Choosing a 3PL · Switching 3PLs · Operations
How to choose a 3PL when you already ship thousands of orders a month
· 10 min read · SuperFulfill
An established brand chooses a fulfillment provider differently from a startup. At a few hundred orders a month, the headline fee and the ease of getting started dominate. At several thousand, the decision is about risk: what an hour of downtime, a recurring picking error or an unplanned storage surcharge costs at your volume, and how hard it would be to leave.
This guide sets out a selection process for that stage: define what you actually need, compare providers on the same basis, ask the questions that separate them, and read the contract before you sign.
Start with your order profile, not the provider's brochure
Write down the facts a provider needs to quote and plan for you. Doing this first stops each sales conversation from redefining the problem:
| Fact | Why it decides the fit |
|---|---|
| Orders per month, by month for the last year | Your peak month, not your average, sets the capacity you need |
| Units per order and order lines | Multi-item orders change picking time, packaging and pricing |
| Active SKUs and variants | Size and colour depth needs slotting and barcode-checked picking |
| Destinations by share of orders | Decides whether one location can serve your customers on acceptable delivery times |
| Packed sizes and weights | Drives shipping cost through billable weight |
| Channels: store, marketplaces, wholesale | Each needs an order route, tracking return and sometimes its own labelling rules |
| Special handling | Fragile, oversized, batteries, liquids, regulated or high-value goods narrow the field |
| Where products are made | Decides how far stock travels before it can be sold |
Choose the model before you choose the provider
Most selection mistakes happen one step earlier than the shortlist: comparing a domestic warehouse and a fulfillment-from-origin provider as if they were the same product. A US warehouse offers faster final delivery to US customers in exchange for bulk importing, overseas storage and stock committed to one region. Fulfillment from the country of manufacture removes the bulk freight leg and overseas inventory in exchange for longer cross-border delivery and per-parcel duties. Many larger brands use both.
If you manufacture in China, work through the trade-offs in our China vs US fulfillment comparison first, then shortlist providers within the model, or mix of models, that fits.
Compare cost on the same basis
Ask every shortlisted provider to price the same order profile and compare the true cost per order: all fulfillment, storage, shipping, duty and account charges for a month, divided by the orders shipped. Run it at your average month and your peak month, because fixed and minimum charges behave differently at each. Our guide to comparing fulfillment quotes lists the cost lines to line up, and the fulfillment cost calculator does the arithmetic.
Questions to ask every 3PL before you sign
Ask for evidence rather than assurances. A provider that runs a controlled operation can usually show how it measures the thing you're asking about.
| Area | Question | A useful answer includes |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | How do you plan for our peak month, and what happens if we exceed the forecast? | A planning process with notice periods, not an open-ended promise |
| Accuracy | How are picks checked, and how are errors recorded and corrected? | Scanning or verification steps, an error log, and who pays to correct an error |
| Cut-offs | What is the daily order cut-off, and what happens to orders after it? | A stated cut-off and how late orders are handled |
| Receiving | How long from stock arriving to stock being available to sell? | A typical window and what slows it down, such as unlabelled cartons |
| Stock accuracy | How often are counts done, and how are discrepancies resolved? | A cycle-count routine and a process for investigating differences |
| Visibility | What can we see ourselves, and what do we have to ask for? | A specific list: stock, orders, tracking, invoices, and how current each is |
| Billing | Can you show a sample invoice for an account like ours? | Line items you can reconcile to orders, with no unexplained surcharges |
| Shipping | Which carriers and services, and who pays duties to each destination? | Services by destination, DDP or DAP terms, and how billable weight is calculated |
| Returns | How are returns received, inspected and restocked, by market? | What is possible in each market you sell to, and what is not |
| People | Who is our day-to-day contact, and who covers when they're away? | A named contact and a cover arrangement |
| Integration | How do orders reach you, and how does tracking come back? | A direct connection for your platforms and how failures are flagged |
| Exit | What does it cost and how long does it take to move our stock out? | A written exit process, charges and timescale |
Contract terms that matter at scale
- Term and notice: how long you're committed, and how much notice either side must give.
- Minimums: monthly minimum billing or volume commitments, and what happens in a quiet month.
- Liability: what the provider pays for lost, damaged or mis-shipped orders, and the claim process.
- Rate changes: how and when rates can change, and how much notice you get.
- Service levels: which commitments are written into the contract, how they're measured and what happens if they're missed.
- Data and stock ownership: that your inventory, order data and reports remain yours, including at exit.
- Exit charges: per-unit or per-pallet removal fees, and the timescale for releasing stock.
Anything a salesperson tells you that matters to your decision should appear in the quotation or contract. If it doesn't, treat it as an aspiration.
Score the shortlist
A simple weighted score keeps the final decision honest. The weights below are a hypothetical starting point for a brand at several thousand orders a month; set your own before you see the quotes, so the scores don't bend towards a favourite.
| Criterion | Example weight | What to score |
|---|---|---|
| True cost per order at average and peak | 30 | From your own calculation, not the headline fee |
| Delivery time to main destinations | 20 | On the services quoted, against what your customers expect |
| Accuracy and controls | 20 | Evidence of verification, error handling and stock counts |
| Visibility and integration | 15 | What you can see and how orders flow |
| Contract and exit terms | 15 | Commitment, minimums, liability and exit cost |
Where SuperFulfill fits, and where it doesn't
SuperFulfill fulfils orders from China for brands that make their products there, at US$0.50 per order whatever the number of items, with shipping quoted separately and DDP shipping as standard for supported destinations and products. There are no minimums, setup fees or lock-in contracts. It tends to suit brands that sell into several countries, launch often or want to avoid committing stock to an overseas warehouse. It is not the right fit if your customers need next-day domestic delivery, or if your products can't ship cross-border. Capacity, returns and oversized products are reviewed individually for each account, so ask us the questions above in the same way you'd ask anyone else.
Questions brands ask
How many 3PLs should we get quotes from?
Three to five is usually enough to see the range, provided every provider prices the same order profile. More quotes rarely change the decision but add comparison work.
Should we visit the warehouse?
If the provider will handle a large share of your revenue, a visit or a live video walk-through of receiving, picking and packing is worth arranging. Ask to see the process your orders would follow, not a showcase area.
Does the lowest per-order fee usually mean the lowest total cost?
Not reliably. Storage, receiving, per-unit charges, minimums and shipping often outweigh the order fee. Compare the total monthly cost divided by orders shipped.