Frequently Asked Questions
Can School Classes or Clubs Register
Yes, School classes or Clubs can register by either having all students in the class submitting a profile by themselves, OR having the teacher register a single profile on behalf of the class - describing the class and ensuring that the "Teacher with Students" is selected in the Correspond By section of the registration form. We advise that since penpalling is a very personal journey - each student should have their own profile and teachers should help monitor the profile.
Do I need to create a profile in order to contact people?
Yes. You cannot send people messages or "smiles" without having an approved profile.
Gender Unspecified
To cater for people of all genders, including those that may not be gender binary, Indeterminate, Intersex - we use the term Unspecified. There are many terms that could be used but we have selected that which corresponds with the Australian government offical documentation - this is subject to change in the future.
How do I delete my profile?
Login, click on "my profile" then click "Delete my Profile". All your information will be removed from our system and you will no longer be able to login to your account. Please note that if your profile is indexed in google - this can take 2-3 months before it is removed from the google cache.
How do I upgrade to be a Premium Member
You login to your profile. Then click "upgrade membership" on the member menu.
How do I use my Premium membership to send messages?
When you find a profile that you wish to contact - simply click on the "Send Message" icon. A message window will then display where you may type a message to that user. When you send your message, the user will be notified by email that he/she has a new message waiting in their personal In-Box on our site.
How do I use Snail mail Credits
You can use Snailmail credits to get postal addresses of other members directly (without asking them). Not every profile has a registered postal address, so you must search for those profiles that have this information. The best way to search is in the advanced search form - Here you will find a checkbox that will display only those profiles with registered postal addresses. You can see if an address is registered because when viewing a profile it will say "Get Postal Address" instead of "Postal Address not Registered". When you click on the "Get Postal Address" the postal address will be added to your snailmail list.
How long does it take for my account to be updated to premium membership after I upgrade?
Your account will be upgraded immediately. If it does not - send us a mail so we can fix the issue.
How to cancel my subscription Payment?
You can cancel your subscription payment at anytime. Just login to your Paypal account and click on the cancel subscription link. If you do not have a paypal account or cannot access it - just send us an email and we will cancel the subscription for you.
I am a parent registering a child
We require that you register each child with a separate profile. Each profile will require a separate email address.
I did not receive any free contact credits - why?
Not all profiles are awarded free contact credits. Each profile is reviewed and if a profile is deemed high risk of spamming - we will restrict access on a case by case basis to protect our members.
If I am interested in Snail Mail - How can I get a contacts Postal Address?
there are 2 ways to get a postal address on Global Penfriends. If the person you are interested in contacting has registered their postal address (snailmail) in their profile, you can click the "Get Postal Address" link from their profile. This requires Snailmail Contact credits. The second way is Once you have made contact with a user on our site, you can ask for their postal contact details. You can see which members are interested in snailmail by looking at the "correspond As" field on their profile. You can also use the advanced search form to search for only snailmail pals.
Is it free to reply to messages?
Yes - Always
What does this service cost?
In short - members can use this club to find penpals for free. If you wish to have an enhanced penpalling experience - you can choose to upgrade. This depends on the individual user.
What is a Premium Profile?
This is a profile that can only be contacted by a premium member.
What is the "Tell a Friend" button for?
The "Tell a Friend" button can be used to let your friends know about an interesting profile on our site. When you click this button, your friend will be sent a link to the profile you have selected from our site.
What is the Send a Smile button for?
The send a smile button is for people without contact credits or Premium membership. We suggest that you send the user you are interested in contacting a "virtual smile". This user will be sent an email telling them that you are interested in contacting them. That user can then decide if he/she will send you a message.
Who gets free credits?
There is no rule to free credits - they are given on a adhoc basis to prevent scammers and spammers from abusing the site. Usually profiles receive 2 free credits on joining and some profiles may receive up to 2 free credits per day. Its always free to reply to messages in your inbox and its always free to send virtual smiles.
