The most common worry we hear from North American guests at the Puces is not about price. It is the quiet fear of falling in love with an armoire and having no idea how it gets to Chicago. Good news: Saint-Ouen has been sending treasures across the Atlantic for a century, and the machinery is smoother than you imagine. Here is how it works.
Decide the Journey Before You Buy
Every object at the market belongs to one of three families: what fits in your suitcase, what ships in a box, and what needs a crate. Knowing which family you are shopping in changes everything, so decide before you fall in love. A stack of prints or a set of silver travels home with you tonight. A pair of lamps ships by post in a week or two. The marble console needs a proper freight shipper and a few weeks of patience. All three journeys are routine here; only surprises are expensive.
The Invoice Is Your Passport
Whatever you buy, ask the dealer for a detailed invoice: what the piece is, roughly when it was made, what it is made of, and what you paid. This one sheet of paper is what customs officers, insurers and shippers all want to see. Established dealers at Saint-Ouen produce it without blinking, and asking for it marks you as a buyer who knows the game. Photograph the piece and the invoice before it is wrapped.
The Suitcase Strategy
For prints, books, textiles, silver, ceramics and small curiosities, your luggage is the cheapest shipper in Paris. Dealers wrap generously if you ask, and a hard case with clothes as padding has carried home more treasures than any freight company. Returning US travelers generally have a personal exemption of around 800 dollars per person before duty applies, and Canada offers a similar allowance after 48 hours abroad. Keep your invoices together and declare honestly; flea market purchases raise no eyebrows.
The Hundred Year Rule, and What Changed in 2025
For decades, the fact that delighted collectors was simple: genuine antiques, meaning pieces over one hundred years old, entered the United States duty free under their own customs category, and Canada still treats them that way. Honesty requires an update: the tariff framework agreed between the United States and Europe in 2025 changed the landscape, and some French antique shipments now face a US tariff of around 15 percent of the piece's value, with enforcement that varies shipment to shipment. The dealer invoice stating the piece and its age matters more than ever, together with an antique declaration for customs. For a major purchase, have the shipper confirm the current treatment before you commit; quotes at the market are free, and we walk through exactly this with our guests.
Big Pieces: the Shippers of the Puces
For furniture, mirrors and anything that will not fit overhead, the market has its own ecosystem of international shippers who have crated fragile beauty for decades. Your dealer will point you to the one they trust, or we will. The shipper collects the piece from the stand, builds a custom crate, insures it for its value, handles the export paperwork and delivers to your door in North America. Consolidated sea freight takes several weeks to a couple of months; air freight is faster and dearer. If you buy from several dealers, purchases can usually be consolidated into one shipment, which saves real money.
Materials That Need Extra Care
A small but important caution: pieces containing ivory, tortoiseshell, certain exotic woods or other protected materials face strict international rules, and in many cases cannot cross borders at all regardless of age. The dealers know which pieces are concerned, and so do we. When in doubt, admire it, photograph it, and leave it in Paris.
What It Costs, Honestly
Shipping a full piece of furniture across the Atlantic is not pocket change, and any shipper who quotes suspiciously little is answering a different question. As a rule of thumb, budget meaningfully for crating, insurance and freight, and get the quote in writing on the spot before you commit to the purchase. The good news: quotes at the market are free, immediate and binding, so you can decide with the real total in front of you. Many of our guests find that even with freight included, the piece costs less than its equivalent at home, and it comes with a story no showroom can sell.