Buying from France
Shipping and Returns Policy
How your painting travels from our gallery in France to your door, and what happens if you send it back.
Your painting's journey
From payment to your decision.
Packed by hand
Within two business days of payment.
UPS Express Saver
Tracked door to door, usually one to two business days in transit.
Customs
Nothing to pay in the United States. GST or HST on delivery in Canada.
Delivered
Tell us within 48 hours if anything is damaged.
Fourteen days to decide
No restocking fee. Return postage at your expense.
Shipping
1Shipping Origin
All artworks are dispatched from our gallery in Tassin la Demi-Lune, France, in the Lyon metropolitan area. We ship to the United States and Canada only.
2Dispatch Time
Your painting is dispatched within two business days of payment confirmation. This time covers careful packing, the export customs documents and the handover to UPS.
For the rare artwork that requires a French export licence, dispatch takes two to six weeks longer. You are told before shipment. See Section 7.
3Carrier and Packing
Every painting travels with UPS Express Saver, tracked door to door. You receive the tracking number when your painting ships.
Paintings never travel by post, whatever their value. A framed painting needs the handling of an express carrier.
Each painting is packed by hand. It is wrapped in kraft bubble wrap, then boxed in double-wall cardboard with foam around the frame. An unframed painting travels flat between two boards.
4Transit Times
When the shipment is booked, UPS gives an estimated transit time from collection to delivery, usually one to two business days to the United States and Canada. These are carrier estimates, not guarantees. Customs clearance, weather and public holidays on either side of the Atlantic can add time.
5Shipping Costs
Free shipping, on every order
Shipping is free to the United States and Canada on every order, whatever the size or the value of the painting. No shipping charge is added at checkout, and no surcharge applies to large or heavily framed works.
Customs
6Customs Duties, Import Taxes, and VAT
GalerieClub Fine Art is VAT-exempt on export sales to buyers outside the European Union, under article 262 I of the French General Tax Code. Prices displayed for US and Canadian buyers do not include French VAT.
Original paintings are declared under HS heading 9701, which covers paintings, drawings and pastels executed entirely by hand. They enter the United States and Canada free of customs duty.
Nothing to pay on delivery
We ship with duties and taxes paid. The US Customs processing fee and the carrier's clearance charge are paid by us.
No duty, sales tax on delivery
The buyer is the importer of record. GST or HST applies at 5% to 15% depending on the province, calculated on the declared value, and is collected by UPS on delivery, together with any brokerage fee UPS charges.
We declare the true sale price on the customs invoice. Under-declaration of value is illegal and will not be performed under any circumstance, whatever the buyer asks.
What happens at the border. In the United States, your painting is cleared by Customs with every fee already paid, and delivered to your door with nothing to pay. In Canada, Customs assess the GST or HST due on the declared value. UPS contacts you, usually by phone or email, to confirm your details and tell you what is due. You pay UPS, and the painting is delivered.
Duty and tax rules can change. Canadian buyers may confirm current rates with the Canada Border Services Agency before purchase.
7Cultural Heritage Export
Under the French Code du patrimoine, the export of certain original paintings outside the European Union requires a certificat de libre circulation delivered by the Ministry of Culture, depending on the age and value of the work.
Artworks in our usual price range are generally not concerned. If a licence is required, you are told before shipment, and dispatch takes two to six weeks longer. We keep export documentation for every sale.
Delivery
8Our Responsibility in Transit
Every painting travels at our risk until it reaches you. In the event of loss or total damage in transit, you receive a full refund. Every painting is unique, so it cannot be replaced. Partial damage is covered in Section 10.
9Receiving Your Painting
When your painting arrives, we recommend four steps.
Inspect the outer packaging for visible damage before accepting it.
If the carrier asks you to sign and the packaging is damaged, write "received with visible damage, subject to inspection".
Photograph the outer packaging from all sides before opening it.
Unbox in a clean, well-lit area, and photograph the painting within 48 hours.
10Damage in Transit
If your painting arrives damaged, tell us within 48 hours of delivery and keep all the packing. Write to us by email from our contact page, as described in Section 16, so that you can attach photographs of the outer packaging from all sides, photographs of the damage, and the UPS tracking number.
A full refund, on return
We arrange and pay for the return of the painting to our gallery, and refund you in full once it reaches us.
11Lost Packages
If UPS loses a painting in transit, you are covered by Section 8.
If a parcel shows as delivered but has not reached you, tell us within seven days of the delivery date so that we can open an investigation with UPS. Our liability ends once UPS confirms delivery at the address you supplied.
Returns
12Fourteen Days to Decide
You have fourteen days from delivery to live with the painting and decide. If it is not right for you, tell us within those fourteen days and we confirm the return by email. No restocking fee applies, and you are refunded in full once the painting is back with us in the condition in which it reached you.
13Sending It Back
Send the painting back to our gallery within fourteen days of our confirmation, in its original packing or an equivalent one, with a tracked service, and send us the tracking number.
Return shipping is at your expense, and the painting travels at your risk until it reaches us, so choose a service whose cover matches its value.
14Your Refund
Your refund goes back to the original payment method used at checkout, within fourteen days of the painting reaching us. You are told by email when it is issued. Your bank or payment provider may take a few more days to show it.
15Condition on Return
A return notified after the fourteen days cannot be accepted. If a painting comes back with new marks or damage, or after cleaning, retouching or varnishing, the loss of value may be deducted from the refund.
16Contact
For any question about shipping, damage or returns, write to us from our contact page. We read every message and answer in writing.
Postal address. GALERIE CLUB, GalerieClub Fine Art, 8 Place de Tassin, 69160 Tassin la Demi-Lune, France.
GalerieClub Fine Art, GALERIE CLUB, JESSEL Guillaume, entreprise individuelle, 8 Place de Tassin, 69160 Tassin la Demi-Lune, France. SIREN 831 077 557, R.C.S. Lyon. TVA intracommunautaire FR 70 831 077 557. Exonération de TVA sur exportations hors UE au titre de l'article 262 I du CGI. Contact through the contact page of galerieclub.com. Last updated October 2026.