Popular for its medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beach fronts, France is a favourite destination for holidaymakers. France has long been a major trade partner with the UK, which has established excellent shipping links to deliver a variety of goods, both to and from the très magnifique France!
Why send to France?
France welcomes over 89.3 million visitors each year, many of whom annually spend the summertime lounging on the beautiful beaches. As a result, there has been a steady increase in the volume of parcels being delivered to the nation during these months.
There has also been an increase in E-commerce business between the UK and France as businesses from both nations commonly sell to one another. France has the 3rd largest E-commerce market in the EU and French is commonly spoken around the globe, providing fantastic opportunities for international selling.
France also has one of the most efficient transport systems in the world- their rail network is the 2nd largest in Europe! Frances' infrastructure enables domestic and international senders high-speed shipping logistics that can get your parcels to their destination quickly and conveniently.
What you need to know when shipping to France
Knowing how to send a parcel to France is simple when you've got all of the information you need. Here are a few areas to think about before sending:
Brexit affects
Since the 1st of January 2021, the UK are no longer a member of the European Union. This means that when you request a parcel delivery to France from the UK, you will need to treat it as if you're sending to an international nation, like Australia.
During the booking process, you will be required to fill in a customs invoice document. Customs invoices are used by customs in foreign countries to assess the goods, value, and reason for import/export and calculate the cost of tax and duties payments.
We've simplified the form so that you can easily fill in your details and get your parcel sent and on route! Here are the required categories to fill in on our customs forms:
- Describe your items (type, quantity, value, manufacture location)
- State your tax status (non-commercial, non-VAT registered business, or VAT registered)
- Reason for sending
- EORI number (this is mandatory for all sales, whether it's a VAT business or adhoc eBay seller) - read more about these here
- HS code (this is used to classify your items - find out more about these here)
It's now even cheaper to send to the EU from the UK as we do not charge VAT on shipping costs!
Make sure you check where each individual component of your goods originate from. If noted incorrectly, this could cause delays at customs.
Prohibited and restricted
France's prohibited and restricted items lists looks very similar to our own and like that of countries in the EU. But, make sure to check our Prohibited and Restricted Items list Country list, and Courier list before you send your parcel off to avoid disappointment.
When sending from the UK to France, senders will need to ensure their goods are permitted and described accurately on their customs documents to avoid delays at the border. As trade between France and the rest of the world is unlikely to reduce, it's always worth ensuring your items aren't prohibited and cause a backlog at customs.
Protection packaging
To avoid damage to your parcel, make sure it is packed well for protection. When packaging goods to send to France, keep in mind that your parcel will be handled multiple times when being loaded on and off vehicles and aircraft.
Ensure you:
- Use a strong and rigid outer box (preferably double-lined particularly if the packages' weight exceeds 10kg)
- Individually wrap loose items to protect from movement/vibrations
- Fill the empty space in the box with cushioning materials such as packing peanuts, tissue paper or bubble-wrap
In general, even if your parcel won't be traveling on a cargo plane to be shipped internationally, it will still be processed by at least two depots and placed on several conveyor belts. Find out how to send your parcel safely.
There are also sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging solutions available to use for parcels such as bio-based plastic, mushroom packaging, seaweed packaging, and paper-based packaging. Help reduce your environmental footprint and show brand commitment to caring for your environment by following our guide.
If you have any niche items to send such as a fishing rod or car parts, check that your items are not prohibited to send. It is also important to add extra protection to your parcel to minimise movement in transit. For more advice on sending niche items, read here.
Best practice tip: when sending fragile items internationally, invest in a new double or triple corrugated box and label 'FRAGILE'.
Why use Interparcel to send to France?
With over a decade of experience sending parcels to over 250 countries and territories globally, we pride ourselves on our sending knowledge. Be it to the shores of Polynesia or just over to Calais, we can easily send goods of all shapes and sizes to the destination you desire.
As one of our most requested destinations, we have worked to secure efficient and cheap shipping to France with couriers that are internationally recognised and championed. Our partnerships with the likes of UPS, Parcelforce, and DPD have enabled our customers the choice of a range of parcel delivery options from Economy, Priority and Express. Whether you're shipping to Paris, Cannes, Nice, Lyon or Bordeaux, we have a service for you.
And now with our email notification settings, Interparcel users can benefit from shipping updates to stay in the loop from booking to delivery. Opt in to receive as many or as little notifications as you please so that you and/or your recipient can make sure to be in to collect their parcel to prevent missed deliveries!
Sending to France for business? We can help…
Are you an online or traditional street-side business looking to send to France? Our Shipping Manager enables businesses to connect their store with our shipping solutions and start benefiting from a range of features to streamline sending logistics:
- Simple customs forms: streamlined customs invoices to speed up the process
- Advanced shipping manager: collate orders from multiple eCommerce platforms into one place
- Multi-channel fulfilment: collates orders from multiple e-marketplaces into one place
- In-built address verification and correction, no more manual errors or unprofessional mistakes
- Parcel Presets to save parcel details for faster sending
- 'Send Again' and 'Return Parcel' actions to streamline repeat and return orders
- Cheap shipping to France!
Our Shipping Manager integrates with all of the major eCommerce platforms so that selling internationally and accessing cheap shipping to France is easy!
Businesses can also benefit from our Branded Tracking. This handy feature allows brands to provide their customers with a seamless company-centric tracking experience. Our business users are able to create a unique tracking page which keeps your logo and brand aesthetic consistent throughout. From the initial sale right through to delivery, your customers can monitor their delivery, staying in the loop while your brand stays in the spotlight.
This feature allows you to customise the logo and colour of your tracking portal and create a unique URL to pass on to customers when sending a parcel to France. This way you can create a professional branded tracking experience whilst they can watch their parcel be safely delivered.
If you have any questions about sending a parcel to France please contact our parcel experts available from 8 am - 8 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am - 1 pm on weekends via telephone, email or live chat.
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