Why haven't my Lob postcards been sent yet?
The Lob help pages give 3 common reasons. The first to rule out: Postcards can be held before printing by a cancellation window on your account, or by a send date set for later. A postcard scheduled for a later date waits until that date.
Is it broken, or just quiet?
A number can fall because fewer people came, or because something stopped counting them. Below are the causes the Lob help pages give, and how to check each one yourself.
What causes it?
Postcards can be held before printing by a cancellation window on your account, or by a send date set for later. A postcard scheduled for a later date waits until that date.
In the Lob help:
Even if you have a cancellation window set on your account, using the scheduling mailings feature to schedule a mailing will override your cancellation window and the `send_date` passed will be used instead.
Managing mail settings, read 2026-11-12.Postcards created in test mode only get a preview. They are never printed or mailed.
In the Lob help:
When you send a request in test mode, a digital proof and thumbnails will be rendered, but the mail piece will not actually be printed and mailed.
API keys, read 2026-11-12.The postal service does not scan every postcard at every step, so some mailed postcards show fewer tracking updates than others.
In the Lob help:
USPS may not consistently scan all mail pieces at every stage; Lob is only able to capture and surface scans received from USPS itself.
Tracking your mail, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
Check that postcards are created with your live key, not your test key. Only live postcards are printed and mailed.
In the Lob help:
To send a real mail piece, or verify an address, use your Live API key.
API keys, read 2026-11-12.If the cancellation window was changed recently, remember that earlier postcards still follow the old window.
In the Lob help:
Keep in mind that when you edit your cancellation window settings, any changes made will only apply to mailings created after the update was made.
Managing mail settings, read 2026-11-12.When checking whether postcards went out, rely more on the processed for delivery update than on the earlier tracking updates.
In the Lob help:
USPS does not guarantee every event for each mail piece, thus Processed for Delivery is more reliable.
Tracking your mail, read 2026-11-12.
How would I know the day it starts?
- Feder reads your postcards sent from Lob each day and compares each day with your own history.
- It does not track a single postcard through the mail. It tells you when postcards sent go quiet or move outside their usual range.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See what Feder reads from Lob, which feeds Reach. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Lob.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why did Lob mail the same postcard twice?Lob
- Why are my Lob postcards not being created?Lob
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the Lob help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.