How to choose a 3PL when you run your brand from overseas (2026)

To choose a 3PL when you run your brand from overseas, settle who will import the stock first, then compare the full monthly bill (receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, minimums, onboarding and returns) rather than the headline pick fee. Test the warehouse with a small first shipment, and read the liability and exit clauses before you sign. Most 3PLs only quote privately, so this guide uses the few that publish prices, plus Amazon's own rate cards, to show you what the numbers look like. Every figure below was checked on the provider's or regulator's own page on 26 October 2026.

This is written for the founder of a small DTC brand who doesn't live where the customers are: an Australian in Bali selling into the US, UK or Australia, say. Nearly every "best 3PL" page you'll find is written by a 3PL ranking itself, and none of them deal with the fact that you can't drive to the warehouse. So this is a method, not a vendor ranking.

Start with who imports the stock

Before you compare warehouses, decide who will be the importer for each country you ship into, because a 3PL stores goods but usually won't import them for you. If nobody is set up to clear customs, your first container sits at the port while you find a broker.

Selling into the US

In the US, the importer of record files the entry and is responsible for duties. CBP's guide for commercial importers defines the importer of record as the owner, purchaser or a licensed customs broker designated by them, and says entry documents must be filed within 15 calendar days of the shipment arriving. The same guide says a foreign corporation can make entry through a US agent, that the surety on any bond required from a nonresident must be incorporated in the United States, and that a foreign corporation needs a resident agent in the state of the port of entry to accept service of process. That guide was last revised in 2006, so treat it as background and confirm the detail with a licensed customs broker.

The newer rule matters more. CBP's Customs Bulletin of 2 September 2026 says that from 18 September 2026 it will void any importer of record number with inaccurate details on CBP Form 5106. The form needs an IRS EIN, a Social Security number or a CBP-assigned number. The physical address must be the business's actual location and can't be a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, PO box or business service centre. The email address and phone number must belong to the importer, not the broker.

For a founder abroad, that rules out the old shortcut of borrowing a forwarder's address. Many overseas founders form a US company first; our guide to setting up a US LLC as a non-US founder covers that. If you're thinking of skipping the warehouse and posting orders straight from overseas, read shipping to the US after de minimis first.

Selling into Australia

In Australia, the importer (the owner of the goods) or their licensed customs broker lodges the declaration. The Australian Border Force says you must lodge an Import Declaration when a consignment is worth over A$1,000 and is being cleared for home consumption, and you must pay all duties, taxes and charges before release. Most goods worth A$1,000 or less carry no duties, taxes or charges, though they still need a Self-Assessed Clearance declaration if they arrive by air or sea cargo. The ABF encourages first-time or infrequent importers to use a licensed customs broker.

The import processing charge for an electronic declaration is A$50 for consignments over A$1,000 and under A$10,000, and A$152 at A$10,000 or more. A biosecurity charge of A$48 (air) or A$71 (sea) also applies to consignments over A$1,000. Your broker's own fee is on top.

The seven fees that make up a 3PL bill

A 3PL bill is built from seven fee types, and the cheapest pick fee often comes with the most expensive minimum. Most 3PLs don't publish these numbers: ShipBob says "All quotes are customized for each customer", and ShipMonk lists fee types with no rates. The figures below come from the few that do publish.

Receiving

Receiving is where small brands get surprised, because it's billed by the hour or by the pallet and messy shipments take longer. Amplifier charges US$45 an hour for receiving. Fulfillable says palletised goods-in is free, but loose (non-palletised) containers cost £30 per person per hour to unload.

Storage

Storage is billed per bin, shelf or pallet, and the unit matters as much as the rate. Amplifier charges US$1 a month for a small bin, US$2 for a standard bin and US$30 a month for a standard pallet. Fulfillable bills daily: £0.05 a pick bin, £0.15 a shelf and £0.80 a pallet, so a pallet is £24 over a 30-day month. In Australia, NP Fulfilment says its storage typically costs about $18 to $25 per pallet per month, and that the wider Australian market ranges from $15 to $35.

