To send a postcard, write your message on the left half of the back, the address on the right half, and stick a stamp in the top right corner. Use a stamp for your own country, or an international one if it is going abroad. Then drop it in a postbox or hand it in at a post office. At home it takes days; abroad, about three weeks.

That is the whole job. The rest of this guide is the detail: which stamp, which box, how long, and what changes when the card crosses a border.

What stamp does a postcard need?

A stamp for the postcard or letter rate of the country you post it in. In the United States a standard postcard needs a postcard stamp, which costs $0.65; a Forever letter stamp at $0.82 also works but overpays (USPS). In Canada a postcard pays the same as a standard letter. Abroad, you need an international stamp.

Here is what a stamp costs in the countries our readers post from most, as checked on 1 October 2026:

Posted in To the same country Abroad
United States $0.65 postcard stamp $1.75 Global Forever, any country
United Kingdom 91p 2nd class, £1.80 1st class varies by destination
Canada $1.24 in a booklet, $1.44 single $1.75 to the US, $3.65 elsewhere

The US prices are from USPS's postage price page. Royal Mail's 1st and 2nd class prices took effect on 7 April 2026 (Citizens Advice). Canada Post counts a postcard as standard-size mail up to 30 g (Canada Post). For more countries, including India, see our table of postcard stamp prices.

The cheap US rate only covers cards of the right size. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual, section 201 sets it at 3½ to 4¼ inches high, 5 to 6 inches long and 0.007 to 0.016 inches thick. A bigger card pays the letter price, and USPS says plainly that large or square postcards cost more. India Post has its own size for a postcard, 140 × 90 mm and no heavier than 5 grams, and charges a card outside those rules as a letter (India Post).

Where do you put the stamp?

In the top right corner of the address side, the same side as your message. USPS tells senders to put the stamp "in the provided spot", which on almost every card is that corner (USPS). Machines look for postage there. If you need two stamps, line them up side by side along the top edge.

Before the stamp goes on, the card needs a message and an address in the right places. Our guides cover what to write on a postcard and how to address one, and how to fill out a postcard walks through all four zones of the back with a finished example.

Where do you post a postcard?

Anywhere you would post a letter. In the US, USPS lists three ways: put it in your own mailbox and raise the flag, drop it in a blue collection box, or take it to a Post Office lobby drop (USPS). Elsewhere it works the same way: a public postbox or the post office counter.

Use the counter when you are not sure of the postage, for an odd-sized card or one going abroad: the clerk can sell you the right stamp. At a postbox, check the collection time printed on it, so you know when the card actually leaves.

How long does a postcard take to arrive?

Inside the US, USPS quotes 1 to 5 days for First-Class Mail, which carries postcards (USPS). Across a border it is slower. Postcrossing, a postcard-exchange project whose members have received 88,492,901 cards, reports a median travel time of 21.0 days and an average of 32.7 days (Postcrossing).

The average is longer than the median because a few cards take months. So if a card has to arrive for a birthday, post it a month ahead, not three weeks. For letters within one country, our mail delivery time calculator turns the usual windows into dates.

How do you send a postcard abroad?

Write the address the way people write it in the destination country, add the country name in capitals on the last line, and use an international stamp. From the US that is a $1.75 Global Forever stamp, one price for every country. A postcard with only a written message needs no customs form (USPS).

Three things trip people up when a card goes abroad:

  • The country line. It tells the first post office where the card is going. Without it, a card can be sorted as if it were staying at home.
  • The size. USPS describes an international postcard as 5½ to 6 inches long and 3½ to 4¼ inches high (USPS). Very large or square cards cost more.
  • Things stuck on. USPS says correspondence goes without a customs form, but stickers, trading cards and bookmarks are not correspondence. Keep the card flat and plain.

The address formats for the US, UK, India, Canada and Australia are in our guide to addressing a postcard.

Can you send a postcard online?

Yes. You type the message and the address, and someone else writes, stamps and posts the card. That is what MailMyCard does: you type the card, a real pen writes it in ink in Bengaluru, and we post it by tracked mail to the address you give. You never buy a stamp or find a postbox.

Diagram of sending a postcard online: type it on a phone, a pen writes it, it is posted tracked, with delivery days by place
What changes when the card is sent for you: you write the words, and the pen, the stamp and the postbox are ours.

Cards are written and posted on business days. These are the tracked delivery windows our checkout quotes, counted from posting:

Destination Tracked delivery
India 3 to 7 days
United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan 6 to 12 days
United Kingdom, Germany, France 7 to 14 days
United States, Canada, Australia 8 to 15 days

Because every card is tracked, you can follow it, which an ordinary postcard with a stamp cannot offer. You choose the handwriting from our handwriting styles, and the editor shows the card at real size so you can see when the message stops fitting. Businesses that send cards to customers in volume can do the same from their store or CRM; see MailMyCard for business.

Postcard sending mistakes to avoid

  • Writing in the bottom strip. USPS keeps the bottom ⅝ inch of the card's right side clear for its barcode (DMM 202). Writing there gets printed over.
  • A domestic stamp on a card going abroad. It does not pay for the trip. Check the rate for the destination.
  • A big card at the postcard rate. Above 4¼ × 6 inches, US postage is the letter price.
  • Posting it the day before. Even at home, allow the full 1 to 5 days. Abroad, allow a month.
  • Pencil. Postcards travel without an envelope. Use a ballpoint or pigment pen so rain cannot blur the address.

Sources