shipping clothes to France

Deposit some money in her bank account and let her go shopping
It will cost less than shipping clothes

I suspect buying in France would be smarter if not actually cheaper, but putting "used clothing", "used boots", etc., on the customs form would probably reduce the standard duty. (Don't do that if the goods are new!) Now, what happens in the real world, I have no clue about.

Have you checked https://www.sendmybag.com/en-us/

Are any friends or family going to visit her anytime soon? Usually the cheapest way is to pay for an extra checked suitcase,

We have all but resigned ourselves to the option of her just buying some things in France but thought it would be nice to send her own things. This boondoggle seems so unnecessary when sending already-worn items. A few years back, we made room for souvenirs in our luggage by boxing up some of our clothes and sending them back to the U.S. via "surface mail". It took a long time to arrive, but was dirt cheap.

We tend to play it very close to the book when traveling (not lying on official forms, for example). I'll definitely try the "used" description if we take the chance and send the package. You can see by the wear pattern on the sole of the boots that they're not new. Nothing so obvious with the jacket. But there's no point in arranging a scenario where it would cost an arm and a leg for her to pick up the package

We'll be going back to France in the spring but that won't help her over the winter.

I was hoping someone would know the way to do this but so far that doesn't seem to be the case. Thanks for your suggestions.

If you had bought a new jacket in a store and sent it to her, she would need to pay customs duties and taxes to pick up them up. But if they are her already used clothes, there should be no need to pay duties or taxes. Just make sure you fill out the customs declaration correct.

I would not recommend UPS. I don't how they are in France, but in Sweden they can be horrible to deal with as a normal person. DHL and Schenker are usually better options.

Thanks for the suggestions Badger. Even at DHL, the estimate was $280.
Shopping in France looks like the answer.

Unfortunately, it's just absurdly expensive to send packages between the US and France these days.

It used to be "just" expensive, but for 7 or 8 years it has been prohibitively so. I am sorry to share a bad-news answer.

(I don't know why USPS is warning you about customs duties. There shouldn't be any customs duties on a person's own used goods.)

Are you sending clothes at her request or because you think it is a good idea? When our son spent six months in Spain in a study abroad program, he could not get rid of his American clothes fast enough. He was advised by CU''s Study Abroad office to take min clothes and purchase what is need when you get there. The students will want to wear what the locals are wearing so that they blend in easier. I would assume the same thing about your granddaughter. Send money -- it is cheaper.

If she is a new resident, she can import her own used goods duty-free for one year. There is a lot of paperwork involved, but Send My Bag knows what it is doing and asks for a complete itemized inventory and the value of each item. I don’t remember if we needed passport copies and date of residency, but it’s likely. I used them once when our largest suitcase filled with clothes and toiletries didn’t make it into our shipping container or with us on the airplane when we moved to France. It was $85 and took a week door to door. To be safe, she should be the one listed as shipping it to herself, or you can ask the Send My Bag agent. USPS didn’t have the correct info. And ironically, Send My Bag uses DHL or FedEx to ship the suitcases.

Otherwise, our offspring know not to send us any gifts because the duty from a non-EU country is stiff.

And when she gets back and all her friends ask where she got that adorable coat, she can tell them "Well, I just got back from France you know." If she really wants to get them going, she can add "A gentleman admirer bought it for me." She doesn't have to let on that the "gentleman admirer" was her granddad.

My sister lived in Canada for a while and warned us all never to ship anything to her, the customs people were impossible to deal with.

I watch a vlogger who lives in Italy and she also warns her viewers to please not send her anything, since the same thing happens there.

It seems countries really want to protect their native industries/retailers so shop local. Or as noted, somehow get the stuff there as checked baggage. I had a little too much to cram into my suitcase recently on my way home so I bought a cheap suitcase outside a German train station and just checked it as another bag.

Sounds like a great excuse for someone to fly over for a visit taking a checked bag! When my son was studying in Austria, I just had to fly over for a long weekend in Amsterdam to meet him and hand over some Christmas parcels one December. HaHa.

I have used "Send My Bag" and highly recommend it. Very efficient and much cheaper than the rest. Your stuff doesn't have to be in luggage. It can be in a box. It takes about four days from pickup to delivery.

As Bets stated, you make the arrangements with Send My Bag but the actual transport and delivery will be by DHL.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will contact Send My Bag for sure, although the ship may have already sailed in relation to this particular issue.
Tigerfan, we are definitely into "any excuse for a trip to France," but our granddaughter is equally into "any excuse to go shopping". And I should say "almost any excuse" for us, because we've only been back a month and will be returning in the spring. Might have to have a better excuse than a warm coat and boots to squeeze another trip in.
And Frank, it's her plan. We know better than to trifle with the fashion decisions of a 22 year old woman in Paris.