Pick and pack

Pick and pack is usually a fee per order plus a fee per item. Amplifier's table starts at US$2.15 per shipment and US$0.95 per item for 1 to 100 shipments a month, falling to US$1.75 and US$0.70 at 10,001 to 20,000. Fulfillable doesn't publish a pick rate and calls it negotiable as volume rises.

Packaging

Packaging is sometimes free and sometimes a line item per box. ShipBob says its plain standard boxes, poly mailers, bubble mailers, tape and dunnage are free, and if you supply branded packaging you only pay to store it. Fulfillable charges from £0.10 for a mailing bag and £0.45 for a box, and nothing if you supply your own. Amplifier bills freight and packaging separately.

Minimums

The minimum often decides whether a 3PL is realistic for a small brand. ShipMonk's pricing page says it multiplies your monthly order volume by your first-item pick fee and then reduces it by 20%. Fulfillable says "a minimum monthly invoice charge of £1000 applies to all clients" and advises against using it below 300 orders a month, while the same page also says it never imposes a minimum charge. When a page says both, get the answer in writing.

Onboarding and account fees

Some 3PLs charge setup once, others charge an account fee every month. Amplifier's Standard plan is US$100 a month with no commitment and no shipment minimums, and covers up to 10 users. ShipBob lists implementation as one of its standard fees but doesn't publish the amount, and NP Fulfilment says some providers charge a one-off setup fee while others fold it into an ongoing account management fee.

Returns

Returns are billed per return or per item, plus any repackaging. Amplifier charges US$2.00 + US$0.50 for returns handling, and Fulfillable charges from £2.00 per item to scan, grade and sort returns. ShipBob says it charges a flat fee when a return arrives at its fulfilment centre but doesn't publish the amount.

Amazon MCF and FBA: Amazon's published rates

Amazon is the one big fulfilment option that publishes full rate cards, which makes it a useful benchmark even if you never use it. FBA fills orders placed on Amazon. Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) uses the same warehouses to fill orders from your own site, other marketplaces and social channels.

Multi-Channel Fulfillment in the US

MCF's peak rate card, effective 15 October 2026 to 14 January 2027, charges US$7.53 to ship one small standard item of 4 oz or less at standard speed (3 business days). Orders with more units cost less per unit: US$5.17 each for two, US$4.29 for three and US$3.83 for four or more. A large standard item of 1 to 2 lbs is US$10.97 for a single unit. A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies to US MCF fulfilment fees, and returns start at US$3.22 a unit for small standard items.

Storage is US$0.78 per cubic foot a month from January to September and US$2.40 from October to December for standard-size, non-dangerous goods. The rate card says storage and other non-fulfilment fees are the same as FBA. The MCF pricing page offers new MCF sellers 25% off fulfilment fees on their first 100 units. MCF ships in unbranded packaging by default, with standard delivery in 3 business days across 11 countries.

To sell on Amazon itself you also need a selling plan: the Professional plan is US$39.99 a month, plus referral fees such as 15% (minimum US$0.30) in Home and Kitchen. Amazon's US FBA per-unit fee schedule sits in Seller Central help pages that didn't load for us, so use Amazon's Revenue Calculator for FBA fulfilment fees.

FBA and MCF in Australia

Amazon Australia's fee page charges an FBA fulfilment fee of A$4.55 for a small envelope item (up to 75 g) priced A$13 or more, and A$7.34 for a parcel up to 250 g. Storage is A$37.00 per cubic metre a month from January to September and A$51.80 from October to December for standard items. An aged inventory surcharge starts at A$155 per cubic metre for stock held 271 to 300 days. The Professional plan is A$49.95 a month excluding GST. MCF in Australia also ships in unbranded "blank boxes" by default at no extra fee and lists Shopify as a supported integration.

Shopify Fulfillment Network

Shopify's fulfilment network is a directory of partner 3PLs connected to your store, not a warehouse Shopify runs. The Shopify Fulfillment Network app is free to install, says fulfilment is "priced per item" with each product priced by weight, bills in US dollars, and names Flexport, ShipBob, Shipfusion and ShipMonk as partners. Shopify's fulfilment page lists eight partners: Amazon multi-channel fulfillment, Bigblue, DHL, Flexport (marked "Preferred partner"), GoBolt, Mayple Global, ShipBob and Shipfusion. DHL's listing says it starts from 3,000 orders a month. Neither page publishes rates, so treat it as a shortlist and quote each partner the usual way.

