Buying on Leboncoin from Switzerland: the most closed French site

Leboncoin is the most tightly closed French site of all, and Switzerland is no exception despite the proximity. No Swiss version, no cross-border delivery, and a hand-over-in-person culture that dominates everything else.

Why it is blocked

Leboncoin's secure payment expects a French card. And even when a seller offers shipping — already a minority — the built-in carriers do not leave France. That leaves collection in person, in theory workable from Geneva or Basel, but only if the seller is within driving distance and agrees to meet.

To grasp how firmly it is shut, you have to understand what Leboncoin is. It is not an international marketplace throttled at the border; it is a local classifieds site, designed from the start so that two people in the same region could meet. Shipping is a recent, minority option; the norm is still a rendezvous in a car park. No foreign version is planned, and none will be.

Anibis and Ricardo cover the Swiss side, but they are not the same objects nor the same prices. What people come to Leboncoin for from Switzerland is precisely what the local market lacks: furniture, appliances, spare parts, collectables, at French prices.

What does not work

A VPN is useless here: the site is already readable from abroad, it is payment and shipping that block, and a VPN touches neither. Asking the seller to post abroad runs into a private individual with no habit, no appetite and no means of filling in a customs declaration for an eighty-euro chest of drawers. Delivering to a friend in France works once, then wears out the friendship: receiving, repacking, declaring, posting and fronting the money starts to look a lot like a job.

Two ways to get a parcel to you

You order yourself. On French sites that accept your card, you enter your FrenchShopper address at checkout. To the shop you're a French customer; the parcel lands at our warehouse, we receive it, and we forward it to you. The address is free and comes with your account.

We buy for you. On Vinted, Leboncoin, and any seller who only ships within France or rejects a Swiss card, you send us the link: we check it, quote it, and once you've paid, we buy with our own French account and card. The details are here.

Either way, your items wait for free for 45 days in our warehouse so you can gather several — and everything leaves in one box, with one shipping charge.

The delivery times we measure to Switzerland

On our own measurements to Switzerland, La Poste quotes delivery five days after handover, Chronopost seven. The border sits a few kilometres from our warehouse in Montbéliard, but it is a customs border all the same: the parcel travels with a declaration, exactly as if it were crossing the planet.

What is waiting on arrival

Switzerland charges VAT, and sometimes customs duties, from the very first francs due — in practice that covers almost every purchase. The carrier pays it up front and collects it from you on delivery, along with a handling fee. It is never included in our price, because it depends on Swiss customs and not on us.

The special case of heavy things

Leboncoin is the kingdom of furniture, appliances and spare parts — precisely the things that travel badly. Before you fall in love with a wardrobe, know that carriers cap parcels at around thirty kilos and limit dimensions: beyond that you are into freight, not parcels. For anything that fits in a box, though — crockery, books, clothes, small mechanical parts, collectables — the service works very well. If in doubt, estimate it first.

What to send us

The listing link, and not much else. If the item comes in several sizes or colours, tell us which one — that is what stops us buying the wrong one. Add anything you already know about the seller if you have spoken to them.

We check that the listing is still live and at what real price, then send you an itemised quote. Nothing is bought before you pay: if the item sells in the meantime, you are refunded. Once paid, we buy with our own French Leboncoin account and French card, receive the parcel at our warehouse, open it and check it.

Consolidation changes everything

This is the part most people work out too late. An international shipment costs roughly the same work and the same transport whether it holds one jumper or six; the price rises far more slowly than the weight. Bringing one item over at a time is the worst possible maths.

So your purchases wait free of charge for 45 days in our warehouse. You gather several, mixed if you like with orders you placed yourself at French shops, and everything leaves in a single box with one shipping charge. The details are here.

Frequently asked questions