Key Takeaways
- 3PL cost is a stack of line items. Receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, shipping, prep, kitting, returns and account fees are each billed separately, and your order profile decides which ones dominate.
- Shipping is usually the biggest number. Postage often outweighs every warehouse fee combined, so a 3PL's carrier rates and box sizing matter more than its storage rate.
- Minimums change the math for smaller brands. A monthly minimum bill can make a low per-order rate expensive when volume is light.
- Compare quotes on your own orders. Run one real month of your orders through every quote and compare the all-in cost per order, not the headline rates.
- Hidden costs live in the fine print. Surcharges, setup and integration fees, special projects and exit fees can outweigh a small difference in pick rates.
A 3PL (third-party logistics provider) costs the sum of several fees: receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, shipping, prep, kitting, returns and account or technology fees, often with a monthly minimum. What you actually pay depends on your order volume, items per order, product size, SKU count and channels. The only reliable number is an all-in cost per order built from your own data.
We run our own 3PL warehouse in Kansas City and ship our own brands from it, so we see 3PL pricing from both sides: as the warehouse writing the quote and as the brand paying the invoice. This guide explains each line item, what pushes it up, and how to compare quotes fairly. It does not print our rates. For a quote on your volume, use the warehouse page.
What fees does a 3PL charge?
| Fee | How it is usually billed | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Setup or onboarding | One time | Number of channels, integrations and SKUs to load |
| Receiving | Per hour, per pallet, per carton or per unit | Floor-loaded vs palletized containers, labeling quality, SKUs per shipment |
| Storage | Per pallet, shelf, bin or cubic foot, per month | Space used, how fast inventory turns, peak season |
| Pick and pack | Per order plus a fee per additional item | Items per order, special handling, inserts, gift notes |
| Packaging materials | Per box, mailer, void fill or insert | Standard vs branded packaging, fragile items |
| Shipping | Carrier postage, sometimes with a markup | Weight, dimensions, destination zone, speed, the 3PL's carrier rates |
| FBA and WFS prep | Per unit for labels, bags and bundles; per carton or pallet | Prep type, bundle complexity, Amazon or Walmart requirements |
| Kitting and bundling | Per kit | Components per kit, build on demand vs in advance |
| Returns | Per return processed | Inspection depth, restock vs refurbish vs dispose |
| B2B and wholesale | Per order, carton or pallet | Retailer routing guides, compliance labels, EDI (electronic data interchange) |
| Account and technology | Monthly fee or monthly minimum | Integrations, reporting, account management |
A good 3PL shows every one of these as its own line. Bundled "all-in" pricing always undercharges someone, and the someone who ends up paying is usually the brand whose order profile does not match the average.
How does each 3PL fee work?
Receiving
Receiving covers unloading, counting, checking against your purchase order and putting inventory away. Palletized freight with clearly labeled cartons is fast and cheap to receive. Floor-loaded containers, where cartons are stacked loose, take hours of labor and are often billed hourly. Unlabeled or mixed cartons add time and sometimes a non-compliance fee. The cheapest way to lower receiving cost is to fix your inbound: ask your factory for labeled cartons, one SKU per carton and palletized loads where freight allows.
Storage
Storage is billed on the space you occupy. Pallet storage suits bulk and reserve stock; shelf or bin storage suits small, fast-moving items. Ask whether storage is measured on a snapshot date, the average for the month or the peak. Slow-moving inventory is where storage quietly becomes expensive, so review aged stock every quarter.
Pick and pack
Pick and pack is the labor to pull items from the shelf, pack them and label the parcel. Most 3PLs charge for the first item in an order and a smaller fee for each additional item. Your average items per order matters a lot here: a brand shipping one item per order and a brand shipping four pay very differently for the same revenue.
Packaging
Boxes, mailers, void fill and tape are either billed per item or built into pick and pack. Branded boxes and custom inserts cost more to buy and more to handle. Right-sized packaging also lowers shipping, because carriers bill on dimensional weight.
