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What you need to know about France’s 2024 winter sales

In France the winter sales period begins Wednesday, January 10th and is regulated by the government. Here's what else you need to know.

Published: 2 January 2024 09:43 CET
Updated: 10 January 2024 08:19 CET
What you need to know about France's 2024 winter sales
A shop during the sales (soldes) in France. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)

France has two sales periods – one in summer, one in winter – and the rest of the time discounts and special offers are strictly limited.

While you might be able to get a deal at other times, the best bargains are reserved for the period of les soldes, when retailers are allowed to sell items at below cost price.

For reason, the government-mandated sales periods are keenly anticipated.

Winter 2024

This year, the sales begin on Wednesday, January 10th in most of France, and run until Tuesday, February 6th.

They are progressive, so items will be continuously marked down as the soldes wear on. If you wait, you are risking that the item you have your eye on might sell out, but if you’re lucky it might end up marked down even further.

The sales start at the same time across most of mainland France, but there are exceptions for overseas France and certain départements, usually those along the border.

France’s finance ministry allows for the sales to start at different times based on local economies and tourist seasons.

In Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle and Vosges the sales began on Monday, January 2nd and will run until Sunday, January 29th.

In France’s overseas territories the sales periods are often completely different – for example the islands of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin have their sales in May.

What is a ‘sale’?

Technically, the soldes are the only time that stores are allowed to have sales, but the definition of ‘sale’ is important – the French government qualifies a ‘solde’ as the store selling an item for less than they purchased it for.

During the rest of the year discounting is allowed in certain circumstances, so you might see promotions or vente privée (private sales, usually short-term events aimed at regular customers or loyalty-card holders) throughout the year.

In these situations the stores might be selling items for less than their original price, but they are not permitted to sell the item for less than they bought it for.

Shops are also permitted to have closing-down sales if they are shutting down, or closing temporarily for refurbishment.

Government regulation

Everything from how long les soldes go for to the consumer protection rules that apply to the very definition of ‘sale’ is regulated by the French government, and the main purpose of this is to protect small independent businesses which might not be able to offer the same level of discounts as the big chains and multi-national companies.

Whether you shop in person or online, the same rules apply.

As a consumer, you still have the same rights as non-sales times regarding broken or malfunctioning items – meaning you ought to be entitled to a refund if the item has not been expressly indicated as faulty. The French term is vice caché, referring to discovering a defect after purchase.

On top of that, stores must be clear about which items are reduced and which are not – and must display the original price on the label as well as the sale price and percentage discount.

READ MORE: Your consumer rights for French sales

History

France’s soldes started in the 19th century, alongside the growth of department stores which needed to regularly renew their stock and get rid of leftover items.

Simon Mannoury, who founded the first Parisian department store “Petit Saint-Thomas” in 1830, came up with the idea.

Funnily enough, this department store actually is the ancestor for the famous department store Le Bon Marché. His goal was to sell off the previous season’s unsold stock in order to replace it with new products.

In order to do this, Mannoury offered heavy discounts to sell as much merchandise as possible in a limited time.

Tax rebates

If you are resident outside the EU, you might be eligible for a tax rebate on your sales purchases.

If you spend at least €100 in one store, then you qualify. You should hold onto your receipt and tell the cashier you plan to use a tax rebate so they can give you the necessary documentation (a duty-free slip).

Then when you are leaving you can find the kiosk at the station or airport dedicated to tax rebates (détaxe) and file prior to leaving France.

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SHOPPING

French parliament votes to slow down fast fashion

France's parliament on Thursday backed a string of measures making low-cost fast fashion, especially from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers.

Published: 5 March 2024 12:54 CET
Updated: 15 March 2024 08:58 CET
French parliament votes to slow down fast fashion

The vote makes France the first country in the world “legislating to limit the excesses of ultra fast fashion”, said Christophe Bechu, minister for the ecological transition.

The bill targets certain brands and online sites – including Primark, Shein and Temu – that offer low-cost, lower-quality clothing.

The government is proposing a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an environmental charge slapped on low-cost items.

“When we buy on these sites, we know what we are doing and we contribute to massive pollution of our environment,” centrist Horizons deputy Anne-Cecile Violland told France 2. 

