Bouygues France still charged a 10€ fee as of September 2024. Didn't need to move it to another phone though, so I don't know how that works.
That 10 € fee is exactly the cost they would have charged for a physical SIM, shipping included.
Bouygues was one of the companies lamenting the change. They viewed it as a "loss of connection with their customers", whatever that means. I haven't set foot in a phone store in I don't even remember how long, but at least 10 years, so I have no idea what the hell they're talking about.
Read it as: "we wouldn't be able to use our physical stores and physical SIM card distribution as an advantage anymore".
Makes it harder to sell a SIM card along with a new phone, or upsell an entire new phone to someone who wants a SIM card.
eSIM profiles also cost money in a sense - there’s a cost per-profile generated and per download usually from the eSIM personalization provider.