A 3PL quote might come back as one page of clean numbers or as a spreadsheet with a dozen line items and three pages of footnotes. Either way, most sellers read it the same wrong way: they compare pick and pack rates and skim past shipping, which is usually the biggest number on the invoice. This is what each line on a standard rate card means, what the ranges look like across the industry, and where sellers get surprised after the first bill.
A standard 3PL rate card has eight cost categories: receiving, storage, pick & pack, packaging materials, outbound shipping, returns processing, account and technology fees, and special services. Shipping varies the most, and it's where undisclosed markups of 5–15% usually sit. The quote that looks cheapest is not always the one that costs least once the first invoice arrives.
A full sample rate card: 8 categories with industry ranges
Below is a representative rate card for a mid-market ecommerce operation. These are the ranges sellers actually see when they collect quotes in 2026, not best-case numbers.
| # | Category | Typical Range | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Receiving / Inbound | $20 – $45 | per pallet |
| 1b | Carton receiving (if palletized shipments not standard) | $0.20 – $0.50 | per carton |
| 2 | Storage (pallet) | $15 – $30 | per pallet / month |
| 2b | Storage (bin / shelf) | $3 – $8 | per bin / month |
| 3 | Pick & Pack (per order) | $2.50 – $5.50 | per order |
| 3b | Pick & Pack (per additional item) | $0.20 – $0.50 | per item after first |
| 4 | Packaging materials (box, poly bag, dunnage, tape) | $0.50 – $2.50 | per order (or at cost) |
| 5 | Outbound shipping Read this one twice | Carrier cost or carrier cost + X% | per shipment |
| 6 | Returns processing | $3.00 – $8.00 | per return |
| 7 | Account / technology fee (WMS portal, integrations) | $150 – $500 | per month |
| 8 | Special services (kitting, labeling, inserts, bundling) | $0.25 – $1.50 | per unit |
Line 5 is the one to read twice. Outbound shipping is where the quoted number and the billed number most often differ, while every other line bills at what it says. Shipping is where the math can move on you once the relationship starts.
What each line actually means
Receiving / Inbound (Lines 1–1b)
This covers the labor to unload your shipment, count units, verify against your packing list, and put inventory away in the warehouse management system (WMS). You're billed per pallet for full pallet loads, or per carton for floor-loaded or mixed shipments. A 10-pallet inbound at $30/pallet = $300. Rates go higher if your shipments require lot tracking, expiration date capture, or inspection beyond basic count verification.
Storage (Lines 2–2b)
Billed monthly on the space your inventory occupies. Pallet positions are the standard unit, and a standard position is typically 4×4 ft of floor space plus vertical clearance. If your products are small enough to bin-slot (individual shelf bins rather than full pallets), you'll be quoted a bin rate instead. Some 3PLs also use cubic foot rates for non-standard items. What drives this line is how fast your inventory turns. Slow-moving SKUs sitting in racked pallet positions for 90 days or more add up fast.
Pick & Pack (Lines 3–3b)
The core labor line: picking each item from its location, packing the order, applying the label. The per-order fee covers the base handling; the per-item fee (sometimes called a "pick fee" or "split fee") applies to orders with more than one SKU or multiple units. An order with 3 items might be billed as $3.00 base + (2 × $0.30) = $3.60. Know your average items per order before you compare quotes. A low base rate with a high per-item fee can cost more than a higher base with no per-item fee at all.
Packaging Materials (Line 4)
Standard materials (corrugated boxes, poly mailers, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, tape) are either included in the pick fee, billed at cost, or billed at cost plus a handling margin. Branded or custom packaging is almost always billed separately. If packaging isn't mentioned in the quote, ask what they use and how it's billed. On bulky or fragile products the answer can move your true per-order cost by a dollar or more.
