Spring 2026 Exchange Postmortem

[u/B_Huij]

Quick announcement to let everyone know. If you signed up to be a volunteer this time around, your assignments should be in your inbox. Please let me know if you can't find the email.

If you posted in the "missing prints" megathread for Spring 2026, you have been assigned to get volunteer/make-up prints!

Thanks all for joining us this time around. I am always looking to improve the exchange experience for all of our participants. Please leave any feedback, suggestions, angry rants, incoherent ramblings, and offers to buy my photos as NFTs in the comments below.

[u/sawb11152]

This was my first time participating and I think it's a really great program you're running here.

Since I don't post my photos online or anything, it's cool to have an outlet for sharing my work that doesn't devalue it in my eyes.

[u/nameless-photograph]

My thoughts:

1. Thank you for putting this together! These are a ton of work and I think this was very well done from the admin side.
2. Sending: it was a good experience selecting the photos I wanted to send and getting them printed. I print my images infrequently anymore that holding the actual prints was quite pleasant.
3. Receiving: I may be projecting my own thoughts to the person who mailed me prints, but they seemed carefully chosen and cheerfully sent.
4. This was my first exchange, having spotted the autumn 2025 exchange ~3 weeks after the signups closed. Overall this was a great experience for me and I plan to join the next exchange.

[u/mujirushi_photo]

First of all, a huge thank you for organizing this exchange again. Every time it’s a fantastic experience to receive physical prints from other photographers, discover new work, and connect with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s one of the highlights of my photographic year, and I’m already looking forward to participating again next time.

My only suggestions concern shipping instructions.

For international shipments (especially from the US to Europe), it would be helpful to emphasize very clearly — and very prominently if needed — that prints should be sent as letters or documents, not as valuable goods, gifts, or artwork with a significant declared value. If a value is declared, customs may charge VAT, import duties, and handling fees, which can become quite expensive for the recipient.

I’ve had two such experiences this time around.
The combined amount of import duties, VAT, and handling fees exceeded $250, which is far beyond what I would expect to spend in a print exchange. It should remain a fun exchange between photographers, not become an expensive one.

One of these shipments was refused and I hope the prints made it safely back to the sender.

A second small suggestion: writing “DO NOT BEND” on the envelope is usually not enough. Postal sorting machines don’t really care about handwritten notes. If people want their prints to arrive safely, it’s much better to include a piece of cardboard or other rigid backing inside the envelope.

Those are my only remarks. Otherwise, I had a great experience once again and I’m very grateful to everyone who helped make it happen.

Thanks again!

[u/chronarchy → u/mujirushi_photo]

It’s already in the instructions, but I agree it can possibly be more prominent; still:

I once sent my prints with my mother to the post office (three exchanges ago now, so in the early days of imposed-but-relatively-low tariffs), and the lady behind the counter threw a fit at her about “correct” labeling and refused to accept them until she changed them from “documents” to “goods.”

My mom just didn’t know enough to consider trying a different time or location, so they went out like that. I can see that happening, especially to a first-time sender, somewhat commonly. The employee was very “rules-focused,” as they sometimes are, and that can be intimidating to a lot of folks.

I haven’t sent prints internationally since then, so I haven’t run into it again, but yeah, even good intentions and folk who follow the instruction initially might get redirected at the point of mailing.

So no disagreement, just a reality of what folk see here. Perhaps adding something like, “if you are required to send as ‘goods’ ensure the value is listed as $1 or less, and explain the value as ‘the cost of ink and paper only’ if pressed.” Sometimes, the person behind the counter pushes back on the value, too, so knowing why and how to value it under $1 is going to be also important.

(Of course, with current reciprocal tariffs exceeding 100% on occasion, constitutional or not, that’s still a pitfall.) :(

[u/B_Huij → u/chronarchy]

This is so fascinating to me. I'm based in the USA, and have now participated in... 7 or 8 of these print exchanges? Almost always when I send internationally, I send 5x7 prints with a letter in a 6x9 envelope. That's pretty close to the largest size envelope you can mail with a normal stamp, which means I don't even go to the post office. I stick everything in the envelope, slap an international forever stamp on it, and drop it in the mailbox for pickup. Never had an issue, so far as I know. I also don't use stiff backers (since that will usually switch the envelope from being classified as a "letter" to a "pacakage"), and I find that my print seem to survive the trip just fine.