Shipping
For most direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, postage is the largest single cost. A 3PL with good carrier rates, rate shopping across carriers and a central location can save more on shipping than you would ever save on warehouse fees. Ask whether postage is passed through at cost or marked up, and by how much.
FBA and WFS prep
Amazon no longer preps and labels inventory for sellers in the US, so brands using FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) pay someone to do it. Prep includes FNSKU labels, poly bags, bubble wrap, bundling, carton labels and pallet builds. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) has its own rules. Ask who pays when Amazon rejects or relabels a shipment. That single question tells you how confident a 3PL is in its prep.
Kitting, returns and B2B
Kitting is billed per kit and adds up quickly for variety packs and gift sets. Returns are billed per return, with extra for inspection or refurbishing. B2B orders to retailers carry extra cost for routing guides, compliance labeling and EDI, and mistakes there turn into retailer chargebacks.
What does a 3PL cost per order? A worked example
This example uses made-up round numbers to show the method. They are not market rates or our rates. Replace every figure with the rates in your own quotes.
| Monthly line | Illustrative calculation | Illustrative total |
|---|---|---|
| Orders shipped | 2,000 orders, 1.5 items per order | |
| Pick and pack | 2,000 first items × $A + 1,000 extra items × $B | $X |
| Packaging | 2,000 boxes × box cost | $X |
| Storage | Pallets or bins occupied × monthly rate | $X |
| Receiving | Inbound pallets or hours × rate | $X |
| Returns | Returns processed × rate | $X |
| Account fee or minimum top-up | Monthly fee, or minimum minus actual billing if higher | $X |
| Warehouse cost | Sum of the lines above | $W |
| Shipping | Postage for 2,000 parcels at your weights and zones | $S |
| All-in cost per order | ($W + $S) ÷ 2,000 |
Do this with a real month of your orders: actual SKUs, actual items per order, actual destinations. Then compare the all-in cost per order with what you pay today, including Amazon's FBA fees on the same products if you are weighing a 3PL against FBA. Our guide to FBA vs FBM covers that comparison.
What makes 3PL costs go up?
- Low items per order. You pay the first-item fee on every order.
- Large or heavy products. More storage space, more handling and higher postage.
- Many SKUs with low volume each. More pick locations, slower picking and more storage.
- Slow-moving inventory. Storage accumulates while nothing ships.
- Special handling. Glass, liquids, lot and expiration tracking, temperature control, hazmat.
- Custom packaging and inserts. More materials, more labor.
- Messy inbound. Floor-loaded containers, unlabeled or mixed cartons.
- Seasonal spikes. Many 3PLs add peak surcharges or need extra staffing notice in the fourth quarter.
- Many channels. Each integration and each marketplace's rules add setup and error risk.
Do 3PLs have minimums?
Most do, in one of three forms:
- A monthly minimum bill. If your fees come in under the minimum, you pay the difference.
- A volume minimum. A set number of orders or pallets before the 3PL will take you on.
- A contract term. A committed period, sometimes with fees to leave early.
For a brand shipping a few hundred orders a month, the minimum can matter more than the per-order rate. Ask what the minimum is, what it includes and whether it steps up as you grow. A 3PL that fits brands your size will say so plainly.
Not sure whether your fulfillment costs are where they should be? Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Bring a recent 3PL invoice or your FBA fee report and we will walk through where the money goes and what to ask for in your next quote.
How do you compare 3PL quotes?
- Send every 3PL the same data: SKU list with dimensions and weights, a month of orders, inbound pattern, channels, and any special handling.
- Ask for every fee as a separate line item, including minimums, setup, integrations and surcharges.
- Model the all-in cost per order on your real month for each quote, including shipping.
- Model your peak month too. The ranking can change when volume doubles.
- Get service levels in writing: order cutoff time for same-day shipping, order accuracy, inbound receiving time, and FBA prep turnaround. For reference, orders that reach our warehouse by noon Central ship the same day.
