Slightly OT: Shipping goods from France to USA

[Ajl92]

Bonjour tout le monde

I believe this is my first post in the France forum..

Spending this summer stuck in the US after last summer's months abroad has put me in full planning mode to get back to the Hte Savoie, Paris and other parts of France (and Suisse, Italia, and Espana) next summer.. I can't wait to revisit my famille d'accueil in Faverges and actually eat well again!

Anyway, with other friends going abroad to all corners of the world (as far away as Japan) and offering to send me back packages of local delicacies, the cost of shipping "un colis" back to the States has become an issue. Last summer when I returned home from France, I had to purchase another valise to carry all of the food items I had emassed (thank God for the Soldes, I was able to get a good deal on a suitcase). My French family told me that it was "tres chere" to ship items to the US, but I never verified this at the Poste. I saw "colissimo" service at the Poste, but never inquired about the price of shipping to the US.

Having purchased items from ebay that were shipped second day air from Singapore for only $25US, I can't imagine it is completely cost prohibitive to send back a package of some of the things that don't fit in my suitcase when traveling for extended periods abroad. Does anyone have experience with which services are best and most affordable for shipping non-perishables across the globe to the US?

Merci,

Adam

[Dave Hatfield]

Your biggest problem may not be cost at all. The US has some pretty draconian import laws concerning what food can be imported.

If its food type things you're thinking of I'd check that our before anything else.

I still smart from having a couple of innocent dry French sausages confinscated as I went through customs in NY a few years ago.

[Ajl92]

I definitely understand what you are saying Dave, and the same kind of foolishness applies to sending home bottles of that great yet inexpensive (in France) wine and eau-de-vie with alcohol importation regulations.

I don't think I would try shipping sausage and cheese (though I suppose I could try if they were packaged sous-vide), but was thinking more along the lines of sealed and non-perishable foodstuffs like snacks, sirops, chocolate, etc... But how I would love to be able to ship wine and eaux-de-vie home that I cannot find here or are exponentially more expensive in the states. Funnily enough my last trip back through customs in New York was quite painless as I was not questioned a second about what I was bringing into the country, I just walked right on through. I am not worried so much about carrying products in my luggage through customs as I am concerned with not wanting to weigh myself down with two suitcases to bring home a couple bottles of wine, pastis, or eau-de-vie or other interesting foodstuffs. Frankly I wish I could tranplant the entire Galeries Lafayette gourmet food department (or heck, even a small Champion supermarche) to my back yard and stop worrying about shipping regulations!

[John Talbott]

There are a couple of prior threads that cover what food, etc., to bring back from France (see Margaret Pilgrim's) and mine for both ways, and lengthy discussions on Customs' Rules, for instance here.

What I don't think we've seen much of here is related to the cost of shipping and I look forward to reading more. It's been our practice to try to bring as much as possible as checked baggage, especially electronic items that are three times more costly in France, rather than ship things.

[Felice]

The French postal service has a website which should help you get an idea.

Here is a link to the international shipping page

http://www.laposte.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=243

I have shipped chocolates in the past using express mail and it was pretty expensive.

[Rachel Perlow]

Ship your clothes, carry your goodies.

[Dave Hatfield]

I heartily agree with Rachel.

However, a good (i.e.cheap) source of French electrical goods like mixers, coffee grinders,expresso machines & the like is at: www.rueducommerce.fr

If its electrical or electronic they probably have it & their shipping costs are very competitive. They recently shipped over night to me here in the sticks.

Our local postlady stopped me as I went through the village the next morning at about 09:30 to give me my package.

That's service!

[Ajl92]

sure. shipping clothes would also work, but I imagine the price to ship a box of clothes would be comparable to that of foods other than heavy bottles.. my main concern would be the timing of my trip and how long I'll have to carry things in my luggage before returning to the states. If I arrive and spend my first week loading up on goodies I just couldn't pass up, I'll have to either carry them with me for the rest of the month or so in luggage or store them somewhere and return to get them before departing.. Of course I will try to save most of the "loading up on goodies" until the end of the trip, but this time I intend to spend time in more different areas, ie Paris, Hte Savoie, Lyon, Provence, etc..

If I learned anything from my last trip, it is that I DO NOT want to take two large suitcases onto the TGV and attempt to stow them anywhere overhead when the other compartments fill up. I hope I can practice a bit more restraint when packing for my next adventure I also hope to plan my trip to coincide with the Soldes in Paris (that would be a different thread, I know) again as that was a lot of fun regardless of the oppressive heat and droves of wall-to-wall people..I could easily cheaply buy an entire new wardrobe at H&M if I pack too light Hmmm, maybe I should just take an empty suitcase and fill it with wine, cheese, and french clothes when I get there