3PL pricing, line by line
Nine things a fulfillment invoice is made of, what each one is actually paying for, and the question to ask about each before you sign. No rate card, because an honest one cannot exist on a public page.
Why there is no price table on this page
Because any number we published would be wrong for most of the people reading it. Fulfillment cost is driven by cube, weight, how fast stock turns, how many units are in an average order, how seasonal you are, and which facility your customers sit near. Two businesses shipping the same number of orders can differ by a factor of three, honestly, on the same rate card.
Every published 3PL rate you find online is either a starting price designed to win a comparison, or a real price for a business that is not yours. So instead of adding one more, here is the structure of the invoice, which is the thing almost nobody explains and the thing you need in order to read anybody's quote, ours included.
If your volume is still small, the line items matter less than the minimum charges sitting underneath them. We have written that up separately: whether a small business is big enough for a 3PL covers the six minimums, the three storage models, and the cases where the honest answer is to wait.
What a fulfillment invoice is made of
In the order the goods move: in, sitting, out, and everything that attaches itself along the way.
Receiving
Per container, per pallet, or per cartonWhat it costs to get your goods off the truck and into the racking. A floor-loaded container costs more than a palletized one because somebody is unloading it by hand, carton by carton.
What to ask. Ask whether the quote assumes palletized or floor-loaded, and what happens if the container arrives differently from what was declared.
Storage
Per pallet, bin or cubic foot, per monthRent for the space your inventory occupies. Usually billed monthly, sometimes in half-month periods, occasionally per day.
What to ask. This is the line that quietly grows. Slow-moving SKUs and over-ordered stock pay rent every month whether or not they sell, and long-term storage surcharges are common past a threshold.
Pick and pack
Per order, plus a smaller fee per additional itemThe labor of getting your order off the shelf and into a box. Nearly always structured as a base fee for the first unit and a lower fee per unit after it.
What to ask. Compare on your real average order composition, not on a single-item order. A 3PL that looks cheap on one-unit orders can be the expensive one for a business whose average order is four units.
Packaging materials
Per box, mailer, void fill or insertBoxes, poly mailers, tape, dunnage, and any branded insert you want included.
What to ask. Ask whether you can supply your own, and whether they are marked up. This is also where custom branded packaging quietly changes your unit economics.
Shipping
Carrier rate, plus any handling markupThe carrier's charge for the parcel. Most 3PLs rate-shop across carriers per parcel; some pass their negotiated rate straight through, some add a margin.
What to ask. Ask directly: do you pass through your negotiated rate, or is there a markup, and can I use my own carrier account? All three answers are legitimate, and you need to know which one you are getting.
Value-added services
Per unit or per hourKitting, bundling, labeling, poly bagging, FBA prep, serial number capture, gift wrapping, insert placement.
What to ask. If any of this is core to your product, get it priced explicitly in the quote rather than discovering it as a project rate later.
Returns
Per return, sometimes plus inspection or restockReceiving the parcel back, inspecting it, and deciding whether it goes back on the shelf, gets refurbished, or is scrapped.
What to ask. Ask what a return actually costs end to end, including the disposition decision. In some categories returns are the difference between a profitable SKU and an unprofitable one.
Account minimums
Monthly floorA minimum monthly spend regardless of volume, common for smaller accounts.
What to ask. Not unreasonable, and a real cost for a business with seasonal volume. Find out before you sign, not in your first slow month.
Surcharges
SituationalPeak season, oversized or overweight parcels, address correction, residential delivery, fuel, special handling for hazmat or batteries.
What to ask. Ask for the full surcharge schedule in writing. This is where a quote and an invoice most often part company.
Price one representative month, not one rate
Line rates are not comparable across quotes, because the mix decides the bill. The comparison that works is to build a single realistic month and run it through every quote you are holding.
- Units received, and whether they arrive floor-loaded or palletized.
- Pallets or bins stored, on average, across the month.
- Orders shipped, and the average number of units in one.
- The split between your own store, marketplaces, wholesale and any campaign wave.
- Expected returns, and what happens to a returned unit.
- Any kitting, labeling or FBA prep the product genuinely needs.
- The monthly minimum, if there is one, and the surcharge schedule in full.
Run that month through each quote and you get one number per provider that means something. Anything less than this and you are comparing marketing.
Frequently asked
How much does 3PL cost?
For your specific goods, it depends on cube, weight, order velocity, order composition, seasonality and which of our facilities your customers sit near. That is not a dodge, it is the reason every published 3PL rate card you will find online has an asterisk on it. What we will do is quote every line above against your real numbers, in writing, before you commit anything.
Why does this page not have a price table?
Because it would be fiction. A per-pallet storage rate that is accurate for a dense, fast-moving SKU in Michigan is wrong for a bulky slow one in Los Angeles, and publishing it anyway would just be lead bait. We would rather give you the structure so you can read anybody's quote, including ours.
How do I compare two 3PL quotes?
Build one representative month: units received, pallets stored, orders shipped, average units per order, and expected returns. Then price that same month through both quotes, including minimums and surcharges. Comparing line rates against each other tells you almost nothing, because the mix is what decides the bill.
Is 3PL cheaper than doing it myself?
Not always, and not usually at very low volume. Self-fulfillment has a real cost that most founders do not count because it is their own time, but it also has almost no fixed cost. A 3PL wins on labor, on shipping rates you cannot negotiate alone, and on not being the constraint when you have a good month.
3PL or Amazon FBA?
They are not exclusive and most brands end up using both. FBA is excellent at Amazon orders and is not designed to serve your own store, your wholesale accounts, or a crowdfunding wave. A common shape is a 3PL holding the master inventory, prepping and forwarding into FBA, and shipping everything else directly.
When should I switch from shipping it myself?
The usual triggers are running out of physical space, orders eating the day you should be spending on the product, a container arriving that you have nowhere to put, or a launch whose volume you cannot survive by hand. If none of those is true yet, keep the money.
Is returns processing included?
It is quoted separately, because it is separate work: receiving against an authorization, inspection, grading and whatever disposition you have specified. Our page on what returns actually cost goes through the seven cost lines, of which the reverse postage most people budget for is the smallest.
Do you charge for receiving a container?
Yes, and every 3PL does, because somebody has to unload it. All seven of our facilities receive containers, which is worth checking elsewhere: plenty of 3PLs can only take palletized LTL and will send your container to a separate transload first, which is a cost that will not be on the quote you compared.
What are pick and pack fees?
The per-order charge for taking your stock off the shelf and getting it into a box: typically a base fee covering the first item and the packing labor, plus a smaller charge per additional item in the same order. It is the line that scales with order volume rather than with inventory, so it is the one to model against your real order profile rather than an average. A two-item average order behaves very differently from a one-item one.
Send us a month and we will price it
Orders, average units per order, carton dimensions and rough monthly volume is enough to quote every line above. You get the scope and the number in writing before anything starts, and what is billed separately gets listed rather than discovered.