Shipping Labels in France: How to Create, Print, and Save on Label Costs

A shipping label is the printed or digital adhesive document, containing the sender and recipient addresses, weight, and tracking barcode, that a carrier scans to route a parcel from pickup to delivery. 

In France, you can create one in three ways: directly on a carrier's site (La Poste, Chronopost, UPS, DHL, Mondial Relay), through a marketplace's shipping tool (Amazon, Etsy, Shopify), or through a multi-carrier platform like Easyship that compares rates across services before you print.

What Information Does a Shipping Label Need in France?

Every valid label needs five pieces of data: sender address, recipient address, package weight and dimensions, a tracking barcode, and, for shipments outside the EU, a customs declaration. Missing any of these delays the parcel at the carrier's sorting hub.

A French label typically calls itself an étiquette for the sticker itself or a bordereau d'expédition for the shipping form generated alongside it. The two terms get used interchangeably by carriers, but a bordereau usually refers to the full paperwork (sender details, service chosen, customs data), while the étiquette is the sticker you cut out and attach to the box.

Here’s an example:

Here's what a compliant label needs, whether you buy it from La Poste, UPS, or a comparison tool:

1. Sender's full name, address, and phone number
2. Recipient's full name, address, and phone number
3. Package weight in kilograms, and dimensions in centimeters
4. A unique tracking number and matching barcode
5. The shipping service chosen (standard, express, tracked)
6. A customs declaration (CN22 or CN23 form) for any parcel leaving the EU, listing the product, its value, and its country of origin
7. A QR code, on many modern labels, that lets a relay point or locker scan the parcel without a printed barcode

What Size is a Shipping Label in France?

Most labels in France print at 100 x 150mm (4 x 6 inches), the same thermal label size used across the EU. This size fits everything a label needs: sender and recipient addresses, the tracking barcode, a QR or 2D code, and sort codes, without wasting space. Colissimo labels print at 100 x 150mm or A5, and Chronopost, UPS, and DHL all default to the same 100 x 150mm format for both home printing and thermal printers. If you're ordering label rolls for a thermal printer, 100 x 150mm is the size to buy; anything else, like A5 sheets, needs to be confirmed against the specific carrier and printer before you order in bulk.

How Do You Create a Shipping Label in France?

You can create a shipping label three ways: directly through a carrier's own site, through your ecommerce platform's built-in shipping tool, or through a multi-carrier platform that lets you compare services before you commit. Each suits a different volume of shipments.

Creating a Label Directly on a Carrier's Site

Going straight to the carrier works well if you already know which service you want and ship low volumes. The process looks similar across carriers: enter the sender and recipient details, enter the package weight, choose a service, pay, then download a PDF label to print.

1. La Poste (Colissimo) lets you create and print a Colissimo label from home, then choose how to hand off the parcel. Once paid, you have 7 days to print the label at home or at a post office if you run into printing problems. If you lose or damage a Colissimo parcel, La Poste pays a flat compensation of €23 per kilo unless you've added extra cover. La Poste also runs a free letterbox pickup service: create and print the label online, stick it on the box, and leave it in your own mailbox before 8am for collection that day, on shipments within France or to another EU country.
2. Chronopost, a courier owned by the La Poste group but with its own separate booking flow, works similarly: use its E-Chrono online tool to enter sender and recipient details, weigh the package, choose a service, and pay. You can then print the label at home, print it at a post office, or skip printing altogether by showing a QR code on your phone at a Pickup relay point. 
3. UPS builds the label inside its own shipment creation flow: enter sender and recipient details, pick a service, pay by card or PayPal, then print. If you're away from a printer, UPS also lets you scan and print the label at a UPS Access Point using a mobile barcode, or email the label to print later.
4. Mondial Relay works similarly for relay-point and locker deliveries: fill in the shipment form on its site (or through a Shopify or WooCommerce plugin), enter the package weight and dimensions, and download the label. Parcels going to a locker are capped at 25kg and 64 x 41 x 38cm, while parcels to a Point Relais can weigh up to 30kg with a combined length, width, and height of 150cm (no single side over 120cm). 
5. DHL follows the same process: sender and recipient details, weight and dimensions, service selection, then a downloadable PDF label, with customs data built into the flow for international shipments.

Creating a Label Through a Marketplace's Shipping Tool

If you sell on Amazon, Etsy, or Shopify, the platform can generate labels without leaving your order screen. You pick the order, confirm the package weight, choose a service the platform offers, and the label downloads as a PDF, often at a small discount off the carrier's public rate because the marketplace buys in bulk. 

The tradeoff: You're usually limited to whichever two or three carriers the platform has pre-negotiated, so you can't always see whether a cheaper option exists elsewhere.

Creating a Label Through a Multi-Carrier Platform

A multi-carrier platform sits between you and the carriers, comparing rates from all of them before you print anything. You enter the shipment once, dimensions, weight, origin, and destination, and the platform returns live rates from every connected carrier so you can pick the cheapest, fastest, or best-value option.

