Before you contact a 3PL

What to have ready

Seven figures. Each one changes the number you get back.

1. Monthly orders

   Give the number you are actually shipping each month, so the rate they quote is priced for your real volume and not a tier above or below it.

2. SKU count

   The SKU count tells them how much shelf, bin or pallet space to reserve and how long a pick takes; ask whether storage is priced per pallet, bin or shelf.

3. Average item weight and size

   Rates are quoted per parcel, per item or per pallet against a weight and size limit, so ask what each rate covers and give both figures in the units it uses — pounds (lb) and inches (in); if you work in metric, say so (1 kg = 2.2 lb, 1 cm = 0.39 in).

4. Inbound pallets or boxes

   Say how your stock arrives — pallets, cartons or a floor-loaded container — because the answer decides the receiving fee and the labour booked for the delivery day.

5. Where your customers are

   Tell them where most of your orders ship, so the outbound cost they quote is built on your delivery zones instead of national coverage.

6. Where you sell

   Name every channel you sell on — Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, a marketplace or wholesale EDI — and ask how each one connects; a channel they cannot connect has to be handled another way.

7. Special handling you need

   Name any Amazon FBA prep, cold chain / temperature controlled, hazmat / dangerous goods or kitting & assembly you need, because each one may need separate space, staff or paperwork.

What to ask

Ten questions, each with one sentence on why it matters. Where a question maps to a fee heading on our pricing pages, a bracket names it.

1. What is the monthly minimum, and is there a minimum order count?Monthly minimumOrder minimum

   The monthly minimum is the bill floor you pay even in a quiet month; a minimum order count is a separate threshold for whether they will take your account, and neither is the same as a minimum charge on a single order.

2. How is inbound receiving billed?Receiving / inbound

   Receiving can be billed per pallet, per carton or per container unload, so ask which basis applies to the way your stock arrives and whether it is charged before any order ships.

3. How is storage billed, and does long-term storage cost more?Storage

   Ask the storage unit (pallet, bin, shelf or carton), the billing basis (per month or per day) and whether the rate rises after a set number of days or months.

4. What does pick and pack cost per order?Pick & pack

   Ask for the first-item price, the additional-item price and the weight and size each one covers, because a headline “from” rate may apply to one small item only.

5. What do packaging and prep materials cost?Packaging / prep

   Ask what packaging is included and what is billed per unit — boxes, poly bags, inserts, labels — because small per-unit add-ons add up at volume.

6. What is the contract term, and how do you leave?

   Ask the minimum term, the notice period and whether it renews automatically; a month-to-month deal can still carry a termination charge.

7. What does it cost to move inventory out?Other fees

   Removal, transfer-out and disposal are separate from ordinary customer returns, so ask the per-unit or per-pallet cost before you need to leave a warehouse or move stock to another one.

8. How do orders reach you, and who pays for setup?Setup / onboarding

   Ask how orders arrive (direct integration, connector, CSV or EDI) and whether setup or channel automation carries a one-time or a recurring charge.

9. What is the daily order cutoff time?

   The cutoff decides which orders ship today, and a cutoff in the warehouse’s own time zone can quietly add a day to every delivery.

10. What happens when an order is picked or packed wrong?

    Ask who pays for a mispick, a damaged unit or a lost parcel, and how a claim is filed and credited, because errors happen and the rule decides who absorbs the cost.

These are the fee headings we use on every pricing page: Receiving / inboundStoragePick & packPackaging / prepReturnsMonthly minimumSetup / onboardingShippingOther feesOrder minimum. We sort each company’s own published fee lines into one of these categories, so an answer can be compared with a published line; the wording on the company’s own page is what counts.