Fulfilment options compared

There are four realistic ways to get stock to customers when you live abroad, and the right one depends on where you sell and how much your packaging matters.

Running a 3PL from overseas

Running a 3PL from another time zone works if you set it up so that nothing depends on a phone call. Four things decide it: inventory sync, time zones, the first shipment and audits.

Inventory sync

Your store should take stock levels from the 3PL's system, not the other way round, so overselling can't happen while you sleep. ShipBob's developer guide shows why: every inbound line has an expected, a received and a stowed quantity, and it tells developers to always use the stowed figure, which can be lower if items were damaged or missing. Its example shows 50 expected and 48 stowed.

Time zones

Pick a 3PL whose support works in writing and whose cut-off times you know in your own time zone. Ask for a named contact, a ticket system and a daily report you can read in the morning. Our guide to running a team across time zones covers overlap hours and handovers, and the same habits apply to a warehouse partner.

Receiving your first shipment

Send a small first shipment, not your whole production run, and label every box exactly as the 3PL asks. ShipBob's terms say inbound stock that doesn't follow its receiving instructions becomes an "Unidentified Receiving Order", with delays and extra fees, and that its records of quantity and condition on arrival are "conclusive proof". You can ask for a full count on arrival, for a fee. If you can't be there, that count is worth paying for on the first shipment.

Audits

Audit monthly by comparing units shipped from the factory, units stowed, orders filled and units on hand. ShipBob's terms set a 0.5% shrink allowance, measured on a rolling 12-month basis, and say losses below that aren't reimbursable. Claims for lost or damaged stock are capped at US$1.00 per pound, total liability is capped at the lesser of US$10,000 or three months of fees, and parcels lost in transit are capped at US$100 each. If you sell light, expensive products, a per-pound cap barely covers anything, so insure the stock yourself.

Questions to ask when the quote is private

When a 3PL won't publish prices, send the same list to every provider so you can compare like with like.

1. What is every fee, in writing, including receiving, storage, pick and pack, packaging, account and returns?
2. Is there a monthly minimum, and exactly how is it calculated?
3. How is receiving billed (per hour, pallet, carton or unit), and how fast does stock go live after it arrives?
4. Is storage billed per bin, shelf or pallet, daily or monthly, and does it rise in peak season?
5. Do you supply plain boxes free, and what does storing my branded packaging cost?
6. Who can act as importer of record or recommend a customs broker for my destination country?
7. How do you sync stock levels with Shopify or my other channels?
8. How do you measure shrinkage, and what's the liability cap per unit or per pound?
9. What support hours do you keep, and can everything be handled in writing?
10. How much notice do I need to give to leave, and how long do I have to remove my stock?

Common mistakes

Most expensive 3PL mistakes come from comparing pick fees instead of the whole bill.

• Comparing one line item. At 100 orders a month, a £1,000 minimum works out to £10 an order before postage, however low the pick fee is.
• Leaving the importer question to the warehouse. Since 18 September 2026, CBP voids importer numbers with an address that belongs to a forwarder or broker.
• Sending everything at once. A first shipment with mislabelled boxes can end up as an unidentified receiving order, with delays and fees.
• Ignoring peak storage. Amazon's US storage more than triples from US$0.78 to US$2.40 per cubic foot from October to December.
• Assuming the 3PL insures your stock. A US$1.00 per pound cap won't cover a light, expensive product.
• Forgetting the exit. ShipBob's terms give you 30 days after termination to remove your goods before they're disposed of at your cost.

Where to go from here

Shortlist two or three options from the comparison table, send each the question list, and model the full monthly bill at your current volume and at three times it. If you're still deciding how to get goods into the US at all, start with shipping to the US after de minimis. For peer groups where store owners trade 3PL recommendations, see our comparison of ecommerce communities.

If you run your brand from Bali, Bali Startup & Tech covers the local side. To compare notes with other founders running companies from abroad, join Remote Builders (it's free).