Guide
A 3PL invoice is built from the same seven fee groups every time: receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, courier, returns, and account fees. This guide gives the market rate for each one by monthly order volume, drawn from the bids submitted in 3PL Hub managed RFPs, and shows where quotes that look cheap end up expensive.
Source: bids from 17 fulfillment RFPs run through 3PL Hub between 2023 and 2026, up to 165 quotes per line item, US domestic fulfillment, brands from 100 to 37,000 orders a month. Every 3PL and brand is anonymized. Figures are medians, with the middle half of quotes shown as the typical range.
Real RFP data
Volume is the single biggest lever on 3PL rates. Every figure below is the median bid a brand in that volume band received, with the middle half of bids as the typical range. Cost per order excluding courier is the total of every fulfillment, storage, receiving, returns and account line on the bid, divided by annual orders, and is the best single number for comparing what a 3PL itself charges.
| Orders / month | Order fee | Extra unit pick | Pallet / month | Receiving / pallet | Account / month | Cost per order ex courier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,000 | $2.40 $2.00 to $3.00 | $0.38 $0.26 to $0.59 | $27 $20 to $30 | $12 $8.70 to $21 | $375 $170 to $625 | $6.06 |
| 1,000 to 5,000 | $1.72 $1.46 to $2.01 | $0.30 $0.25 to $0.52 | $18.25 $16 to $25 | $9.40 $6.90 to $12.50 | $500 $350 to $2,000 | $3.44 |
| 5,000 to 20,000 | $1.55 $1.30 to $2.21 | $0.36 $0.30 to $0.55 | $20 $16.80 to $25 | $8.72 $7.60 to $14.80 | $1,000 $645 to $2,000 | $3.57 |
| 20,000 and up | $1.60 $1.21 to $2.12 | $0.35 $0.15 to $0.49 | $18 $16 to $22 | $7.57 $6.60 to $9.60 | $1,000 $700 to $2,650 | $2.54 |
Order fee is the per-order charge with the first unit pick included; the return-per-order rate by band ($2.31 to $3.00) is in the fee table below. Where a 3PL quoted the order fee and first pick separately, the two were added. Sample sizes per cell run from 13 to 40 bids; every volume band had 33 to 40 order-fee bids.
Two things stand out. First, the order fee falls by nearly 30% between the smallest band and the next one, then barely moves. A brand growing from 800 to 3,000 orders a month should expect the biggest rate reset of its life, and it will only happen if the brand asks for it or goes back to market. Second, the account management fee rises with volume, from a median $375 to $1,000 a month, because larger accounts get dedicated people. That is reasonable when the fee buys a named account manager and a weekly call, and worth questioning when it does not.
Anatomy of a quote
Every 3PL prices the same activities. The names, units and bundling differ, which is what makes two quotes hard to compare. Here is each group with the market range across all volume bands and the detail that most often moves the invoice.
| Fee group | What it covers | Market range (2026) | What moves the invoice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Unloading, counting, inspecting and putting away inbound freight | $7 to $13 per pallet (median $9.20); $0.80 to $2.50 per carton (median $1.50); $460 to $575 per 40 ft container (median $520); $40 to $52 per hour for floor-loaded or unlabeled freight | Floor-loaded containers and mixed-SKU pallets get billed hourly. A supplier that palletizes and labels saves money on every receipt. |
| Storage | Pallet, bin, shelf or cubic-foot space, billed monthly | $16.50 to $25 per pallet (median $20); $1.60 to $3.65 per bin (median $2.52); $0.38 to $0.72 per cubic foot (median $0.55) | Whether the 3PL bills on average or peak-day occupancy, when the month starts, and the long-term storage multiplier after 180 or 365 days. |
| Pick and pack | Picking the order and packing it into a box | $1.40 to $2.35 per order with the first pick included (median $1.85) plus $0.25 to $0.55 per additional unit (median $0.35); inserts $0.10 to $0.15 each | Units per order. A brand averaging 2.5 units pays the additional-unit rate on 60% of its units, so a low order fee with a high unit pick can cost more than the reverse. |
| Packaging | Boxes, mailers, tape, dunnage | At cost, or cost plus 10 to 30%; a standard poly mailer or small box adds roughly $0.35 to $0.60 per order | Whether packaging is included in the order fee, billed at cost, or marked up. Itemized quotes look cheaper until packaging is added back. |
| Courier | Postage at the 3PL's negotiated rates | $5.75 to $8.80 per DTC parcel (median $6.50); typically 60 to 73% of total spend (median 67%) | Residential, DAS and fuel surcharges, the dim divisor, and whether the rate card covers your real weight and zone mix. Covered in the RFP guide. |