- Ask who pays for errors: mis-picks, damaged goods, rejected FBA shipments and retailer chargebacks.
- Check references from brands with a similar product and order profile.
Remember that the cheapest quote on paper is often not the cheapest bill. A slightly higher pick rate from a 3PL with better carrier rates and fewer errors usually wins on total cost. Our guide on how to choose a 3PL for Amazon, Shopify and TikTok Shop covers the non-price criteria.
What hidden 3PL costs should you watch for?
- Carrier surcharges: fuel, residential delivery, delivery area, additional handling and oversize.
- Dimensional weight billing on boxes that are bigger than they need to be.
- Integration and technology fees for each sales channel or software connection.
- Special projects billed hourly: relabeling, repacking, inspections, photography pulls.
- Cycle counts and inventory audits beyond a set number per year.
- Disposal and liquidation fees for damaged or expired stock.
- Long-term storage fees on inventory older than a set age.
- Exit fees: the cost to pick, pack and ship all your inventory out if you leave.
- Error costs you absorb: a rejected FBA shipment or a retailer chargeback can cost more than months of savings on pick fees.
How can you lower your 3PL costs?
- Raise items per order with bundles, multi-packs and free-shipping thresholds.
- Right-size packaging to cut dimensional weight.
- Fix inbound: labeled cartons, one SKU per carton, palletized freight.
- Clear slow movers before they build storage fees.
- Keep one inventory pool for Amazon, Shopify, TikTok Shop and Walmart instead of splitting stock across warehouses.
- Review invoices monthly against orders shipped, and question any line you do not understand.
Good inventory management lowers storage, receiving and FBA fees at the same time.
What should CPG brands and manufacturers budget for?
Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands and manufacturers often ship to both consumers and retailers. Add these to the budget:
- Lot and expiration tracking with first-expired, first-out picking for food, beverage, supplements and personal care.
- B2B compliance: retailer routing guides, pallet labels and EDI, where mistakes become chargebacks.
- Case pack and inner pack handling, since some channels take full cases and others take single units.
- Seasonal limits such as heat-sensitive products in summer.
If your Amazon business runs through Vendor Central, your 3PL also needs to meet Amazon's purchase order and shipment requirements. Read our Vendor Central invitation guide for what that involves.
Why does it matter who runs your 3PL?
Most 3PLs only see boxes. When the warehouse sits next to the team running your ads and listings, promotions and stock stay in sync, FBA prep is done by people who work in Seller Central every day, and product for photos or creator samples is already in the building. That is why we built our own warehouse in Kansas City and run it alongside our Amazon FBA and marketplace work. We ship our own brands from it, so if something breaks, it breaks for us too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a 3PL cost per order?
It depends on your items per order, product size, packaging and shipping destinations. Add pick and pack, packaging, a share of storage, receiving and account fees, plus postage, then divide by orders. Build it from a real month of your own orders to get a number you can trust.
What is included in 3PL pricing?
Most 3PLs bill receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, shipping, returns and account or technology fees separately. FBA prep, kitting, B2B orders and special projects are usually extra. Ask for each as its own line item.
Is a 3PL cheaper than Amazon FBA?
Sometimes. FBA is often competitive for small, fast-selling products, especially once you count the Prime conversion benefit. For large, heavy or slow-moving products, and for brands selling on several channels, a 3PL is often cheaper. Model both with your own data.
Do 3PLs charge monthly minimums?
Many do. If your monthly fees fall below the minimum, you pay the difference. For smaller brands the minimum can matter more than the per-order rate, so ask about it before comparing anything else.
Why are 3PL quotes so hard to compare?
Every 3PL bills differently: per pallet or per cubic foot, per order or per item, postage at cost or marked up. The fix is to run the same month of your own orders through every quote and compare the all-in cost per order.
What hidden fees do 3PLs charge?
Common ones are carrier surcharges, dimensional weight, integration fees, hourly special projects, disposal, long-term storage and exit fees for moving your inventory out. Ask for a full fee schedule before you sign.