The head of France’s National Clothing Federation, Pierre Talamon, was in support of the proposal. He told Franceinfo that “we must penalise those who market overproduction, which pushes people to buy clothes and wear them seven or eight times before throwing them in the trash.”

“These online companies do not create jobs, they destroy them,” he added.

What is being proposed?

The bill would create an extra charge for fast-fashion brands – this ‘eco-contribution’ would be paid by companies on a sliding scale based on their environmental impact.

By 2030, it could reach up to €10 item sold, or 50 percent of the sale price, depending on the brand.

Violland told AFP that the proceeds from the charge would be used to subsidise producers of sustainable clothes, allowing them to compete more easily.

The bill doesn’t propose any minimum price for consumers, but it’s assumed that costs would be passed on to purchasers, potentially spelling the end of deals like a €3 T-shirt.

The third article of the bill would prohibit advertising for fast-fashion, similar to how France has outlawed the advertising of fossil fuels.

In terms of how this would work in practice, the bill states that guidelines would later be specified by the Conseil d’État, but Violland also referenced potentially adding messages on websites that would make consumers aware of the environmental impact of their purchases, similar to how France’s Evin Law regulates the advertising of alcoholic beverages.

While this measure was approved by French MPs, one conservative lawmaker, Antoine Vermorel-Marques, remarked that “a ban on advertising for textiles, especially fashion, spells the end of fashion”.

So what counts as ‘fast fashion’?

France will focus on waste and environmental impact, applying criteria such as volumes of clothes produced and turnover speed of new collections in determining what constitutes fast fashion, according to the law.

An initiative brought by left-wing and Green party deputies to include minimum penalties for producers breaking the rules as well as import quotas and stricter workplace criteria in the industry into the new law was struck down.

Once the law comes into force — which still requires a vote in the Senate — precise criteria will be published in a decree.

In the draft bill, lawmakers specifically referenced the Chinese ‘ready-to-wear’ company Shein as being at the forefront of ‘fast-fashion’ trends, which has been accused of forced labour and use of dangerous chemicals by rights advocates.

Noting the 7,200 new clothing options a day and 470,000 different products available to customers, French lawmakers wrote that “Shein offers 900 times more products than a traditional French retailer.”

In an interview with Le Figaro, Violland said that the “overproduction of clothing, which arrives from Asia in contravention of all environmental regulations, is dramatic. It is urgent to tackle this problem in a very concrete way.”

Why regulate fast-fashion?

The textile industry is famous for its negative effects on the environment – it is responsible for around 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Bank Group.

On top of that, the industry uses over one trillion gallons of water for dyeing garments, with one-fifth of water pollution in the world attributable to textile dyes and treatments.

According to the Guardian, “only 12 percent of material used for clothing is recycled,” with at least 92 million tonnes of textile waste created annually.

In their initial summary of the bill, French lawmakers wrote that “trend in the clothing sector towards ephemeral fashion, combining increased volumes with a low-price policy, is influencing consumer buying habits by creating buying impulses and a constant need for renewal, which has environmental, social and economic consequences.”

This echoes the results of a 2022 French study, which found that over half of consumers throw away their clothes because they are just ‘bored of them'”.

What else is France doing to combat textile waste?

As part of France’s 2020 anti-waste law, the country banned companies from destroying unsold or returned clothing. The law also prohibited destroying other items that could instead be recycled, including electronics. 

Additionally, in November, the French government launched a scheme meant to encourage people to have their clothes and shoes repaired rather than throwing them away.

The scheme is meant to incentivise getting items like clothing and shoes repaired, with the hopes of cutting down on the 700,000 tonnes of clothes thrown away by French people each year, two-thirds of which ends up in landfill.

A €154 million fund set up by the French government, to cover the period from 2023-2028, will allow customers to see discounts directly on their bills.

READ MORE: How France’s clothes and shoes repair bonus works

In June 2023, the EU passed their ‘Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles‘, with one of the Commission’s 2030 goals being to make “‘fast fashion is out of fashion’ and for consumers to benefit longer from high quality affordable textiles”.

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