What 3PL providers charge for, and how to compare.

Fulfilment costs: how 3PL charges work

This guide works without a price per order, because published averages mix products, volumes and countries until the figure says little about your own goods. It helps more to understand what is being counted, because many unpleasant invoices come from a definition rather than a rate.

The map of charges

Receiving: paying for what the delivery looks like

The same quantity of goods can take very different amounts of work to receive. A single-SKU pallet with labelled cartons is a scan and a count. A container of loose cartons, with mixed SKUs and no labels, means unloading by hand, sorting, labelling and counting.

• Is unloading included? Is a loose-loaded container priced differently from pallets?
• How deep is the count: pallets, cartons or individual units? A unit-level count costs more but finds more.
• What happens when a delivery arrives without notice or differs from it? See how an ASN works.
• Does lot, expiry or serial capture cost extra?
• If labels are missing, who applies them, and at what rate?

This is a charge you can influence. Your supplier's packing standard often affects the cost of receiving more than any rate you negotiate.

Storage: the unit and the moment of measurement

Pallet place, shelf location, bin, cubic metre: each rewards a different product profile. Small and fast-moving goods can do badly on pallet pricing, and bulky slow movers can do badly on volume pricing. Then look at the timing. These are the usual ways of counting:

• Daily count: you pay for what was actually there each day. It follows your real stock level.
• Snapshot: stock on a set day of the period decides the bill. A delivery arriving just before the snapshot can cost a full period.
• Peak: the highest level in the period sets the price. A short spike is paid for throughout.
• Reserved space: you pay for what you reserved, used or not. Predictable, but check the rule for releasing it.

Ask how a partly used pallet place is counted, what pallet height is assumed, and whether a half-empty location is charged in full. Slow movers deserve a separate look: a line that sells rarely may cost more to keep than the margin it earns, and rate negotiation alone will not fix that.

Pick and pack: read the definitions

This is often where quotes look the most alike and differ the most. The building blocks are similar, but the boundaries are not:

• Order: one customer order, or one parcel? What about a split shipment?
• Line: one SKU on an order, whatever the quantity. Some providers count differently.
• Unit: the physical item picked. Is a pack of six one unit or six?
• Included: a certain number of lines or units, standard carton closing, a shipping label, a standard insert?
• Not included: gift wrap, extra inserts, fragile packing, personalised notes, serial capture at dispatch.
• Bundles: are they charged as a single line or per component?

Materials: small amounts, large volume

Cartons, mailers, tape, void fill, labels and inserts are often priced from a list, or included in a per-order figure. Check which. If they are included, ask which sizes and what happens when your product requires more. If you supply branded packaging yourself, ask whether storing it is billed as storage and who is responsible for reordering it before it runs out.

Also ask how a carton is chosen. A carton that is a size too big costs more to fill and may cost more to ship. Good master data helps here.

Carrier costs: separate them, then look closely

Keep transport apart from warehouse work when comparing, otherwise a good freight rate can hide expensive handling, or the other way round. Then ask:

• Whose contract is it? Yours, with the warehouse handing parcels over, or the provider's, with a price passed on to you?
• Is the rate fixed per service, or based on a carrier list, with a margin? How are changes announced?
• How are fuel, oversize, remote area and failed delivery surcharges passed through?
• Does the bill use your declared weight and dimensions, or the carrier's measurement? Does volumetric weight apply to your parcels?
• Who files loss and damage claims, and what is recovered?

Returns: priced in steps

Returns are often the part of a quote that gets the least attention, and they are one of the easiest places for a bill to surprise you. The work is built in steps, and a low headline figure may cover only the first step.

1. Receiving and registering the parcel, and matching it to an order.
2. Identifying the item and checking it against your criteria.
3. Photographs and a condition note, if your procedure requires them.
4. Restocking, or repacking before restocking, and the materials used.
5. Quarantine storage, and the handling of whatever leaves it: back to you, or handed to a party you name.
6. Unmatched parcels and exceptions.

Inspection depth is the lever. A thorough check on a low-value accessory can cost more than the item brings back. Set the depth by product family and put it in your procedure. See who decides what happens to a return.

Extras: what gets added to the invoice

• Labelling, relabelling, kitting and repacking, per unit or per hour.
• Stocktakes: is a yearly count included, and what do extra counts cost?
• Handling for B2B orders: pallet building, retailer labels, routing guide compliance.
• Custom reports and integration changes after go-live.
• Peak season or urgent handling surcharges.
• Minimum monthly charges and account fees.
• Disposal of goods or packaging, and exit costs: stock release, outbound handling and data export.

Hourly work is not bad in itself, but agree who may approve it, what the record looks like, and which threshold needs your written approval first.

How to compare quotes properly

Use a reference month. Take it from your own data rather than a rough average, and send the same brief to everyone.

1. Describe the month. Number of orders, split by lines and units per order. Inbound deliveries and how they arrive. Stock by storage type, with the highest and lowest levels. Returns by product family. Regular extra work.
2. Attach the product data. Dimensions, weights, and any special handling.
3. Ask for a price on that month, in each provider's own structure, with every assumption written next to it.
4. Normalise. Put each charge in one table, with the same lines for everyone. Separate carrier costs from warehouse costs.
5. Run the awkward versions. A peak month, a quiet month, a month with more returns than usual, and one with a new product launch. Quotes that look alike on a normal month often separate here.
6. List what is missing. Treat a blank line in a comparison as a question to ask.

Also ask about the conditions around the rates: how long they hold, how they change, how much notice you get, what happens if your volume falls below an assumption, and what it costs to leave.

Warning signs in a quote

• A single all-in figure with no written assumptions.
• Rates without definitions of order, line or unit.
• Returns described as handled, with no steps or price.
• No mention of what happens outside the assumptions.
• A provider who asks nothing about your products before pricing.

How ShipRevo prices

We price by activity: receiving, storage, order handling, materials, returns and approved extra work, as separate items, with our assumptions written next to them. We do not publish a price list, because the figures depend on your products and volumes. If you send a brief like the one above, you can put our answer straight into your comparison. Start with the quote form, or see how the fulfilment service, 3PL warehousing and value-added services are scoped. If you are still deciding whether to hand logistics over at all, start with logistics outsourcing.

Updated: 2026-11-01