How to Properly Address a Postcard

Postcards come in a variety of styles

Addressing a postcard correctly is important if you want it actually to get to the address and person to whom you are sending it. Sure, sometimes the postal service figures it out even with an improper address and your postcard eventually gets delivered, but it takes a lot longer. When a postcard is properly addressed, it can arrive at its destination in one or two days through domestic first class mail or within a week internationally. People on vacation love sending postcards back home to friends displaying images of popular tourists' attractions from their travels. How do you properly address a postcard?

Things You'll Need

• Postcard
• Ink pen
• Address including zipcode

Instructions

1. 

   Identify the back and front side of the postcard. The front side usually has a picture on it and the backside is usually divided into two halves. The half on the left is for a brief message to the recipient. The half on the right is for the recipient's address as well as a first class postage stamp.

2. Place a first class postage stamp in the upper right hand corner on the back of the postcard.

3. 

   Write the first and last name of the recipient first about one-half inch below the stamp unless there are horizontal lines printed on the postcard for the address. If lines are available for the address print the recipient's name on the first line. Directly below the first letter of the recipient's first name, begin to print the street number and street name of the recipient. Directly below the first number of the street address print the name of the city where the recipient lives, followed by the two-letter abbreviation of the state.

4. 

   Print the zip code clearly; preferably the five digit zip code followed by a hyphen and an additional four digits if you know them. If there is plenty of room to write the zip code clearly beside the state, do so. Do not squeeze the numbers together to fit them in if there is not quite enough room. Instead, write the zip code below the city and state of the recipient.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a nine-digit zip code if you know it to help your postcard get through the processing equipment faster.

• If you do not know the zip code look it up at usps.com sending your postcard without a zip code will slow down your delivery.

• Print addresses neatly so the machine can read your print, otherwise it gets kicked out of the processing machine to be looked at and interpreted by a person, which slows delivery down.

Resources

• How to Ship Cheap Using First Class Mail USPS
• How to Find the Best Child Summer Camp in Michigan
• How to Raise Money for Teen Mission's Trip
• How to Get Better Service From Your USPS Mail Carrier
• How to Ship the Cheapest Using USPS, United States Postal Service
• How to Decorate Your Mailbox for Spring
• How to Study to Pass the Postal Exam
• How to Work as Postmaster Relief at USPS Without Taking Exams
• How to Become a USPS Mail Carrier Without Taking Exams
• Dear Adoption Maharishi: What Does Title IV-E Eligibility Mean?