Being able to offer viable shipping options to French consumers can help you grow the sales of your online store. For Quebec e-commerce businesses and online stores, especially those offering french language products, France offers a great opportunity to capitalize on the close relationship between Canada, Quebec and our french neighbours from across the pond. This close relationship is not only a political one, but also a cultural one. As a local Quebec or Canadian business, this close relationship can give you an extra advantage compared to businesses outside of Quebec or Canada.
Jet Worldwide is a Quebec-owned international logistics company based in Montreal. We have over 30 years of experience in international logistics and partnerships with some of the biggest carriers in the world. Through these partnerships and expertise, we can offer best-in-class logistics solutions for e-commerce businesses looking to expand to France, the UK and other EU member states.
All goods imported to the EU are subject to VAT. E-commerce shipments valued under EUR 150 can be imported via One-Stop Shop (IOSS) processes that allow sellers and online marketplaces to charge VAT at the point of sale and remit it directly to the authorities.
JET WORLDWIDE provides integrated shipping to solutions to the European Union
Read more about IOSS and VAT Prepayment for e-commerce to EU
For details on IOSS and the otherEU’s VAT rules, visit: Publications Office of the European Union.
When shipping your goods to France, it is important to pay close attention to the import clearance process. Online orders shipments must have a declared value and a detailed description of the contents included on a commercial invoice. All of this can be done in english or french, but it is important to ensure that your customs paperwork is clear and precise.
The good news is that consignments valued under €150 can be imported duty free. VAT in France is set at 20% for most products, however some goods benefit from different VAT rates such as books (7%). VAT is calculated using the CIF value in France (Value including shipping and insurance costs).
Another benefit of these new regulations is that it is now possible to handle everything to do with VAT for every member state of the EU by registering in one such member state. This means that you no longer have to register for VAT in every EU member state you are importing to. You can import into France for example and have your goods distributed to Germany without having to register for VAT in both France and Germany.
Before shipping from Canada to France it is important to verify the EORI number of the consignee.
An Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI number) is an E.U. identification number for businesses (economic operator) which import or export of goods into or out of France to and from Canada.
The EORI number exists out of two parts:
The exemption from paying customs duties on shipments with an intrinsic value (value before shipping and insurance costs) of 150 EUR or less is still present in the new regulations. Any shipment with a value of over 150 EUR will incur duties as well as the VAT. As such, it can be a valuable tool to use the “Delivery Duty Paid / DTP” option by noting this on your commercial invoice. DTP (previously known as DDP), means that the duties will be charged to you and not your customer. This is helpful to ensure that your customer does not incur unexpected fees or costs during the clearance process of their online order. Online customers do not respond favourably to extra charges after having paid the initial cost of their order and, at the very least, should be aware of the potential import fees.
A note on consignment value: The value used for import is the total of all the items included in the consignment. If for example, you are shipping four items at €50 each, the import value of €200 would be over the €150 duty free threshold.
So, to summarize, all shipments to the EU will be charged VAT as of 1 July, 2021, but it is only on shipments exceeding an intrinsic value of 150 EUR that the VAT will not be handled by the online marketplace and that duties start to apply.
Other important factors to consider when expanding your online store to France are the shipping costs and delays. This has been the main barrier to small to mid-sized businesses selling their goods internationally, as shipping rates can be quite exorbitant and can sometimes double the price of your previously affordable goods.
This can price Canadian businesses out of the French market as there will usually be a more cost-effective, local option for French consumers. If the price is not the problem, the delays can also be a nuisance.
Most small and mid-sized online sellers are forced to use Canada Post for their international shipments and the delays for delivery can very often be calculated in terms of weeks instead of days. Many customers will turn to more local options when faced with the prospect of having to wait up to a month for their order to be delivered. Therefore, it is important to shop around for the best rates and delays to see whether expanding to France is a viable option for your online store.
This is where Jet Worldwide can help out. Through partnerships with leading French domestic carriers DPD and Chronopost, Jet can significantly cut the cost of your shipping to France and remove the barriers between you and your French customers.
We also offer outstanding customer support and tracking support. All of this can be done easily through our Jet Ship plug-in.
Print your labels, schedule pick-ups and deliveries, track your shipments and manage your returns all through the plug-in and we’ll get your goods directly to your customers quickly and affordably.
With our lowest-in-class rates and delivery within 4 to 7 days to France, Jet Worldwide can help make France a viable market for your online store.
For a quote for shipping online orders, provide details including shipping volume, item(s) being shipped, average value and weight of each parcel. The more details the better :).
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