| Returns | Receiving, inspecting and restocking or disposing of returned orders | $2.00 to $3.30 per return (median $2.89) plus $0.50 to $1.75 per unit inspected (median $0.80) | Return rate. Apparel and footwear at 15 to 25% returns can spend as much on returns as on picking. |
| Account, technology and minimums | Account management, software or platform licence, onboarding, monthly minimum spend | Account management $500 to $2,000 per month (median $750); software $335 to $2,200 per month where charged (median $500); setup $500 to $5,000 (median $1,500); monthly minimums from $2,500 to $75,000 where applied (median $25,000) | Whether the fees are charged at all. In the dataset, 4 in 10 bids charge an account fee, 1 in 10 charge a software fee, 1 in 4 charge setup, and 1 in 3 state a monthly minimum. Minimums are the line that most often rules a 3PL out. |
B2B and retail lines sit alongside these for brands with wholesale channels: B2B order fee $2.30 to $6.45 (median $5.00), carton pick $0.85 to $2.50 (median $1.67), pallet pick $6.25 to $12 (median $9.53), plus routing guide compliance and EDI transaction fees. Labour for projects, kitting and rework runs $38 to $45 an hour (median $40).
The biggest line
Across the dataset, courier accounts for a median 67% of a DTC brand's total fulfillment spend, and the middle half of bids sit between 60% and 73%. Fulfillment fees, the part most brands negotiate hardest, are usually 20 to 30%. That has one practical consequence: a 3PL that is $0.50 cheaper per parcel on courier beats a 3PL that is $0.20 cheaper on the order fee, every month, at any volume.
Courier quotes are also the least comparable line in any bid. A base rate card leaves out residential delivery, DAS and extended DAS, fuel and peak surcharges, and the dim divisor that decides whether a light, bulky parcel bills at 2 lb or 7 lb. Ask every 3PL for its full rate card by zone and weight band, its surcharge schedule as dollar amounts, and its dim divisor in writing, then price your last 12 months of parcels on each. The courier normalization step in the RFP guide walks through it, and the free dimensional weight calculator shows what a divisor change does to a specific box.
A quote that lists courier surcharges "at cost" or "as incurred" has left the largest variable on the invoice off the comparison. Treat it as incomplete until the surcharges are on the sheet.
One number
Because courier depends on the product and the customer map as much as on the 3PL, the cleanest way to compare 3PLs is cost per order excluding courier: every fulfillment, storage, receiving, returns and account fee on the bid, divided by annual orders. Across the 17 RFPs, the median bid comes to:
| Orders per month | Cost per order excluding courier | Cost per order all-in | Courier share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,000 | $6.06 | $16.72 | 64% |
| 1,000 to 5,000 | $3.44 | $9.66 | 64% |
| 5,000 to 20,000 | $3.57 | $9.67 | 63% |
| 20,000 and up | $2.54 | $7.85 | 68% |
All-in cost per order includes courier at each 3PL's quoted rates for the brand's actual parcel profile. Small-brand figures are pulled up by monthly minimums and account fees spread over fewer orders.
The bid sheet template in the RFP guide calculates both numbers automatically once a 3PL's rates are entered. Download the bid sheet if you want the calculation without building it.
Worked example
A DTC brand shipping 2,000 orders a month at 1.5 units per order, holding 40 pallets, receiving about 13 pallets a month, with a 4% return rate, priced at the 1,000 to 5,000 band medians above:
| Line | Calculation | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Order fees | 2,000 orders at $1.72 | $3,440 |
| Additional unit picks | 1,000 additional units at $0.30 | $300 |
| Packaging | 2,000 orders at about $0.45 at cost | $900 |
| Storage | 40 pallets at $18.25 | $730 |
| Receiving | 13 pallets at $9.40 | $122 |
| Returns | 80 returns at $2.36 | $189 |
| Account management | flat | $500 |
| Fulfillment subtotal | $3.09 per order excluding courier | $6,181 |
| Courier | 2,000 parcels at $6.50 | $13,000 |
| Total | $9.59 per order all-in, courier 68% | $19,181 |
Change one input and watch the ranking move. At 2.5 units per order the additional-unit line triples. At a 15% return rate the returns line passes storage. Swap the $6.50 parcel for a 3PL quoting $6.00 with the same fulfillment rates and the brand saves $1,000 a month, more than the entire storage and receiving lines combined.
