Minimum book delivery fee in France expected to be fixed at €3

A minimum €3 delivery fee is expected to be imposed for books bought online in a new attempt to help bookshops compete with online giants such as Amazon.

Since 2014, free delivery for books has been banned, leading to Amazon charging just one centime for this.

The minimum would fall back to one centime for orders of more than €35, it is proposed.

A law from last December fixed the aim of setting a higher minimum and the government has decided to follow the recommendations of the postal sector regulator Arcep.

The plan must now be presented to the European Commission for its opinion before it becomes law.

Amazon had said the rate should be no more than €1.49, the cheap ‘books and brochures’ postal rate for sending items from 250-500g within the EU, UK and Switzerland. Bookshops were asking for at least €4.50.

Related links

Financially tough but fulfilling: A life selling books by the Seine

Does La Poste charge more for posting non-French books abroad

French residents charged huge postage fees on UK parcels, refunds due

Amazon Prime fees to rise by €20 a year in France from September

English-language titles feature highly in France’s top 50 books