Yes, School classes or Clubs can register by either having all students in the class submitting a profile by themselves, OR having the teacher register a single profile on behalf of the class - describing the class and ensuring that the "Teacher with Students" is selected in the Correspond By section of the registration form. We advise that since penpalling is a very personal journey - each student should have their own profile and teachers should help monitor the profile.
Do I need to create a profile in order to contact people?
Yes. You cannot send people messages or "smiles" without having an approved profile.
Gender Unspecified
To cater for people of all genders, including those that may not be gender binary, Indeterminate, Intersex - we use the term Unspecified. There are many terms that could be used but we have selected that which corresponds with the Australian government offical documentation - this is subject to change in the future.
How do I delete my profile?
Login, click on "my profile" then click "Delete my Profile". All your information will be removed from our system and you will no longer be able to login to your account. Please note that if your profile is indexed in google - this can take 2-3 months before it is removed from the google cache.
How do I upgrade to be a Premium Member
You login to your profile. Then click "upgrade membership" on the member menu.
How do I use my Premium membership to send messages?
When you find a profile that you wish to contact - simply click on the "Send Message" icon. A message window will then display where you may type a message to that user. When you send your message, the user will be notified by email that he/she has a new message waiting in their personal In-Box on our site.
How do I use Snail mail Credits
You can use Snailmail credits to get postal addresses of other members directly (without asking them). Not every profile has a registered postal address, so you must search for those profiles that have this information. The best way to search is in the advanced search form - Here you will find a checkbox that will display only those profiles with registered postal addresses. You can see if an address is registered because when viewing a profile it will say "Get Postal Address" instead of "Postal Address not Registered". When you click on the "Get Postal Address" the postal address will be added to your snailmail list.
How long does it take for my account to be updated to premium membership after I upgrade?
Your account will be upgraded immediately. If it does not - send us a mail so we can fix the issue.
How to cancel my subscription Payment?
You can cancel your subscription payment at anytime. Just login to your Paypal account and click on the cancel subscription link. If you do not have a paypal account or cannot access it - just send us an email and we will cancel the subscription for you.
I am a parent registering a child
We require that you register each child with a separate profile. Each profile will require a separate email address.
I did not receive any free contact credits - why?
Not all profiles are awarded free contact credits. Each profile is reviewed and if a profile is deemed high risk of spamming - we will restrict access on a case by case basis to protect our members.
If I am interested in Snail Mail - How can I get a contacts Postal Address?
there are 2 ways to get a postal address on Global Penfriends. If the person you are interested in contacting has registered their postal address (snailmail) in their profile, you can click the "Get Postal Address" link from their profile. This requires Snailmail Contact credits. The second way is Once you have made contact with a user on our site, you can ask for their postal contact details. You can see which members are interested in snailmail by looking at the "correspond As" field on their profile. You can also use the advanced search form to search for only snailmail pals.
Is it free to reply to messages?
Yes - Always
What does this service cost?
In short - members can use this club to find penpals for free. If you wish to have an enhanced penpalling experience - you can choose to upgrade. This depends on the individual user.
What is a Premium Profile?
This is a profile that can only be contacted by a premium member.
What is the "Tell a Friend" button for?
The "Tell a Friend" button can be used to let your friends know about an interesting profile on our site. When you click this button, your friend will be sent a link to the profile you have selected from our site.
What is the Send a Smile button for?
The send a smile button is for people without contact credits or Premium membership. We suggest that you send the user you are interested in contacting a "virtual smile". This user will be sent an email telling them that you are interested in contacting them. That user can then decide if he/she will send you a message.
Who gets free credits?
There is no rule to free credits - they are given on a adhoc basis to prevent scammers and spammers from abusing the site. Usually profiles receive 2 free credits on joining and some profiles may receive up to 2 free credits per day. Its always free to reply to messages in your inbox and its always free to send virtual smiles.