Account / Technology Fee (Line 7)
Covers access to the WMS client portal, EDI or API integrations, reporting, and account management overhead. Some 3PLs roll this into their pick fee; others charge it as a flat monthly line. It's often left out of the early conversations and shows up in the contract. At $250/month that's $3,000 a year, which is worth knowing before you sign.
Special Services (Line 8)
Kitting, bundling, insertion of marketing materials, re-labeling, poly-bagging individual units, and FBA prep all fall here. These get quoted as project rates or per-unit fees, separately for each project type. If you use any of them, get the per-unit rate in writing before you sign.
Pass-through vs. markup, and how to tell which one you're getting
Line 5 is where 3PL pricing gets complicated. Every other fee on the rate card bills at the number printed next to it. Shipping can be billed two very different ways that look identical on the quote.
On 1,000 orders per month at $7.50 average shipping, a 10% markup is $750 a month, or $9,000 a year, and it never appears as its own line on your invoice. The fulfillment rates look competitive. The shipping line says "at carrier cost." The carrier invoice underneath it says something else.
A markup isn't automatically a problem. Plenty of 3PLs charge one openly and explain it as the cost of managing carrier relationships, and that's a number you can weigh against everything else in the quote. The problem is vague "pass-through" language in the contract paired with a refusal to show carrier invoices, so the client finds out only when the numbers stop adding up.
Matt Vandevander at Simple Distribution put it plainly: "I get companies trying to sell me software for client portals specifically designed to misrepresent shipping costs so the 3PL can take hidden profits. Fulfillment seems like a bargain until the shipping bill arrives. Then the 3PL just blames it on industry shipping prices."
We run true pass-through. Our fulfillment numbers sometimes look higher than a competitor advertising a lower pick rate, because that competitor is making the difference back on shipping.
4 questions to verify any 3PL's shipping billing
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Can you show me a sample carrier invoice from an existing client account?
A transparent 3PL can produce a redacted carrier invoice and show that the line-item charges match what the client was billed. Hesitation here is a red flag.
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What is your written markup percentage or per-shipment fee on shipping?
Ask for a number, not language. "We pass shipping through at competitive rates" is not an answer. "We add 8% to carrier cost" is. Get it in writing as a contract term.
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Does our contract include audit rights to review carrier invoices?
The right to request and review underlying carrier invoices at any time protects you even if you trust the relationship. A 3PL with nothing to hide will grant this without negotiation.
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Will you provide access to your carrier rate card for the services we'll use?
If you know the carrier rates and you know what you're billed, the math is simple. A 3PL that won't share rate card access is making sure you can't do that math.
The same 1,000-order operation: an itemized industry quote vs. our 3-line card
Here is one operation quoted two ways. It runs 1,000 orders per month, averages 1.5 items per order, receives 10 pallets inbound, and stores 25 pallets.
| Industry Itemized Quote | Simple Distribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving (10 pallets) | 10 × $35 = $350 | 10 × $35 = $350 |
| Storage (25 pallets) | 25 × $25 = $625 | 25 × $25 = $625 |
| Pick fee (per order) | 1,000 × $2.75 = $2,750 | 1,000 × $5.50 = $5,500 (all-in: pick, pack, packaging) |
| Per additional item (500 extra) | 500 × $0.30 = $150 | |
| Packaging materials | 1,000 × $1.00 = $1,000 | |
| Shipping (quoted rate) | "At carrier cost" = $7.50 avg × 1,000 = $7,500 | True pass-through = $7.50 × 1,000 = $7,500 |
| Technology / account fee | $300/month | None |
| Quoted total | $12,675 | $13,975 |
| Shipping markup billed (12%) | +$900 (not on the quote) | $0 |
| Actual first invoice | $13,575 | $13,975 |
This is what we mean when we say our upfront numbers sometimes look worse than the competition. The competitor isn't cheaper, they're taking the margin on shipping instead of on pick and pack. The two relationships cost close to the same. The difference is whether you can see where the money goes.
