Guillaume Dominguez, edited by Laura Laplaud 09:54, December 02, 2022

Every day, Europe 1 looks at an idea or a problem in your daily life.

In Plessis-Robinson in the Hauts-de-Seine, a retiree has found a solution to make ends meet while fighting against postal desertification: he uses his apartment as a relay point.

Europe 1 met him.

Since the pandemic, and with Christmas approaching, many are choosing to shop online.

From our sofa or our kitchen, we always order more on the Internet: 14% of our purchases, or more than a billion transactions per year, go through e-commerce, according to a survey revealed by our colleagues at

Capital. 

But faced with inflation, the rise in energy prices or the increase in the shopping basket, some individuals no longer hesitate to make their home a pick-up point.

Europe 1 met Jean-Claude.

This retiree lives in Le Plessis-Robinson in Île-de-France, and for several months he has been receiving and distributing dozens of packages every day.

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An activity that allows you to make ends meet

It is in his small three-room apartment, on the fourth floor of a residential building, that Jean-Claude has transformed a shelf in the living room into a pick-up point.

"The delivery man comes every day, he calls me, I go downstairs to pick up the packages, I put them on the shelf. [Then], the customers ring the intercom, I ask them for their first and last name as well as an identity document and then I present the package by flashing”, he explains.

Above all, this activity allows this former storekeeper to make ends meet.

"I am retired, it allows me to supplement my income a little from 80 to 100 euros per month, it allows me to fill the tank of the car and afterwards, it allows me to see people, to exchange between neighbors and to talk about everything", he rejoices.

1,700 parcels received in six months

In the neighborhood, residents like Paola are delighted with this local service.

"It's a person who lives at the foot of my house and who drops it off for me, or who I knock on to pick it up, that's better. We don't have to run after the timetables and at least it's home," she said.

For the past six months, Jean-Claude has been receiving parcels from around a third of the inhabitants of his commune, i.e. nearly 1,700 parcels.