Every charge on a 3PL invoice, explained

A 3PL bills for activities, not for orders, so one monthly invoice is really a dozen different price lists applied to a month of work. Here’s what each charge type pays for, how it’s normally priced, and the single most useful thing to check on each.

Inbound: getting stock into the warehouse

Receiving. Unloading and checking in your inbound shipment. Priced per container, per pallet, per carton, per unit, or by the hour, and which unit your contract names matters enormously: the same delivery can be 4 pallets or 2,000 units. Check: that the unit billed is the unit in your contract, and that one delivery wasn’t billed twice under two references.

Putaway. Moving received stock into its storage location, usually per pallet or carton. Some contracts include it in receiving, others price it separately. Check: that you’re not paying for both under two names.

Storage: paying for space

Storage. Charged per location per month — pallet, bin, shelf, or by cubic foot — and sometimes daily or weekly. The measure and the moment of measurement are everything. Check: how your contract says occupancy is measured (a snapshot on a date, an average over the month, or daily), and whether empty or partly used locations are being billed as full.

Long-term storage surcharge. An extra charge on stock that sits past a threshold, often after 6 or 12 months. Check: the threshold date and that the surcharge stopped when the stock moved.

Outbound: picking, packing, shipping

First pick and additional picks. Nearly every 3PL prices the first item of an order differently from each additional one. It’s the single most common place a rate error compounds, because it applies to every order you ship. Check: that a five-item order was billed as one first pick and four additional picks, not five firsts.

Pack. Packing the order, usually per order. Sometimes it’s bundled into the pick fee. Check: that it isn’t charged both ways.

Packaging materials. Boxes, mailers, dunnage, inserts, priced per item used. Check: the box actually used, not a default. Oversized packaging costs twice: once here, and again in dimensional weight on the shipping line.

Kitting and assembly. Building bundles or kits, per kit or per labor hour. Check: that the quantity matches the kits you asked for, and that a kit built once isn’t billed each time it ships.

Rebilled shipping (postage). The carrier’s charge, passed through to you, sometimes with a stated markup. This is often the largest line on the invoice and the least examined. Check: that the weight and service match the carrier’s own invoice, and that any markup matches what your contract allows; the dimensional weight calculator shows what a box should bill at.

Returns and the rest

Returns processing. Receiving, inspecting and restocking a return, per return or per unit. Check: that a return isn’t also billed as a receipt.

Special projects. Ad hoc labor: relabeling, inspections, rework, photography. Almost always hourly, and almost always the charge type with the least paperwork behind it. Check: that someone on your side approved it in writing, and that the hours are itemized.

Inventory counts. Cycle counts or a full physical count, per count or by the hour. Check: whether your contract includes a number of counts a year before charges start.

Monthly minimum. If your activity falls below an agreed floor, you’re billed the difference. Check: the clause that says what counts toward the minimum. Some contracts count everything you spend, including postage and packaging; others count only warehouse services. The difference decides whether a top-up charge is right at all, and it’s the most misread sentence in 3PL contracts.

Account and technology fees. Fixed monthly charges for the platform, the integration or the account itself. Check: that they stopped when a service did, and that a “per integration” fee doesn’t repeat for the same integration.

Accessorials and anything labeled “other” or “misc”. Legitimate on their own, but each should trace to a price in your contract or to work you approved. Check: every one of them, every month. A charge nobody can explain is the easiest to get credited, and the step-by-step method walks through the whole invoice.

The two-minute version

If you only have a few minutes a month, look at three things: pick fees (they repeat on every order), storage (it repeats on every pallet), and anything labeled “other” (it repeats because nobody questions it). A rate that’s a few cents off in any of those costs more over a year than a single alarming-looking charge.