Four things rarely on a 3PL quote but always on the invoice
At the 7–10% return rates typical for ecommerce, a 1,000-order operation sees 70–100 returns a month, or $210–$800 at $3–$8 per unit. This line is almost never in the initial quote. Ask for the return processing rate and add it to the monthly comparison yourself.
Setup covers WMS configuration, integration work (Shopify, Amazon, and so on), SKU profiling, and the first receiving. It runs $500–$3,000 as a one-time charge, and some 3PLs waive it for larger accounts. Either way it's part of your real cost to switch, so negotiate it before signing rather than finding it at go-live.
Beyond the monthly tech fee, some 3PLs charge for reporting, carrier disputes, rate renegotiation, or account management time above a set threshold. These usually turn up as separate line items once the relationship is a few months old. Ask what happens when you need to escalate something: is that included, or billed hourly?
Residential delivery fees, fuel surcharges, DIM weight adjustments, and peak surcharges are real carrier costs that hit nearly every shipment. Some 3PLs pass them straight through. Others bundle or round them in ways that add margin. Ask how accessorials are billed and whether the quoted shipping rate already includes them.
Frequently Asked Questions
A standard 3PL quote covers receiving/inbound, storage, pick and pack, packaging materials, outbound shipping, and sometimes a monthly account or technology fee. What usually gets left off: returns processing rates, onboarding fees, and special services like kitting or labeling. Ask about all three before you sign.
3PLs negotiate volume discounts with carriers (UPS, FedEx, USPS) based on their combined shipping volume across all clients. Some pass those rates through at cost. Others keep part of the discount or add a markup, typically 5–15%, to the carrier rate before billing. The difference between what the 3PL pays the carrier and what they charge you is their shipping margin.
Pass-through shipping means the 3PL bills you exactly what the carrier charges them, with no markup and no margin. You get the benefit of the 3PL's negotiated carrier rates without an added layer of profit on top. True pass-through is verifiable: the 3PL can show you carrier invoices that match what they billed you.
Very common. Industry analyses treat shipping markup as normal rather than unusual. Typical markups run 5–15%, and some providers go higher. Assume your 3PL is marking up shipping and ask how much, rather than assuming pass-through and finding out on the first invoice.
Ask for sample carrier invoices from an existing client account and compare what the carrier charged versus what the client was billed. Request a written markup percentage or per-shipment fee in your contract. Ask for audit rights so you can request carrier invoices at any time. A 3PL unwilling to answer these questions directly is a red flag.
Pallet storage typically runs $15–$30 per pallet per month. Bin or shelf storage for smaller items runs $3–$8 per bin per month. Rates vary by market, and Memphis and the Midwest typically run lower than the coasts.
The pick and pack fee covers the labor cost of pulling items from shelves, packing them into a box or poly bag, and preparing the order for shipment. Most 3PLs charge a per-order fee ($2.50–$5.50) plus a per-item fee for orders with multiple SKUs ($0.20–$0.50 per additional item). Some simpler pricing models roll everything into one flat per-order rate.
Sometimes, sometimes not. Some 3PLs include basic packaging in their pick and pack fee. Others bill packaging materials separately, either at cost or with a markup. If you use branded or custom packaging, that's almost always a separate line item billed at cost plus a handling fee.
Many 3PLs have monthly minimums of $500–$2,000, meaning even if your actual usage falls short, you pay the floor. The floor is there to keep the relationship profitable for them at low volume. Ask about minimums upfront, since they're often left out of the initial quote and show up in the contract.
Returns processing is the line left off most often, and at $3–$8 per unit it adds up fast at any real return rate. Onboarding fees ($500–$3,000) for system setup and integration usually don't come up until the contract stage. Account maintenance and reporting fees can appear later too. Ask for a full fee schedule, not just a rate card.
Want to see what our quote looks like?
Matt will walk you through our pricing line by line. No hidden shipping margin, no surprises on the first invoice.