Parcel forwarding from France: how it works, step by step

The scenario is always the same. You've found what you were looking for on a French site — a brand, a secondhand piece, something you can't get anywhere else. You fill the basket, type in your address, and the page answers: no delivery to this country. Or delivery exists, at a price higher than the item. Or the card is declined.

Parcel forwarding exists for exactly that scenario. This guide explains what it is, how it actually works, where the savings hide, and what customs expects from you. It's written from our warehouse in Montbéliard, France, where these parcels arrive every day.

What is parcel forwarding?

It's a service that gives you a delivery address in France, at a warehouse, in your name. You order from French sites using that address: to the seller you're an ordinary French customer, delivered in France, on French terms. The parcel arrives at the warehouse, we receive it, keep it as long as you need, then forward it to wherever you live — or, better, gather several parcels into one box before shipping.

The word says exactly what happens: the parcel is shipped once by the seller, as far as France, then shipped again by us, as far as you. Two legs, and we take care of the second one: packaging, customs declaration, carrier, tracking, insurance.

Who is it for? French people living abroad who want to keep shopping French. Residents of the French overseas territories, whom many mainland shops leave out of their delivery zone. And everyone who, with no particular tie to France, likes its brands, its secondhand market and its marketplaces — and can't buy from them at home.

Why so many French sites won't deliver to you

It's neither ill will nor an oversight. From a merchant's point of view, delivering outside France stacks up several difficulties, and the simplest answer is not to offer it:

• A different shipping grid. A parcel abroad, or to an overseas territory, doesn't leave at the same price as a parcel to Lyon. A shop showing flat shipping fees would lose money on it.
• Paperwork. Outside the European Union, every parcel needs a customs declaration, a description of the contents, a value. It takes the tools, and the will.
• Fraud risk. A foreign card, an unknown address, a first order: platforms' anti-fraud filters often decline the payment before a human has looked.
• Private sellers. On Vinted or Leboncoin, the seller is a private person who wants neither customs nor forms. They tick "France only" and never look at it again.

The French address removes the first, second and fourth obstacle at once. For the third — the declined card — there are other solutions, including one that settles everything: we buy for you.

How it works, step by step

1. You create an account. It's free and instant. You immediately get your French address, together with a personal code. That code is what lets us assign a parcel to you with certainty among everything that arrives: it must appear on every order, in the address line.
2. You order, wherever you like. Brand store, big retailer, marketplace: you enter your FrenchShopper address as the delivery address, and you pay the merchant directly. We don't touch that purchase.
3. You declare the incoming parcel. In your account, with its tracking number. We track it automatically all the way to the warehouse, and it's the second way we recognise it on arrival if the code was missing.
4. We receive it. The parcel is weighed, checked from the outside, and you get an email with the weight. It isn't opened unless you ask — photos of the contents are available as an option.
5. It waits for you. Free for 45 days. That's time to gather other orders, other finds, or the items we buy for you.
6. You request the shipment. You select what should go. We build the box, weigh and measure it, and you see every available shipping offer — Colissimo, Chronopost, DHL, FedEx, UPS… — with its price and delivery time. You choose, you pay.
7. We ship, you track. Customs declaration filled in by us, handover to the carrier, tracking number in your account. The parcel arrives at your door.

Consolidation: where forwarding earns its keep

Forwarding a single small parcel is possible, but it's rarely where the service shines. An international shipment carries costs that don't depend on its weight: the declaration, the handling, the handover to the carrier, the packaging. A five-kilo box doesn't cost five times a one-kilo box — nowhere near.

That's why storage is free for 45 days. You order from three sites over three weeks, the three parcels wait for you, and they leave in one box, with one shipping charge, one declaration, one trip through customs. The fuller the box, the less each item costs you.

One detail that matters: carriers charge on the higher of the actual weight and the volumetric weight, meaning the space the box takes up. A big half-empty box is billed as if it were full. At consolidation we strip the original boxes and surplus padding and pick the tightest format: that's volumetric weight removed, so price removed.

What it costs, and how the price is built

Nothing before you ship. The address is free, receiving is free, storage is free for 45 days, and there's no subscription. You pay when a box leaves, and you see its price before you confirm.

That price covers transport, packaging and insurance. It depends on three things: the weight of the box, its size, and the destination. For every shipment you're offered several options, from the cheapest carrier to the fastest, with the delivery time announced for each. You can estimate a shipment before you even create an account, from the weight and the country.

What it doesn't cover, and can't: your country's duties and taxes. Which brings us to customs.

Customs, without the nasty surprise

A parcel leaving the European Union is an import for the country receiving it. Its customs may assess duties and taxes, calculated on the declared value of the items. The carrier pays them on your behalf, collects them at delivery, and usually adds a handling fee of its own. Thresholds and rates depend on the country and change regularly: check with your customs before a large order.

Three rules on our side that protect you:

• We declare the real value, from your invoices. It's the law, and it's what makes the insurance pay out if something is lost: it covers the declared value.
• We never under-declare, even on request. An under-declared parcel can be held, taxed on an estimated value, or seized — and at that point nobody can help you.
• We tell you before you pay what the price covers, and what it doesn't.

One thing people often get wrong: a secondhand purchase from a private seller carries no French VAT at the origin. So you're not taxed twice — but you should budget for your country's tax.

What can't be forwarded

Some contents can't fly, whatever the destination: aerosols, flammables, lithium batteries shipped on their own, weapons, counterfeits, perishable food, among others. Others go through under conditions depending on the country — perfume, alcohol, medicines. Those rules come from air transport regulations and from our carriers, not from us. The full list is here. If a parcel arrives with something that can't ship, we tell you immediately; it simply never goes to the carrier.

Parcel forwarding or buying service?

Forwarding assumes you can order yourself: that the site accepts your card, and that the seller agrees to deliver in France — always the case for a French address. When it fails — card declined, seller who only answers in French, a Vinted or Leboncoin listing — there's the buying service: you send us the link, we quote it, and we buy it, with our own account and card.

The two don't compete. An item bought for you and a parcel you had delivered yourself wait in the same place, and leave in the same box.

What to check before choosing a forwarding service

Not every service works the same way. Before you trust anyone with your purchases, a few questions are worth asking:

• Is the address a real warehouse, with a code of your own? That's what guarantees your parcel is assigned to you, not lost in a pile.
• How long is storage free? That's what makes consolidation possible. Too short, and you ship parcel by parcel.
• What does the displayed price include? Transport alone, or transport with packaging and insurance? The difference shows on the invoice, not on the homepage.
• Do you see the price before you pay, offer by offer? A price known after the box is actually weighed, not an estimate corrected later.
• How is customs handled? A declaration filled in for you, at the real value. A service that offers to under-declare is exposing you, not itself.
• Can you see the contents? Photos on request, a check possible before departure.

Frequently asked questions