How to send a QSL card

To send a QSL card you need four things: the contact details from your log, a card carrying them, the other operator’s mailing address, and postage. There are three established ways to do it, and they differ mostly in speed, cost, and how much work lands on you.

Option 1: Direct mail

Look up the operator’s address on their callsign page (QRZ.com is the de facto directory), check whether they list a QSL manager who handles their cards, fill out your card, and mail it. Direct is the fastest traditional route — days to weeks. The costs add up, though: printed card stock, envelopes, and international postage. For rare DX stations it’s customary to include return postage (an IRC or a few US dollars) and a self-addressed envelope if you want a card back.

Option 2: The QSL bureau

National societies run a bureau system: you send a batch of outgoing cards to your society’s outgoing bureau, they sort and ship them in bulk to bureaus in other countries, and incoming cards eventually reach you the same way. Cost per card is pennies — and delivery is measured in months, commonly a year or more round trip. The bureau also only works if the other operator participates in their country’s bureau.

Option 3: An online QSL service

Services like MailQSL move the whole workflow online: you design the card in a browser, upload your log (ADIF, CSV, or Excel), the service looks up each operator’s mailing address, and it prints and mails a physical card to every contact. You skip the printer, envelopes, and post office entirely. MailQSL charges $2.99 per card with postage included, and US cards typically arrive in 3–5 business days. See how it works.

Which should you use?

• A handful of special contacts:direct mail with return postage, or an online service if you don’t print cards.
• Hundreds of routine confirmations, no hurry: the bureau is unbeatable on price if you can wait.
• A backlog you keep putting off: an online service clears it in an afternoon — upload the log, approve the previews, done.

Whichever route you pick, double-check the QSO details against your log before sending — a card with a wrong date or band can’t be used for awards. More background in what is a QSL card.