3PL Fulfillment Services for eCommerce Brands
Every order you pack yourself is an order that isn't growing your brand. In-house fulfillment works until volume outgrows the team: a stockout nobody caught, a peak-season hire who quit mid-December, a shipping rate you can't negotiate down alone. AMZ Prep runs receiving, storage, pick and pack, Amazon FBA prep, and retail EDI shipping from one inventory pool, so your team gets its time back and your orders still go out same day.
What managing fulfillment yourself actually costs
None of these show up on a spreadsheet until they've already cost you an order, a customer, or a quarter of margin.
Fixed warehouse overhead
Rent and utilities get paid whether you're using 20% of the space or 95% of it. A 3PL bills by pallet used, not square footage leased.
Fix: pay-per-pallet storage, no fixed leaseStaffing that swings with demand
A team sized for your average month can't absorb a holiday spike, and a team sized for December sits idle in March.
Fix: warehouse staffing included, scaled to order volumeRetail shipping rates
Without enterprise volume, you pay list-price carrier rates. A 3PL spreads its negotiated rates across every brand it ships for, you included.
Fix: enterprise carrier rates from day oneA scaling ceiling
Growing past your current space means leasing more, buying more equipment, and hiring further ahead of revenue, every time.
Fix: capacity across 50+ warehouses, no lease renegotiationActive order execution, not passive storage
A warehouse stores inventory. A 3PL fulfillment provider does more: it receives inventory, stores it, and then actively executes against it every time an order comes in, picking, packing, shipping, and handling the return if one comes back. That's the line between renting space and outsourcing fulfillment.
- You retain full ownership of your inventory at all times
- Orders route in automatically from connected sales channels
- Technology, staffing, and warehouse space are all included in the service
- Zero placement fees, and rates published upfront instead of quoted blind
3PL Fulfillment vs. In-House
The real tradeoff isn't control versus convenience. It's fixed cost and fixed ceiling versus variable cost and open capacity.
| Factor | In-House | 3PL Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse cost | Fixed rent and utilities, regardless of volume | Pay per pallet actually used |
| Staffing | Hire, train, and manage warehouse staff yourself | Included in the service, scaled to volume |
| Shipping rates | Retail carrier pricing | Enterprise rates from combined shipping volume |
| Peak season | Hire and train temp staff under deadline pressure | Capacity reserved and staffed in advance |
| Technology | Buy, integrate, and maintain your own WMS | Included, already integrated with major sales channels |
| Scalability | Lease more space and re-equip it to grow | Instant capacity across the existing network |
| Multi-location | Negotiate and manage each site separately | One partner, 50+ sites, one dashboard |
Where 3PL Fulfillment Costs Actually Come From
Most 3PL quotes show a per-unit rate and stop there. These are the conditions that actually move your bill, and how AMZ Prep's model handles each one.
| Cost Driver | What Triggers It | AMZ Prep Model |
|---|---|---|
| Placement fees | Many 3PLs charge a fee just to shelve new inventory | Zero placement fees, published upfront |
| Storage | Billed by leased square footage rather than actual usage | Priced per pallet used, not space reserved |
| Receiving | Manual counting and SKU verification slows inbound processing | System-verified check-in against your SKU data |
| Pick & pack labor | Multi-SKU orders and custom packaging take longer to fulfill | Built into standard pack flow, not billed as a per-order add-on |
| Technology | A WMS and channel integrations bought and maintained separately | Included, pre-integrated with Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, and more |
| Peak-season staffing | Order volume spikes without capacity reserved in advance | Seasonal capacity planned ahead of peak demand |
50+ Fulfillment Centers, Every Sales Channel, One Inventory Pool
The specifics of AMZ Prep's US and Canada warehouse network, per-channel setup for Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop, and industry-by-industry handling live on a dedicated page, so this one can stay focused on whether and how a 3PL fits your business.
Which Brands Benefit from 3PL Fulfillment
Amazon FBA sellers
Zero rejected shipments, 5-way split routing, and 2 to 4 day check-in through the Middle Mile network.
Shopify & DTC brands
Custom branded packaging, same-day order processing, and 1 to 2 day ground shipping across the US.
Multi-channel & international brands
One inventory pool across every channel, cross-border logistics, and a single dashboard for the whole operation.
See What Brands and Agencies Say About AMZ Prep
From DTC brands scaling fulfillment to top eCommerce agencies managing logistics for their entire client portfolio, AMZ Prep delivers results worth talking about.
Client Story
How 437 Reduced Fulfillment Costs by 30% and Achieved 2-Day Delivery
DTC swimwear brand 437 cut shipping costs by 30% and hit 2-day delivery across North America after switching to AMZ Prep.
Agency Partner
CEO of Emplicit Reveals Why AMZ Prep Beat Every Other Amazon 3PL Provider
Leading Amazon agency Emplicit trusts AMZ Prep to fulfill for their entire client roster after evaluating dozens of 3PLs.
Warehouse Tour
How We Maintain 99% Inventory Accuracy at Scale
An inside look at AMZ Prep's warehouse operations, quality control systems, and the processes behind 99.8% accuracy at 10M+ units per month.
3PL Fulfillment Questions, Answered
Third party logistics. A 3PL takes over warehousing, order fulfillment, and shipping on a brand's behalf, instead of the brand leasing space, hiring staff, and negotiating carrier rates itself.
Ask for the accuracy rate over the last 12 months, not just an advertised average. Ask what's excluded from the quoted rate: placement fees, minimum storage commitments, and peak-season surcharges are the most common hidden costs. Ask how a stockout or a missed SLA gets resolved, and whether you get a named contact or a ticket queue. Ask what happens to your data and integrations if you switch providers later.
Inventory ships to the 3PL's warehouse and is checked in against your SKU counts. Orders flow in automatically from your connected sales channels, get picked and packed to your specifications, and ship out with a carrier label generated the same day. You keep visibility through a dashboard the whole way through.
Costs are typically built from receiving, storage, pick and pack, and shipping, priced against your actual volume and SKU profile rather than a flat rate. AMZ Prep charges zero placement fees and publishes starting rates rather than quoting blind. Get a custom quote based on your order volume and SKU mix.
Most brands outsource once fulfillment starts exceeding what the team can handle accurately, typically around 100 or more monthly orders. The earlier signal is usually operational, not a specific order count: missed SLAs, stockouts from poor visibility, or a founder spending more time packing boxes than growing the brand.
FBA only fulfills orders placed on Amazon. A multi-channel brand selling on Shopify, Walmart, or its own site alongside Amazon needs a full-service 3PL like AMZ Prep to fulfill every channel from one inventory pool, including FBA prep for the Amazon side.
The brand does, at all times. A 3PL stores and ships inventory on your behalf, but ownership, control, and visibility into stock levels stay with you throughout.
Yes. AMZ Prep integrates Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop, and more from a single inventory pool, so stock syncs in real time and you don't oversell on one channel while sitting on inventory in another.
Typically 3 to 5 weeks from initial consultation to go-live, covering inventory transfer, system integration, and testing before your first live order ships.