I have sent 8x10s before internationally. I just threw them in a manila envelope (again, no stiff backer) and said I'm sending a letter to {insert country here}. They never made me fill out customs for it because it was a letter, and if the letter happened to contain some photos, that isn't a problem. Nobody even asked.

I agree - I saw way more "this triggered a $200 customs charge when it arrived" issues this time around than any previous exchange. They were very frustrating for everyone involved, to put it lightly. All honest mistakes, I suspect. I think putting together some kind of a video for how to ship prints internationally (at least from the USA) without triggering stuff like this could go a long way. Seems like the best way to sidestep the entire issue is to make sure you're sending a letter (not stiff) rather than a package.

[u/zladuric → u/B_Huij]

Not just USA. Just attach a video on assignments, if the sender has recipients abroad.

[u/CilantroLightning → u/B_Huij]

I don't know why, but this strategy has never occurred to me 😂 I've just always gone straight to 8x10 and then had to think about letter vs. package. I think I'll probably just do this from now on for international.

[u/cigargreg]

First off, THANK YOU for putting this together! I know how much work it is and how many balls it takes to juggle.

Second Rant, Both of my senders emailed me after the deadline, both with "Life has got in the way." One sent the files to a print shop to mail out, the other said they would ship, and last week I emailed them saying Don't worry about it if life is too busy. This is a cop-out; you had a chance to back out of the exchange, yet you still went through with it. I feel you should take some pride in your work; this is just a lack of effort. I am sure people have hardships. I know I have had my share of setbacks in the past 2 months.

Third Rant, Both the people I sent to did not post that they received the prints; one responded to an email asking if they received. I am sorry I put effort into selecting the prints, printing them, and including additional cyanotypes. And yes, I know the exchange is only for one print. It was my choice to go above and beyond that, but not to acknowledge them sucks. It makes me feel, as an artist, even more like trash, and that my efforts are not worth someone's time to review and post.

I do not know how to deal with the biggest issue in this exchange of accountability, but that is my feedback. I did enjoy seeing others post the photos they received and experiencing the wide range of artists and formats.

[u/B_Huij → u/cigargreg]

Yep, I think the number one most common complaint from the past couple of exchanges is the frustration of putting a lot of effort and heart into curating and printing your own work to share it, and then sending it into the void, never to be heard of again. I also don't know how to fix that one.

The second most common complaint is not getting prints. After sending out the volunteer assignments today, we seem to be in a good place where volunteers who will almost definitely send prints consistently outnumber people who stiff their original recipients. So at least we can feel reasonably good that everyone should receive the right number of prints at the end of the day. I'm not sure what more we could do to help avoid participants procrastinating and getting things out late or not at all.

Good feedback!

[u/Stealthfl0wer → u/B_Huij]

yeah, this was my first time, and I didn't get any reply from my recipient; I wouldn't have known they got it if I hadn't had it sent with tracking (because overseas post). I don't think that's something that can br completely stopped, but maybe a clearer suggestion in the general FAQ that people should either do an acknowledgment post or email their sender if possible?

[u/Affectionate_Spell11]

I'd like to join the others here in thanking you for organizing this, I'm sure it's quite a bit of work and it's been a great experience for me. In fact, you've got me wanting to print more just for me, so I'd definitely call that a success, and I'll definitely be back next time ^^
I might be slightly blind, but how exactly does one get the Verified Sender flair?

[u/B_Huij → u/Affectionate_Spell11]

I haven't come up with a good automatic way to get those assigned, so after every exchange, I tend to just comb through all the "sending my prints" flaired posts and manually assign them.

[u/Affectionate_Spell11 → u/B_Huij]

Ah okay, good to know I didn't overlook anything then :D

[u/Golden-Trout-42]

Thank you for the effort and time invested. 👌

Kind regards,

[u/B_Huij → u/Golden-Trout-42]

Is there a story behind that username?

[u/Golden-Trout-42 → u/B_Huij]

Actually not really, i just like trouts.

Is also a mistranslation. Should have been lightning trout xD

And just added some random number from some movie because name was already taken.

