Frequently Asked Questions

Everything ships from just outside of Aix-en-Provence in the South of France. Each piece is sourced locally at brocantes across Provence, then prepared and packed at our location. After, we ship it directly to you.

The Provence Collection is set up to ship to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. We can also arrange delivery to most other international destinations on request, depending on the carrier and the import rules of your country. If your country is not listed at checkout, please get in touch before ordering and we will let you know whether we can deliver there.

Please note: some countries restrict imports of wood products with any signs of damage. Best to get in touch before ordering anything wood.

Yes. Most of our customers are in the US. All USA orders ship directly from France with tracking, insurance, customs documentation and all duties handled in advance. There is nothing extra to pay when your items arrive at your doorstep.

Yes. For US orders, the listed price includes everything. The piece itself, professional packing, international shipping from France, customs duties, tariffs, and all import costs are built into what you see at checkout.

There is nothing extra to pay later.

No. US orders ship door-to-door with all duties and import costs already handled.

The carrier will deliver the piece without asking for any additional payment.

If anyone contacts you asking for fees on a Provence Collection delivery, get in touch with us before paying anything.

Yes. The export documentation from France and the US import paperwork are both prepared on our end before the piece ships.

You do not need to file anything or interact with customs in any way. The piece simply arrives.

Every piece gets packed for its own characteristics. A copper pot needs different protection than a glazed terrine, and a stack of plates needs different protection again.

The general approach is a layer of soft cushioning directly around the piece along with structured padding to keep it from shifting. A reinforced outer carton is sized properly to the contents. Fragile pieces get double-boxed.

The piece arrives ready for you to have from day one.

Yes. Every shipment is insured for its full value, either through the carrier or through a dedicated shipping insurance provider.

If anything happens in transit, get in touch and we will guide you through the claim. The packing materials and the original carton matter for any claim, so keep them until the issue is resolved.

Yes. Pottery, ceramics, glass, faience, delicate decorative objects and certain other pieces all get double-boxed.

The piece sits in an inner carton with its own cushioning, then that carton sits inside a second outer carton with additional padding between the two.

Honestly, it is more than most shipments need, which is exactly the point.

Most US orders arrive within about one week of shipment. EU orders are typically faster. We ship with FedEX.

Oversized pieces, fragile shipments needing special handling or anything caught up in customs review can take longer.

Tracking is provided so you always know where the piece is and we will reach out directly if anything unusual comes up.

Most orders ship within a few business days of being placed. Some pieces need extra preparation time because of size, fragility or the need for a custom-built crate.

Because each piece is handled and packed personally rather than processed at scale, occasional delays do happen.

If we notice something unusual with a shipment, we will reach out directly. You can also contact us anytime with questions about an order in transit.

Yes. Once your order ships, you will receive tracking information by email.

You can follow the piece from Provence to your door, including the customs clearance step.

If the tracking ever shows something unexpected, get in touch and we will look into it on our end.

Every piece is selected personally at brocantes, markets, antique fairs and private homes across the South of France.

Each listing reflects what is known and what is believed about a piece based on careful examination and research. Pieces are described as antique (typically over one hundred years old) or vintage (typically mid-twentieth century) using language that reflects the level of certainty about each piece.

When something is clear, the listing says so. When something is likely but not certain, the listing uses qualifying language.

Pieces are cleaned gently when they need it, but never to the point of erasing their history.

The patina: the wear at the rim of a confit pot, the small marks on the foot of a faience platter, the soft surface of an old copper pan... these are part of what the piece actually is and trying to make them look new would destroy what makes them worth having.

Any meaningful restoration or condition issue is noted in the listing.

Honestly, the safest answer is to enjoy most of the pieces decoratively. The Provence Collection does not test for lead or other materials.

Many of these items were made a hundred years ago or more, with techniques and materials that often cannot be verified.

Older glazed pottery, untinned copper and certain metalware can contain materials that do not meet modern food-safety standards.

If you are considering food use for a specific piece, please get in touch before purchasing and we will share what is known about it.

Get in touch right away and keep everything!

The item(s), the inner packing, the outer carton... anything that came in the box. Photograph the piece, the damage, the outer carton and the interior packing as you found it before unpacking further.

A picture of a damaged box with the delivery person is best if possible.

Send those photos to us along with a note about what you found, and we will handle the carrier claim and work out next steps with you directly.

The packing materials matter because carriers and insurers may need to see them, so please do not throw anything away until the claim is resolved.

The same process applies. Get in touch as soon as you notice it, send photos of the piece and the packing as it was and keep all the original materials.

The sooner damage is reported, the easier the claim is to process.

If it has been more than a few days since delivery, get in touch anyway and we will see what can be done.

Yes, within fourteen days of delivery, per EU consumer law.

If you want to return a piece, get in touch within that window and we will walk you through the process.

The piece needs to come back in its original condition and original packing or better. PLEASE NOTE: return shipping and insurance costs are the buyer's responsibility for change-of-mind returns.

For pieces that arrive damaged from shipping or are significantly different than described, return shipping is on us.

Please keep in mind that we would much rather you ask any questions before purchasing, since each piece is one of a kind with it's own history. A return ties it up for weeks while it travels back to France.

When possible, yes. If the pieces can be safely packed together, they will be combined into a single shipment so you receive one delivery rather than several.

Fragile pieces, heavy pieces or pieces with awkward shapes sometimes need to ship separately to make sure each one travels well and arrives safely.

Either way, you do not need to do anything on your end. We handle the shipping logistics on our side once an order is placed.