Easyship works this way for sellers shipping out of France: it rate shops across 550+ courier services, including La Poste, Chronopost, UPS, DHL, and Mondial Relay, and shows discounts of up to 91% off retail rates. For a Shopify or Etsy store sending 30 to 40 parcels a week, this means one dashboard instead of five separate carrier logins, plus bulk label creation and automated customs paperwork for international orders. Address validation catches typos before a label prints, which cuts down on failed deliveries.

How Much Does a Shipping Label Cost, and How Can You Pay Less?

A single label bought at a carrier counter almost always costs more than the same label bought online through a bulk or negotiated account rate. For instance, a Colissimo label for a shipment from France to Belgium costs €23.70 with the standard retail rates, but only costs €13.78 with Easyship. As demonstrated below. Carriers price counter purchases at full retail because there's no volume commitment behind them, while online and bulk-account rates reflect a discount tied to shipment volume.

Here are indicative rates for shipping labels across couriers for shipping from France to Belgium:

Rates vary by shipment profile, weight, destination, and service speed, so treat the table above as a guide to which channel tends to be cheaper, not a fixed price list. The practical takeaway for a seller shipping more than a handful of parcels a month: a bulk or pre-negotiated account rate, whether through a marketplace or a multi-carrier platform, almost always beats paying counter price parcel by parcel.

How Do You Print a Shipping Label without a Printer?

Most carriers in France offer a way to get a label printed without owning a printer yourself. The two most common options are printing at a physical location using a retrieval code, or showing a QR code on your phone instead of a paper label.

• Print at a post office or relay point: La Poste lets you print a Colissimo label for free at a post office kiosk using the 4-digit retrieval code sent in your confirmation email. Mondial Relay offers the same option at Points Relais equipped with a printer.
• Show a QR code instead of printing: UPS lets you scan a mobile barcode at a UPS Access Point so staff can print and attach the label for you. Several Mondial Relay lockers are moving toward label-free drop-off using a phone-scanned code rather than a printed sticker.
• Use a thermal label printer: sellers shipping more than a few parcels a week often switch to a thermal printer, since it prints adhesive labels directly without ink cartridges, cutting per-label cost and print time.
• Mail-forwarding print services: third-party services will print a downloaded label and mail the physical sticker to your address, useful for occasional shippers without any printer access at all.

What's the Difference Between a Shipping Label, a Packing Slip, and a Return Label?

The short version: a shipping label gets the box to your customer, a packing slip tells them what's inside, and a return label brings it back to you.

Here's how they differ at a glance:

For a Shopify store handling returns, the return label usually gets generated at the same time as the original outbound label, then emailed to the customer if they request a return, so the customer never has to enter their own address or weigh the parcel again.

How Does Shipping Label Creation Connect to Customs and Duties for International Orders?

Any label for a parcel leaving the EU needs a customs form attached — a CN22 or CN23 declaring the product, its value, and its country of origin. The duty or tax the recipient owes depends on the product's value, category, and destination country, not on the shipping label itself, so a correctly printed label doesn't guarantee a smooth delivery if the customs paperwork behind it is wrong or incomplete.

Thresholds and rates change by destination country, so verify current customs thresholds with the destination country's customs authority before relying on any specific figure.

Want to skip the counter-price markup? Easyship rate shops across 550+ courier services, including La Poste, Chronopost, UPS, DHL, and Mondial Relay, so you can compare and print the cheapest label in one dashboard. 

Start shipping with Easyship today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I create a shipping label without an account?

Yes. Most carrier sites, including UPS, let you ship as a guest without creating a username, though saving an account speeds up repeat shipments by storing your sender address and payment details.

How long is a shipping label valid once I've paid for it?

It depends on the carrier. A Colissimo label must be used within 7 days of purchase, a Chronopost label within 60 days, and a Lettre verte suivie label has no expiry once downloaded, though you have 7 days to download it in the first place.

Do I need a printer to ship a parcel in France?

No. You can print a label for free at a post office kiosk using a retrieval code, show a QR code at a UPS Access Point, or use a relay point equipped with its own printer, so a home printer isn't required.

What happens if I put the wrong weight on a shipping label?

The carrier reweighs the parcel at its sorting hub and charges the difference, or in some cases holds the parcel until the correct rate is paid, so it's worth weighing the package yourself before buying the label rather than estimating.

Can I reuse a shipping label for a different parcel?

No. Each label carries a unique tracking number tied to one shipment's weight, dimensions, and destination. Using it on a different parcel breaks the tracking and can trigger a surcharge if the actual weight doesn't match what was declared.

What's the difference between a bordereau and an étiquette?

A bordereau is the full shipment form, including sender, service, and customs data. An étiquette is the adhesive sticker itself. French carriers use both terms, sometimes interchangeably, but the étiquette is specifically what you cut out and stick on the box.