How do I ship 2 lbs of coffee to France so that the recipient does not pay any fees/taxes? Thanks!?

Question

I am looking to ship coffee via the most affordable and secure method.

Thank you for your help! Much appreciated.

Answer 1

I'm quite amazed. I'm French, living in the US, and last time I went there I brought back those 2 lbs of coffee... It is not that I don't like American coffees but they very often tend to be flavored (vanilla, hazelnuts...).

Anyway I can very well understand someone dreaming about a taste or a specific product from abroad.

There won't be any taxes on your 2 lbs coffee to France (it's true the other way around). Unless it turns out to be a business (but it would require other quantities), your package will be handled like anything else.

I confirm USPS will be the most affordable. You will need to fill a small customs declaration form at the post office, provide a reasonable value and I recommend you state clearly it is coffee (café) and the brand (to avoid any possible wonders at destination).

If there was to be a problem, the tax would be calculated on the product declared value. But really there is no reason to get any problem and in the "worse" case and without content details your friend would be contacted to confirm the content and/or give his authorization for Customs to verify (happened to me but the package was spices cooking powders from Thailand which got them suspicious... Thailand... powder... it was just delayed for a day).

I hope the recipient will sip his coffee with thanksfull thoughts as it probably will be the most expensive coffee cup ever ;-)

Answer 2

The most affordable way is through the USPS. I send coffee all of the time to my friend in Verdun and she has never had to pay a duty. When you fill out the customs form, put gift or cadeau in the contents box. Just remember when you are asking the postal employee about how long the package will take to get there to choose your shipping time preference, they mean the time it will take to get to the country not to the recipient. They rely on the French once it hits the country to make the delivery and that sometimes takes a while until they deliver it to the recipient. All of the other shippers will cost you dearly.

Answer 3

I assume you're outside EU (if ou're shipping coffee from inside EU, then there will be no taxes). If you don't want to take any chances, you might be able to ship it via UPS/FedEx/DHL and pay these taxes (they can be called import duties) yourself.

Additional information: I have checked with the French Customs Website (in French). Your recepient has the right to receive up to 500 g of coffee (slightly more than 1 pound) without paying the taxes if the total value of the shipment is less than 45 euros (about 55 dollars). So you can send two parcels (with a reasonable delay) instead of one.