Location
Storage tracks industrial rent. West Coast and Northeast warehouses quote higher pallet rates than the Midwest, and the spread at the top end is wider. That premium buys port proximity and one-zone delivery to the coast it sits on. A brand shipping nationwide from a single warehouse often lands closer to more customers, and pays less for storage, from the middle of the country.
Pallet storage median $21.83, typical $16 to $27.50. Order fee median $1.60. Highest rent, shortest transit to California and the Pacific Northwest.
Pallet storage median $18.75, typical $17 to $20.65. Order fee median $1.85. Lowest storage, and two-day ground reach to most of the country from Ohio, Kentucky or Illinois.
Pallet storage median $20.83, typical $18 to $25. Order fee median $1.81. Pennsylvania and New Jersey serve the densest customer clusters in one or two zones.
Regional medians use the 3PL's proposed warehouse location on each bid; Southern bids (Texas, Georgia, Florida) were too few to report separately. Use the customer map exercise in the selection guide before choosing a region on storage cost alone.
Comparing quotes
Rate cards are built on different units and different bundling, so the lowest headline rate tells you very little. Take one real month from your store: orders, units per order, pallets on hand, inbound receipts, returns, and every parcel with its weight and destination. Run each quote through that month, line by line, and total it. The exercise takes an hour with the bid sheet and regularly finds a four-figure monthly gap between two quotes that looked the same on the first page.
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FAQ
Across 145 order-fee bids in 3PL Hub RFPs, the median order fee is $1.85 with the first pick included, plus $0.35 per additional unit. Brands under 1,000 orders a month should expect $2.00 to $3.00. Including storage, receiving, returns and account fees, cost per order excluding courier runs from $2.54 (20,000+ orders a month) to $6.06 (under 1,000). Add a median $6.50 per parcel for courier.
$1.45 to $2.20 per order with the first pick included, and $0.25 to $0.55 per additional unit, is the competitive range for brands above 1,000 orders a month. Below that range, check what was unbundled (packaging, surcharges, minimums). Above it, the premium should buy something specific such as a late cutoff, hazmat handling or serial number capture.
Per pallet ($16.50 to $25 a month, median $20), per bin ($1.60 to $3.65, median $2.52), per cubic foot ($0.38 to $0.72, median $0.55) or per square foot. The billing method matters as much as the rate: ask whether it is average or peak-day occupancy, when the billing month starts, and what the long-term storage multiplier is.
A median 67% for DTC brands in 3PL Hub RFP data, with the middle half between 60% and 73%. Fulfillment fees are usually 20 to 30%. Courier rates, surcharges and the dim divisor therefore matter more to the total than the order fee.
No. About 1 in 3 bids in the dataset state a monthly minimum, and where applied they run from $2,500 to $75,000 a month depending on brand size. For brands under 1,000 orders a month, 1 in 3 bids carried a minimum and 1 in 8 carried one above $5,000. Brands under 500 orders a month should shortlist 3PLs that advertise low or ramped minimums, and check the in-house vs 3PL guide first.
A named account manager, reporting and regular reviews. Median $750 a month across all bids, rising from $375 for the smallest brands to $1,000 for brands over 5,000 orders a month. Roughly 6 in 10 bids charge no account fee at all, so it is negotiable, especially where service is otherwise built into the rates.
Yes. Setup and onboarding fees run $500 to $5,000 (median $1,500) and are commonly waived or credited back against a 12-month term or a volume forecast. Retail EDI setup is usually a separate line.
Fixed fees. Account management, software, setup and minimums are spread over fewer orders, and the order fee itself is a median $2.40 under 1,000 orders a month against $1.72 in the next band. A brand growing from 800 to 3,000 orders a month should re-quote or renegotiate, because the reset does not happen automatically.
Monthly minimums and below-minimum fees, peak surcharges, long-term storage multipliers, packaging markups, software and EDI fees, dimensional weight corrections, per-SKU and project labour charges, and exit or data export fees. All are negotiable before signing and almost none after.
Put every bid on one sheet with fixed line items and volumes, normalize courier surcharges and dim weight, add the fixed fees, and total each bid against one real month of orders. Compare cost per order with and without courier rather than rate cards. The free 3PL Hub bid sheet template does the arithmetic.
FBA usually wins on per-unit cost for small, fast-turning products sold on Amazon. A 3PL wins on storage (no Q4 storage spike), branded packaging and multi-channel orders. The FBA vs 3PL guide runs the numbers side by side.
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