Shipping souvenirs home from France

You can use the French post offices. Last time I was in one they sold boxes too. Or, buy a nylon collapsible bag to carry on with your souvenir items on your flight home. Or buy an inexpensive piece of luggage in France and check it on your flights home. Even with a fee, it may be cheaper than shipping. Friends we were travelling with did that.

Shipping anything from Europe will be expensive. See for yourself. Go to any of the shipping web site and plug in the necessary details. $40,50 is not unusual for 20 lbs. Generally cheaper to bring it home as check luggage. And another hang up is that everything you ship home has to go through US customs. That requires paperwork, declared values, etc.

No experience shipping souvenirs to the U.S. from France, but plenty of experience shipping gifts from France to friends and family in the U.S.

Larger boxes can be expensive -- 70€ to 100+€. But if you can stay within the size limits of La Poste's prepaid boxes you might save a few euros. Look for Prêt-à-Expédier Chrono Express.

Bottom line is that it will be expensive. If you can carry it on with you or put it in a checked bag you'll probably save money.

Thank you! I guess I'll buy another suitcase if needed and pay for extra luggage.

coxamym we routinely take (or buy over there) a empty folding duffle bag, packed in our carryon. On return flight we check that duffle bag full of dirty clothes, any liquid items, and anything else that's expendable, leaving carryon free for valuables.

There is another option depending on what you have purchased and total value. Couple trips back we purchased a large piece of art work - about 5' in diameter so it wasn't going as check luggage or carry on. The vendor arrange for shipping and since it was been shipped directly to the states, the VAT was not added. The VAT savings just about covered the cost of shipping. If it is a bunch of little things, that would not work for you.

In Lyon our B and B hostess was kind to mail 3 posters from the Lumiere Museum in a 36" long, 2" diameter tube for us-40 Euro. In Paris we hit a few flea markets and filled a 20 euro roller bag from Rayon d'Or, then donated the bag to a local thrift when home. This worked well because we were leaving for home from Paris.

It is expensive but I've had great success with using Mail Boxes Etc. I've shipped souvenirs, etc. from the UK, France and Spain with never a problem. When traveling for several weeks the last thing I want to do is fill up a suitcase with heavy gifts for family and friends or buy another suitcase and drag that around. I budget for these shipments when traveling and it works wonderfully well for me. All my boxes that I shipped through Mail Boxes Etc. - no matter the country of origin - all arrived back in the US safe and sound and before I got home.

You can get Collisimo boxes at the post office which charge by weight. Not cheap but easy. I think the box I shipped was 7 kg. and cost about 45 Euro. The people at the post office were quite helpful in advising me how to pack it etc.

What we do is take a collapsible duffle and carry it on on the way back -- but I can understand your not wanting to do that if Paris is not your last stop. I sent things home from Paris when we were heading to Spain and flying home from Madrid; I sent canned duck and excess clothing so we didn't have to lug it for several more weeks. I bought a lot of baby clothes for a soon to be born grandson and for my 7 year old granddaughter and those went in the carry on duffle. We checked our suitcases.

I'd recommend bringing a collapsible zipper bag and check it with your other luggage.
The advantage is that your souvenirs will be there with your other luggage.
The $50 or so fee will seem ridiculous if you pay for empty boxes at the Post Office.
But if you are in the market for a large chandelier or large furniture, you should ask the merchant to have it shipped to you.
This will involve lots of forms - and more money - and your purchase might have to wait until the merchant's container fills up, which might take 2 to 3 months.

We shipped walnut oil home from France (using La Poste) one time, and the shipping wound up costing as much or more than the oil. So now we just pack things like walnut oil and wine, as well as any other purchases, in checked baggage.

I love a good flea market--particularly the one at Port des Vanves in Paris and Ecseri in Budapest--and tend towards buying small items that I can pack in my suitcase or carry-on tote. Not that I wouldn't ever mail anything home, more that I would rather ensure it gets home by coming along with me. Some things go in my suitcase padded with bubblewrap or clothes, but anything truly phenomenal, costly or fragile goes in my carry-on. I found some fabulous WWII era cloisonné tiles in Amsterdam that were heavy and fragile but got toted along to Vienna and Budapest rather than shipping. Depending on what you might be in the market for I'd say bring a collapsible tote for the goodies and check a suitcase.

I love flea markets too! Which is why I'm thinking ahead if I find something I can't resist. I mainly bought unframed prints on our last trip which were easy to pack and made great souvenirs of the places we visited.

If you buy pottery or small pictures or bric a brac then you can pack that in your checked suitcase and use the expansion duffle carry on for the laundry and things that aren't bruised by being in a lightweight bag. It costs at least 50$ to check an excess bag so we check the suitcase and carry on the expansion duffle as well as our messenger bags with electronics etc that are our regular carry ons. Most airlines you can have two carry ons -- small item and small suitcase and one free checked bag if you are not in first class.