Recently, possibly due to increasing use of AI, I have noted some developments that may be of interest to others on SF….
Please be aware, GLS deliveries, since June they inform me, now call the phone number given by the carrier for delivery to your home before venturing to your door.
If you fail to answer, because you are working / indisposed / not tied to the phone an hour or so before the carrier intends to reach you, he will instead drop your parcel at a Relay pick-up point. Location may vary according to the delivery van’s schedule that day. You will then be required to drive to pick up during the Relay point’s open hours.
On a (much) happier note….
M&S, whose online platform has been suspended for many months since a hacker made a mess for them to repair, has a limited part of current stock online at
I have tried it out, in your service of course, and happily found an item I had wanted but was sold out on the M&S site. Zalando had my size and at 30% off!
I am not too ashamed to admit that I’m quite a busy online shopper as I don’t drive, I live in a little village, and I like stuff. Please don’t flame me I just want to help
I am a M&S baby, so nothing else will do for basic lingerie. The suspension of online was a pain, but luckily was able to despatch niece to Oxford Street with a list which they brought with them last week in exchange for proper French chocolates. Order restored.
I have some well travelled Body Shop shampoo. There are no shops and no online presence in France for the Body Shop although there is in most other European countries. And you can’t order from another country for delivery to France. I ordered it online for delivery to my brother in the UK and from there it was driven to Brugges where it was posted to my home in France. What a faf.
Didn’t think to look there, but the prices are exorbitant. I paid nearly half the price for mine in the UK and posting them was only €8. I did it this way because I was travelling from the UK to Bruges.
That’s interesting. Here, they seem to send an SMS and expect you to be in. I’m currently awaiting a parcel to be delivered, the second of two. They claimed to have delivered both yesterday; then, today, sent a message (when we’d already gone out) saying they were delivering something .,… then that they’d failed and were holding it …
My advice would be to ignore the AI input and recommended sites, and scroll over the first 5 or 6 Google Search optimised links listed to find the best sites.
You can always go back and read the AI input afterwards. Sometimes it is interesting.
I often order things (also!) from Amazon UK and Amazon.de. Both accept to deliver in France and sometimes buying elsewhere is cheaper, even with delivery / postage added, which I avoid with Amazon.fr Prime.
What I like with Amazon is that they take care to have all the charges covered up front and no delivery day surprise extra. Not always the case with Etsy but occasionally worth the risk.
I’ve never quite understood the amount you’re allowed before customs duty is charged. Is it a bit over 40€? My husband’s sister sent some English sweets as a present and may have declared the value wrongly, but he paid around 10€ in duty when the postie arrived.
Parcel needs to be clearly marked in the parcel Customs form as a “gift” with value less than €45.
Guidance here
Still, as Jane pointed out, there is the handling fees (frais de gestion) levied by La Poste for acting as the middleman between the sender and French customs. Should only apply where there were also other fees payable and La Poste has incurred costs in paying these upfront. It’s mysterious. I wouldn’t try arguing it
Blinked when I saw the price of their shaving cream, but then saw Taylor of Old Bond St’s shaving creams on the same page - much cheaper and IMO superior.
The Body Shop operates in many EU countries with shops and online presence, just not France. The products are dispatched by Amazon so no duty as are already in the EU.
