In short
- You can ship domestic parcels in France without renting anything there: a verified individual holds a batch of your stock at home and posts each order as a French domestic parcel.
- France is the country where the pickup point — the point relais — is the norm. Customers choose their Mondial Relay, Chronopost or Colissimo point at checkout, and a foreign label rarely offers that choice well.
- Domestic from French stock costs the French domestic rate plus a flat fulfilment cost of about €3.10 per small parcel, and one bulk shipment into the stock.
- From the UK every cross-border parcel is an import: VAT, a handling fee and, since July 2026, €3 duty per product type. One bulk import replaces all of that with one customs event.
- Stock in France usually means a French VAT registration; OSS does not cover sales from local stock.
- Whatever the route, packaging sold to French consumers falls under the French extended-producer-responsibility scheme (the Triman logo and sorting info). Small foreign shops are not exempt.
France is the second-largest e-commerce market in the EU and the one where a foreign shop’s checkout looks most obviously foreign — not because of the price, but because of a missing option: the point relais. A French customer expects to pick their collection point at checkout the way a Dutch customer expects iDEAL. Without it, you are visibly not from here.
This article sets out the two ways to serve French customers, why the pickup culture tilts the choice toward local stock earlier than in Germany, and the customs, VAT and packaging rules you meet on either route. As always: at a handful of orders a month, none of this is worth doing yet.
Route A: every parcel crosses the border
You pack at home and buy a label to France. From another EU country that is a cross-border parcel: no customs, a higher rate, usually a day or two longer. From the UK it is an import, and since July 2026 an import carries French VAT, a carrier handling fee and €3 customs duty per product type — a three-item order is €9 of duty before anyone has looked at the goods. The sum is in the €3 EU customs duty explained.
Route A’s specific French problem is the checkout. A cross-border label usually offers home delivery and perhaps a limited point network. The customer who wanted their usual Mondial Relay locker either picks the door — and is not at home — or leaves.
Route B: one batch in France, domestic parcels after
You send one shipment — fifty units of your best seller — to a verified sender in France. They hold it at home, pack each order, buy a French domestic label and drop the parcel at a point relais on a trip they were making anyway. The parcel starts in France: domestic rate, domestic transit, and the full French pickup network at checkout.
What you pay is the sender’s fee plus a platform fee — about €3.10 for a small parcel — and the domestic label. No storage, no set-up, no minimum. The model is defined in what is peer-to-peer fulfilment; the per-country arithmetic in how to ship domestically in Europe without a warehouse.
Route B exists only where a domestic service exists at a rate a shop will pay. France is one of them; the full list is read from the live rate card:
- Austria
- Belgium
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Spain
The two routes side by side
| Route A from the UK | Route A from another EU country | Route B: stock in France | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Label | International | Cross-border EU | French domestic |
| Customs per parcel | VAT, handling fee, €3 per product type | None | None |
| Fulfilment per order | Your time | Your time | ± €3.10 small parcel |
| One-off | None | None | One bulk shipment in; from the UK, one customs event |
| Point relais at checkout | Limited or none | Limited | Full network: Mondial Relay, Chronopost, Colissimo |
| Transit | Longest | A day or two longer | Domestic |
| Returns | Back across a border | Cross-border | To a point relais, back to the sender |
| VAT | IOSS or at the door | OSS | French registration usually needed |
| Fits | A handful of French orders | Tens of French orders | Tens to a few hundred French orders of a few products |
Why the point relais changes the argument
In most countries the pickup point is a cheaper alternative the customer tolerates. In France it is the first choice for a large share of parcels, and the network is dense: a Mondial Relay point or locker, a Chronopost Pickup, a Colissimo point at the tabac. Customers choose theirs at checkout and collect on their own schedule.
That has two consequences for you. The point is cheaper than home delivery — no failed doorstep attempt in the rate — and offering it is a conversion matter, not a cost saving. A checkout without a point relais reads as foreign, and foreign reads as slow and complicated in a market that returns freely.
The general trade-off between point, locker and door, country by country, is in pickup point vs home delivery in Europe. For France the default is the point, with home delivery as the paid upgrade — the opposite of Germany.
Two rules that apply whichever route you take
VAT once stock sits in France
Moving your own goods to France is a transfer of own goods, and selling from that stock is a French domestic supply. That generally requires a French VAT number and French returns; OSS does not cover it. Administration rather than a barrier — but do it before the batch moves. Detail in VAT when you store stock in another EU country.
Packaging: the Triman and the REP scheme
French packaging rules apply to foreign shops too
Packaging placed on the French market falls under extended producer responsibility: registration with an approved eco-organisation (Citeo is the main one), an annual declaration, and the Triman logo with sorting instructions on consumer packaging. Foreign online shops selling to French consumers are within scope, and marketplaces check for a unique identifier. Budget an afternoon and a modest annual fee.
How to test it with one box
Pick the product French customers already buy
Your best seller by French orders. One product, one number to compare, one batch to lose.
Register: VAT and packaging
Talk to your accountant about the French VAT position. Register with an eco-organisation for packaging — you should already have.
Find a sender in France
On /en/senders: your parcel sizes, a carrier with a dense point network, the fast-shipping badge, room for your batch.
Send about a month of French orders
From the UK, one customs event on a commercial import. Record the batch in your account.
Set the point relais as the default for France
Per product, per country, with home delivery as the customer’s paid choice. Connect Shopify if you use it.
After a month, compare four numbers
Cost per order including customs and your time, transit, support tickets, returns. Then the second product — not the whole catalogue.
British shops should start with how to ship to EU customers from the UK for the customs side; the choice between countries is in how to sell to the EU without customs charges. Current French domestic rates are on /en/countries.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ship domestic parcels in France without a French warehouse?
Yes. A verified individual in France holds a batch of your stock at home and posts each order as a French domestic parcel, dropped at a point relais. No building, so no storage fee and no minimum.
Why does the point relais matter so much in France?
Because it is the first choice for a large share of French parcels, and customers pick theirs at checkout. A foreign label rarely offers the full network; a parcel that starts in France does.
What does a parcel from the UK to France cost in customs since July 2026?
French VAT, a carrier handling fee and €3 customs duty per product type in the parcel. A bulk shipment into French stock is one customs event instead; the parcels after it are domestic.
Do I need a French VAT number if I hold stock there?
Usually yes. Sales from French stock are French domestic supplies, and OSS does not cover them. Check with your accountant before the first batch.
What are the French packaging rules for a foreign shop?
Packaging placed on the French market falls under extended producer responsibility: register with an approved eco-organisation, declare annually, and carry the Triman logo with sorting instructions. Foreign online shops are in scope.
How much stock should I send to France first?
About a month of French orders of one product. Tens to a few hundred units — enough to measure, small enough to write off.
Sources
- European Commission — removal of the €150 customs duty exemption threshold in 2026
- Fevad — the French and delivery: points relais and home delivery
- Citeo — extended producer responsibility for household packaging in France
- impots.gouv.fr — VAT registration for foreign businesses
- Mondial Relay — points relais and lockers
In Germany the parcel has to arrive fast. In France it has to arrive where the customer chose. Only a parcel that starts in France can do the second.
See what a domestic parcel costs in France today
Countries and rates