3PL quotes are hard to compare because no two providers price the same units. One charges per pallet per month, another per cubic foot, a third bundles storage into a per-order fee. The headline rate is almost never where the money is: it is in receiving, handling and the accessorial list at the bottom.
The five cost lines
| Line | Usually charged as | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving / inbound | Per container, pallet, carton or hour | Whether goods arrive palletised or floor-loaded |
| Storage | Per pallet or per cubic foot, per month or per period | Volume and how long it sits |
| Pick and pack | Per order, plus per line and per unit | Order profile, lines per order is the key number |
| Packaging materials | Per unit, at cost plus markup | Box sizes and whether you supply your own |
| Outbound / shipping | Carrier cost, sometimes plus a handling margin | Whether you use their rates or your own carrier account |
Receiving is where the surprises live
Inbound is the most variable line and the one least examined at quoting time. A floor-loaded container costs far more to receive than a palletised one, because someone has to unload it by hand and build pallets. If your supplier floor-loads to maximise container fill, you are trading ocean freight saving for warehouse labour, sometimes sensibly, often not.
Other inbound charges that appear later: unscheduled delivery fees, unloading beyond a free time allowance, and rework where cartons are unlabelled or the count disagrees with the packing list. That last one traces directly back to packaging and labelling.
Storage: understand the unit and the clock
Two questions decide what storage really costs:
- Per pallet or per cubic foot? Per-pallet pricing punishes half-full pallets; per-cubic-foot punishes bulky low-value goods. Match the unit to your product.
- How is the period measured? Monthly, or per half-month "storage period"? The latter can effectively double the cost of goods that arrive at the wrong point in the cycle.
Ask for long-term storage surcharges too: many providers escalate rates on inventory aged past six or twelve months, which is exactly the stock you are least likely to be watching.
The accessorial list is the real contract
Ask explicitly for the full accessorial schedule before signing. The ones that most often surprise:
- Minimum monthly charge, regardless of activity
- Account management or platform/technology fee
- Special projects and rework, charged hourly
- Returns processing, per return. See reverse logistics
- Kitting and assembly
- Labelling and barcoding
- Cycle counts and physical inventory
- Onboarding and implementation
- Offboarding: the charge to remove your inventory if you leave
That last one deserves attention before you sign, not after. Exit costs are how a mediocre 3PL relationship becomes a sticky one.
Model your own order profile
A quote is meaningless without your volumes. Build a simple model with your real numbers: orders per month, average lines per order, units per line, average storage volume, and inbound containers per month. Then ask each provider to price that.
The single most influential variable is usually lines per order, because pick fees are charged per line. A provider that looks cheap on a one-line order profile can be the most expensive option at four lines. Your CBM and pallet inputs come from the CBM calculator and pallet calculator.
Questions that separate good providers from cheap ones
- What is your inventory accuracy, and how is it measured?
- What are your receiving and shipping SLAs, and what happens when you miss them?
- Can I use my own carrier accounts, or must I use your rates?
- What system will I see my inventory in, and does it integrate with my platform?
- How do you handle damages and shortages, and what is your liability limit? It is almost certainly far below the value of your stock.
- What are the exit terms and offboarding charges?
Note that a 3PL is a different thing from a freight forwarder, though many companies sell both. The distinction, and why it matters for liability, is in 3PL vs forwarder vs broker vs carrier. If duty deferral is part of your reason for holding stock, compare against zones and bonded warehouses.
Find logistics providers by country and service, or post a request with your order profile attached.
