Why we lowered our shipping fees — and why it's not as simple as it sounds

Since the start of the year, delivery at €3 for any order of folded maps, and at €0.01 above €35 (for France). We wanted to be transparent about what that actually means for us.

First, a bit of legal context.

Since October 2023, French law — known as the Darcos Act — requires all online sellers of books and maps to charge a minimum of €3 in shipping fees for orders under €35. Above that threshold, the legal floor drops to one cent. The law was designed to level the playing field between independent bookshops and the giant platforms that had been offering near-free delivery for years to make themselves the default reflex for online shopping (let's call them, say, theBiggestRiverOnEarth.com 🙃).

We follow the law to the letter. And we apply it to our folded maps — our core business. Rolled wall maps, relief maps, globes: these require specific packaging and carry high shipping costs for everyone, giants included. No miracle possible there, for us or for anyone.

We charge you €3 — it costs us €5, at least.

A shipment costs us between €5 and €9 depending on weight and delivery method. On a small order, we absorb a significant portion of that. And we don't benefit from the massive carrier discounts that platforms shipping millions of parcels a week manage to negotiate. A parcel costs us roughly the same as it costs your local bookshop — nowhere near the rates the logistics giants secure. A real competitive disadvantage, largely invisible, but one that weighs on us.

A note for our customers outside France.

The Darcos Act applies specifically to the French market. But the underlying reality — high shipping costs — is the same, and often worse, when shipping from France to the rest of Europe, or further afield to the US or Canada. International carriers don't do favours for small independent retailers. We know that what we sell — specialist travel maps, hiking maps, regional guides — can be genuinely hard to find locally, wherever you are in the world. That's precisely why we exist. But the shipping costs are what they are, and we won't pretend otherwise.

So why do it?

Because we're betting on you — the independent traveller planning a road trip with a folded map spread across the table, the hiker hunting down the right trail map before setting off on a long-distance route, the geography enthusiast who knows exactly what they're looking for and why having the latest edition matters.

We believe that if your map arrives on time, in perfect condition, you'll come back. And a relationship that lasts is worth more than a margin made on a single shipment.

And — we're not a big platform. Here, a map is a single, carefully sourced reference. Not 15 variations from 10 different sellers, none of whom can guarantee you'll receive the latest edition available. That certainty doesn't show up on a price comparison site. But it exists, and it has value.

Shipping costs are our way of saying we're in this for the long haul — with you.

Christian & Valérie