Yes. If you are looking for a particular type of French antique, such as a confit pot in a specific color, a copper pan of a certain size, a set of glasses, or a piece for a specific room... get in touch and we will keep an eye out while sourcing.

The Provence Collection covers brocantes and markets across Provence every weekend. We also have relationships with dealers and sources across France who help us find specific pieces between markets.

Finding what you are looking for is often a matter of weeks rather than months. We cannot guarantee timing or availability, but the search itself is part of what we do.

Yes, and gladly. Designers, stylists, decorators and trade buyers are a natural fit for what The Provence Collection does. Our sourcing model is built around finding distinctive pieces rather than stocking categories.

We can source for a specific project, pull together grouped objects for a particular look, hold pieces while a project develops or build out a collection of a specific type over time.

Trade pricing is available on appropriate orders and the relationship gets easier the more we work together.

Get in touch with what you are working on and we will see how we can help.

Please ask. We love questions.

Most questions get answered the same day or the next morning depending on time zones, and we would rather hear from you upfront than have any uncertainty travel along with the item(s).

Each product listing on our site has a specific "Ask a Question" form that will send us your question on that specific item. It is very easy!

Otherwise, please send an email (clientcare@theprovencecollection.com) or use the contact form.

Yes, easily. Each piece is here in Provence and can be photographed again from any angle, in different lighting or with detailed close-ups on any specific feature.

Same with measurements.

Most listings have what you need, but if there is a specific dimension or view that matters for your space or your project, just ask.

Yes. Photography and screen settings can shift how a piece looks, especially the subtle tones of old glaze, the warm colors of copper patina or the soft surface of aged wood.

If color, scale, or condition is something you want to confirm before purchasing, ask and we will describe what the piece looks like in hand or schedule a video meeting for you to review the item in real time.

We would rather have that conversation upfront than have a piece travel across the world to a buyer who is not certain about it.

Pricing reflects what each item actually is.

The main factors are age, condition, rarity, regional origin and where the piece sits in the broader market for comparable French antiques.

Pieces with a clear provenance, unusual character or strong examples of a regional tradition will price higher than common pieces in average condition.

The Provence Collection prices to be fair for what the piece represents, not to chase the highest possible number.

Please remember that our pricing includes shipping, customs and insurance in various markets. Please inquire for more information.

Because two pieces that look similar in a photograph often are not similar in person.

A confit pot might be from 1880 with a regional yellow glaze and original potters marks... or from the 1950s with a copy of that glaze and machine-finished details.

Both might catch your eye on a market table, but they are different pieces with different values.

Age, maker, condition, regional origin and the subtle quality of materials all factor into where each piece prices.

Listings describe what is known about each piece so the price reasoning is visible.

Generally no. Each piece is one of a kind and priced for what it represents from the start.

The Provence Collection typically does not run seasonal sales or general discounts because the inventory is not the kind of stock that benefits from that approach.

Occasionally a piece may be repriced if new information about it comes to light, but the price you see on the listing is the price.

A piece is generally considered antique when it is over one hundred years old.

Vintage typically refers to pieces from the early to mid twentieth century, roughly fifty to one hundred years old (dependent on the piece).

The Provence Collection includes both and each listing makes clear which a piece is.

The distinction matters because antique and vintage pieces age differently, carry different kinds of wear and reflect different periods of French craftsmanship.

Every piece is sourced personally across France. The core of the sourcing happens at brocantes and vide-greniers in Provence and the surrounding regions, with regular trips to markets, antique fairs and private homes throughout the South of France.

We also work with a network of dealers and contacts across the country, including in Paris and other regions, who help us find specific pieces between markets.

The sourcing is hands-on, weekly and built around finding pieces with real character rather than restocking "trending" categories.

The simple answer is because they were used. A confit pot that sat on a cellar floor for eighty years carries the marks of that life. The glaze softened where hands lifted it. The base smoothed where it sat on stone. The rim chipped where someone bumped it loading a pantry.

These marks are part of what makes the item unique... and they are part of what makes antique pieces worth having. An item without any signs of age is either very rare, very protected or very new.

The Provence Collection looks for pieces with the wear that tells the story of how they were used.

The Provence Collection accepts all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover) along with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay. For customers in the European Union, we offer other payment options as well.

All payments are processed through Shopify's secure checkout. We do not handle any sensitive information directly.

For trade buyers or larger orders, alternative arrangements can be discussed.

You will receive an order confirmation email immediately after checkout. This is an automated email.

The item(s) is/are then prepared for shipping, which usually takes a few business days depending on size, fragility and whether a custom crate is needed.

Once the order ships, you will receive a separate email with tracking information so you can follow the item from Provence to your door.

Inventory is updated in real time, so if an item is available at checkout, it is yours.

Yes. Checkout runs through Shopify, which uses bank-grade encryption and is certified to the highest security standard for handling payment information (PCI DSS Level 1).

Payment details are processed directly through Shopify's secure system and are never stored on our end.

You will see the secure lock icon in your browser throughout the checkout process.

Yes. The Provence Collection only collects the information needed to process and ship your order and that information is never sold or shared with anyone outside the carriers and customs authorities who need it to deliver your order.

Payment details are handled directly through Shopify's secure checkout and are never stored on our end.

For full details on what is collected and how it is used, see the Privacy Policy

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If the reset email does not arrive within a few minutes, check your spam folder.

If you still cannot get into your account, contact us and we will help sort it out.

No. You can check out as a guest without creating an account.

Creating an account is optional and lets you save your shipping address, track orders and see your purchase history... but it is not required.

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