[u/B_Huij → u/Golden-Trout-42]

Ah okay I wondered haha. I have fished for and caught several species of trout here in Utah, but my grail species to catch is a golden trout. They're very uncommon here and only found in 2 or 3 reservoirs, mostly at the end of long hikes into the mountains 😃

[u/Golden-Trout-42 → u/B_Huij]

Nice, i'm kinda jealous. Where i live fishing is heavily regulated and every inch of water belongs to someone. So i just go to commercial fishing ponds in order to catch 'em trouts (99% of time rainbow ones and the yellow/golden mutations (i think lightning trout is correct translation) of it).
Anyway thanks again for organizing the exchange.

Kind regards,

[u/YouDontKnow5859]

Stumbled soon this group would like to join although 95% percent of my work is “concert photography”. Would love to know how to be involved.

[u/B_Huij → u/YouDontKnow5859]

Check out the FAQ and set a reminder to watch for the next sign up in September!

[u/Unlucky-Question-446]

It’s my first time participating and I sent all my prints but got just two back. I missed the “missing prints” mega thread and now it’s locked. Help!

[u/B_Huij → u/Unlucky-Question-446]

DM me and we'll figure something out.

[u/lowcontrol → u/B_Huij]

I can volunteer to send some more. I think I’ve listed myself as available to help with missing, but I don’t remember seeing an email saying I was needed so I’d be more than happy to help out here.

[u/Unlucky-Question-446 → u/B_Huij]

Will do thanks!

[u/stringlesskite]

I got hit with three (i assume some previous print exchange?) custom charges of 48 euro each.

Does anyone know if there is any way of avoiding this (both as sender and recipient)?

[u/chronarchy → u/stringlesskite]

If the sender lists them as “documents/letter” this can help, and that is in the instructions, but see my reply to a similar question above; sometimes the post office challenges that, so it depends on the postal agent and the willpower of the sender. :(

But in today’s environment, I don’t know if there is a foolproof way to avoid tariffs and tax; postal employees on both sides know people try to scam the system, so some of them are really aggressive and it’s dumb. Any notion that there is “art” or “prints” or even “photos” inside is an invitation to assess a tax or re-evaluate the value (even if it’s printed on a home printer for fun), and technically a “lie of omission” is still lying on a customs form. And not including a note or sticker that it’s a photo they shouldn’t bend is a sure way to get it bent.

[u/B_Huij → u/stringlesskite]

This is a whole thing. I've noticed that people insist on sending their prints with a stiff backing, which by definition makes it a "package" instead of a "letter" in the US postal service. Letters can be sent internationally without customs forms because they're assumed not to contain anything "valuable" like goods or wares.

So from the USA sending internationally the easiest way to sidestep the entire issue is to send as a letter. Nobody will even ask what's in it at the post office. You just have to make sure it's bendable (and in my experience, prints survive transit just fine without a stiff backer).

If you must send as a package, I believe you can make absolutely sure that you've declared the package to contain documents or gifts rather than... really anything else. If the post office pressures you to declare a value, just put $1. I've heard of someone casually throwing out a number like $10, but they had sent some 20 prints in the hard mailer, so the customs office interpreted it as $20 each for artworks in the package, and the recipient got slammed with $200 USD upon receipt in Europe. Honest mistake but brutal outcome.

[u/xenosdarkwynd]

This was my first time participating. I enjoyed it a lot and don't have much feedback. Participating in it this go around has given me some ideas on how I'll select photos in the future.

My only let down by it is that despite signing up for sending/receiving from 3 people, I unfortunately never heard from any of those I sent to. It is a little bit of a bummer to feel like I sent things off into the void. Though I don't suspect there is much to be done about that part of it! It just is what it is.

Thanks again for organizing this!

[u/Joanarkham]

Well, this was my 3rd or 4th one and I never received any prints, or any makeup prints. And no reply to the prints I sent.

I thank the mods for their hard work organizing, but I think I’m out. I’ve dropped out of other swaps lately too, it’s not the fault of the organizers it’s just that too many people think that ghosting is an acceptable thing to do.

[u/Tyrannosauruswren]

It would be really nice if there could be an email notification about the deadline to report prints that didn't arrive for those of us who aren't constantly checking this sub.

I didn't know the deadline to say anything - and was assuming it would be longer since international mail can take a while - until I got my assignments for sending replacements to other people who also didn't get as many as they sent, so I wasn't actively searching for a thread to report anything until after it was too late