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How to receive a parcel without having an address (in France)?

During our visits in France, we generally take advantage of this opportunity to make some business purchases on the internet that we couldn’t find abroad. We may also need to ask our relatives to send us some things that they are kind enough to store for us.

The problem is… we don’t have an address!

We are going to have a lodging (Airbnb generally) but we are never very long there, we aren’t necessarily going to be able to put our name on the bell for the deliveryman, we will not necessarily have the key of the mailbox … In short, it will be more difficult than anything else.

Fortunately, there are several alternative solutions to receive a package, even without an address.

Relay points / parcel relay points

The funny thing is that even when you have an address, it’s hell to receive a package (this is especially true in big cities). The delivery time slot is never respected and the deliverers who have a staggering number of parcels to deliver in a much too short period of time have the annoying tendency to leave a notice in your mailbox without even trying to find out if you were there.

Well aware of the problem (the famous management of the last mile), e-commerce sites have in recent years widely developed the delivery in relay points.

The principle is very simple: instead of asking to be delivered to your address, you choose the relay closest to the place that suits you. The relay is often a bakery, a newsagent, a grocery store, … with rather wide opening hours

After delivery, you have a few days to collect the package by presenting an ID

It’s very practical but even if it’s developing a lot, not all e-commerce sites offer this solution.

Mondial Relay

Mondial Relay is pretty awesome. The principle is exactly the same as for the relay points but the sending can come from a private individual.

When we returned from Mexico at the end of February, we didn’t have our winter gear. I asked my mother to send us our big coats that were in the attic.

I registered on Mondial Relay, I created a shipment by defining the weight of the package and choosing the delivery relay (they have 9000 in France). I paid.

All my mother had to do was print the label, stick it on the cardboard and drop the package off at the nearest relay. Some relays don’t even need to print the label, they can do it for free by scanning the barcode (the relay must be equipped for that).

On top of that the price is very correct, it cost me 6 €.

The Amazon Lockers

Still reserved for big cities, the Amazon Locker are a kind of big Amazon-managed lockers in which they deliver your orders. You just have to scan a barcode to open the locker that concerns you, it’s quite magical.

The advantage is that these Amazon Lockers are generally accessible 24 hours a day, no schedule constraints.

On the other hand it is reserved for relatively small packages.

And of course, it only works for Amazon orders.

The Colissimo service

It is little known (and I have never used it) but La Poste allows, via its Colissimo service to send a parcel :

  • In any of the 10,000 post offices in France
  • To one of the 7500 “Pickup relays” (same principle as parcel relays)
  • To one of the 500 “pickup station” lockers (same principle as the Amazon Locker)

On the other hand it lacks a little explanation on the site of La Poste. The rates aren’t specified and it is indicated “once the package is prepared by us”.

You will have to go to a post office for more details.

Hotel receptions

If you stay a few nights in a hotel, it is usually possible to have a package delivered directly there.

I’ve done it several times abroad and it’s still very convenient (I had my Coldplay concert tickets delivered to my hotel in Warsaw before I even got there)

However, please notify the hotel reception before the package is sent to confirm that this is possible.

DHL/UPS offices

For very important mail, you can have it sent by DHL / UPS and instead of picking it up at home, you can indicate the address of a DHL / UPS office and pick up the package with your package number & ID. We have already written a long article about DHL here

Traveller’s mail

I have already mentioned the Traveller’s Courier services that we have been using for years to receive and scan our mail.

Courrier du Voyageur also offers reception, storage and forwarding of parcels.

Very practical if you absolutely need to receive a package while you are abroad but it will not be a very economical solution because you will have monthly storage fees.

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