--- description: Amazon thumbed its nose at a French ban on free shipping of book orders, agreeing to raise the shipping price to exactly $0.01 Euros, or a single penny. title: After France Bans Free Shipping, Amazon Charges a Penny image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d38586f45969ca6/69869b7606f2c1315a32fe00/120398947.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Retail](/tag/retail/) ## Retail Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Amazon Charges a Penny After France Bans Free Shipping  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2014 4:40 PM CUT  Booksellers on the banks of the Seine opposite the Ile de la Cite in Paris, France in February, 2006. Booksellers on the banks of the Seine opposite the Ile de la Cite in Paris, France in February, 2006.Elise Hardy—Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2014 4:40 PM CUT Amazon thumbed its nose at a French ban on free shipping of book orders, agreeing to raise the shipping price to exactly $0.01 Euros, or a single penny. France24 [reports](http://www.france24.com/en/20140711-amazon-snubs-french-free-delivery-ban-with-1-cent-charge/ "undefined") that Amazon’s move comes one month after the ban sailed through France’s National Assembly. Lawmakers argued that the nation’s roughly 3,500 bookstores needed protection from online competitors, whom they accused of “dumping” books on the market at a loss. “We are unfortunately no longer allowed to offer free deliveries for book orders,” Amazon [explained](http://www.france24.com/en/20140109-french-senators-pass-anti-amazon-law-protect-small-retailers/ "undefined") in an FAQ to shoppers, who might reasonably wonder why the company would bother to charge one cent. “We have therefore fixed delivery costs at one centime per order containing books and dispatched by Amazon to systematically guarantee the lowest price for your book orders.” The free shipping ban was passed as an amendment to a 1981 law that also attempted to curb competition between booksellers by capping discounts on new books at 5%. \[[_France24_](http://www.france24.com/en/20140109-french-senators-pass-anti-amazon-law-protect-small-retailers/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2976723/amazon-france-free-shipping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2976723/amazon-france-free-shipping/"},"headline":"Amazon Charges a Penny After France Bans Free Shipping","datePublished":"2014-07-11T16:40:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:45.552Z","description":"'Okay, we'll charge one cent'","url":"https://time.com/2976723/amazon-france-free-shipping/","keywords":["Retail","Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d38586f45969ca6/69869b7606f2c1315a32fe00/120398947.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d38586f45969ca6/69869b7606f2c1315a32fe00/120398947.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Booksellers On The Banks Of The Seine Opposite The Ile De La Cite In Paris, France In February, 2006 -","caption":"Booksellers On The Banks Of The Seine Opposite The Ile De La Cite In Paris, France In February, 2006 -","creditText":"Elise Hardy—Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/retail/","name":"Retail"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2976723/amazon-france-free-shipping/","name":"Amazon Charges a Penny After France Bans Free Shipping"}}]}] ```