaper from another country.
How does your country compare with regards to posting Christmas cards etc.?
In Australia, sending a Christmas card during November and December costs A$0.65, as long as it’s marked “Card only” and fits within the usual limits — nothing bulky, nothing trying to burst out of the envelope (up to 130mm x 240mm, 5mm thick, 250g). Outside the seasonal period, or if anything extra is tucked inside, it moves to the standard A$1.50 rate.
Posting a Christmas card overseas is A$3.00 anywhere in the world in November and December, again only for “Card only” items that stay within the slimmer international limits (260mm x 360mm, 5mm thick, 50g). Anything heavier or lumpy jumps to the higher international letter rates.
So overall, Australia stays fairly reasonable — as long as your card really is only a card
2.70 Euro in Ireland to abroad, post cards and letters cost the same.
The post office delivers free national Christmas cards (postage for them is free too) to all households as far as I know, but only 2 per household and only within Ireland. Still, a heartwarming gesture in my opinion.
While we still buy physical cards for close family then that’s it. As digital-first people, we subscribe to jaquie lawson com service for e-cards. they’re well designed and much easier than buying & mailing physical cards.
I haven’t sent snail mail cards for many years, but I enjoy getting photo cards from many folks I know, who have kids and send updates. It’s always surprising how much the kids have grown and it’s fun to see how they change when you have previous years’ photo cards handy to compare with. I keep those every year.
I do a mix of traditional cards and Jacquie Lawson. I can vouch for the e-cards and some can be customised/personalised to the recipient.
The cost of postage stamps in the UK is ridiculous!
Like you @Twitcher I do a combination of posting cards and sending Jacquie Lawson e-cards. My UK cards have kindly been taken back to England to post by a friend who has been visiting me in Australia.
For comparison, Canada Post rates (plus sales tax). Prices weight dependent - top of range for letter over 30 grams - so typical Christmas card.
C$1.44-$1.75 domestic letter stamp
C$3.65-$5.21 international letter stamp
I stopped that about 25 years ago. I can’t even remember when I sent a letter snail post last. Email is free and I think people prefer a newsletter type “seasons greetings”
Me too @Maggie8K I haven’t posted paper Christmas cards for over 15 years. I send digital cards & messages. I rarely go to the post office now and always get a surprise when they tell me how much it costs to post a letter (in Australia). Given Aus Post’s terrible delivery service now, they should do it for free!
In the U.S., there are these stamps called “Forever” stamps. If you buy them at whatever price they are currently, you can use them whenever, without regard to whatever increases in prices have since happened. So I don’t even necessarily know what current prices are (unless I check), since we buy many rolls at a time out of convenience. It takes years to get through them, since even our bills are paid digitally.
We rarely send anything. With the holidays, I have some packages to mail this week and I think the last time I was at the post office was last Christmas season.
We have the forever stamps in Canada too. I discovered a bunch in a drawer when my Dad passed away in 2020 (and my Mom probably got them long before her death in 2014). But as you say @Maggie8K it is so rare to actually mail anything. I am all set for decades. And that is after I gave a bunch away too
I do! And I love receiving them. They become part of my holiday decor. It warms up my living space. The more the merrier.
I love sending them. I would love to send them to hosts we’ve sat for, but I never know how to ask if they’d like one. I have considered sending a holiday message through THS messaging or what have you, but again, I don’t want to be a bother… I love getting holiday messages but I don’t know if others do so I just don’t.
I sent postcards from Easter Island 6 weeks ago and they have only just arrived so I don’t think it’s a good idea sending cards from abroad to the UK. However, postage from Easter Island to the UK was cheaper than sending a card within the UK! Ridiculous
I rarely receive xmas/birthday cards, but when I do, I really don’t like them. Mostly there is no message inside other that ‘To… from ABC’, so what is point? It just seems so wasteful when I toss them to the recycling. Needless to say, I don’t send any either.
I’d much rather receive a chatty email message/update and photo or two.
Like most things in the UK, the postal service is demonstrating what is known as ‘ensh!ttification’ - ever-increasing prices for ever-decreasing service/quality.
I do! And I love receiving them. They become part of my holiday decor. It warms up my living space. The more the merrier.