Pickup point or home delivery in France? 2026 prices

France is the clearest pickup-point market in Western Europe. A French checkout without a "point relais" option looks unfinished, and the carriers price accordingly: the point is where they make the parcel cheap. But the gap is not the same for every carrier, and for one of the big names it runs the other way.

This article gives the measured prices for the six carriers on our French rate card, explains what goes wrong at a point and at the door, and ends with a default you can set per product. For the same decision across all of Europe, see pickup point vs home delivery in Europe.

How much cheaper is a point relais than home delivery in France? #

We compared each carrier with itself: same size, same country, once to a point and once to the door. These are the domestic prices on our French shipping options, measured on 29 September 2026. They include our €0.85 platform fee, which is the same on both sides, so every gap below is the carrier's own.

Three things stand out. Chronopost has the widest gap, because its home services are next-day express and its point service is not. Colis Privé has the cheapest point in the country and charges half as much again for the door — a price list built to push you towards the relay. And Mondial Relay, the name most French shoppers associate with the point relais, was slightly cheaper to the door on our card that day, for both small and medium parcels.

The carrier rate alone, without our fee, for the cheapest standard service in France was €4.55 at 2 kg, €6.78 at 5 kg and €9.19 at 10 kg (index of 26 September 2026). France gets expensive as the parcel gets heavier: at 10 kg it is €9.19 against €5.23 in Belgium and €5.66 in Spain. The full comparison is in the European shipping rates index.

How fast is each option? #

The delivery promise on the same rate card differs more than the price does. Speed is where home delivery earns its premium in France.

So the choice is not only point versus door. It is also "cheap and within four days" (Colis Privé, Mondial Relay) versus "next day at the door" (Chronopost, UPS). Colissimo sits in between: the same two-day promise either way, at the highest price on the card.

Which option should a French webshop offer as default? #

For most products: a point relais, with home delivery as the paid upgrade. That is the order French customers already know from large marketplaces, and it lets you show the lowest shipping price first. In practice:

• ✓Small, cheap, frequent items: Colis Privé or UPS to a point. At €7.63 and €7.84 they are the two cheapest services we measured.
• ✓Medium parcels up to 10 kg: UPS Access Point at €10.04, or Mondial Relay, where point and door cost almost the same.
• ✓Customers who pay for speed: Chronopost or UPS to the door, next day.
• ✓Expensive items: Colissimo to the door. It is the priciest, but after a failed attempt the parcel waits 15 days at the post office and the customer can book a new delivery.
• ✕Mondial Relay point as a reflex. On our card its home service was cheaper for small parcels, and the point has the shortest holding period.
• ✕Large parcels to a point. For 10–30 kg only Mondial Relay offered a point service (€19.42); the rest are home only.

If you sell into France from abroad, the cross-border rates matter as much as this table; they are in shipping to France without a French warehouse.

What happens when a French delivery fails? #

Each carrier fails in its own way, and the holding period decides how much time your customer has before the parcel starts travelling back.

The Mondial Relay rule is the one to watch. Five calendar days includes Sundays and public holidays: a parcel that arrives on a Wednesday has to be collected by the following Monday. For a customer on a short trip that is tight, and a parcel that goes back is a second shipment you pay for.

The door fails differently. A Colissimo parcel that finds nobody home is not lost to you: it waits at the post office for 15 days, and the customer can book a new delivery. The cost of that second trip is already inside Colissimo’s higher rate — which is exactly why the rate is higher.

Our recommendation for France #

1. Default: point relais for small and medium parcels, with the cheapest point service for that size (Colis Privé or UPS Access Point on the day we measured).
2. Upgrade: home delivery as a paid option, next-day with Chronopost or UPS for customers who want speed.
3. Exceptions: the door for items above your pain threshold for a return, and for anything over 10 kg.
4. Review after a month: count uncollected parcels per product. More than a few means that product belongs at the door.

How does this work with AirPost in France? #

With local fulfilment through AirPost, a verified sender in France holds a small batch of your stock and ships each order as a domestic French parcel — so the prices above are the prices you pay, not a cross-border rate. You pay the label, the fee you agree with your sender, and our €0.85 platform fee per parcel.

1. 1

   Pick a sender in France

   Filter senders by parcel size and price on /en/senders. Every sender is identity-checked; the full customer address is only shown to them after they claim your order.

2. 2

   Set the service per product

   For France you choose point or door per product — for example Colis Privé point for your small best seller, Colissimo home for the expensive one.

3. 3

   Let the orders run

   Orders come in by hand or automatically from Shopify. The sender packs, drops the parcel at the carrier, and tracking goes back to your customer.

4. 4

   Handle what comes back

   An uncollected parcel returns to your sender, not to your warehouse abroad. Returns are reported with five photos, you approve them, and the sender receives a return fee. How that flow works in full: returns without a warehouse.