3PL Cost Calculator
Estimate your monthly 3PL bill from the numbers you already know: order volume, items per order, storage, and returns. Start with industry benchmark rates, then override them with your own rate card for a precise number.
This is the quoted cost. Two things it leaves out on purpose:
- Shipping: carrier rates are passed through (sometimes marked up). Too variable to estimate honestly without your lanes.
- The fees that wreck budgets: long-term storage surcharges (charged by ~half of 3PLs), dimensional-weight rebills, and address-correction charges. These don't show up in a quote. They show up on the invoice.
The gap between the quote and the actual invoice is exactly what 3PL Pulse surfaces, measured from your own Shopify order data.
What this includes
Pick & pack
The per-order fulfillment fee, usually a higher rate for the first item and a smaller rate for each additional item in the order.
Storage
Monthly warehousing, most commonly billed per pallet. Bins and cubic feet are also common. Override the per-pallet rate to match your unit.
Returns, account & setup
Per-return processing, optional monthly account management, and a setup fee amortized across your first year. Toggle the ones that apply.
Monthly minimum
Most 3PLs enforce a monthly minimum. If your estimated usage falls below it, you still pay the floor. The calculator flags when that happens.
Why the quote and the invoice don't match
A rate card gives you a clean quote. The invoice rarely matches it, because the costliest fees aren't in the quote: long-term storage surcharges (charged by roughly half of 3PLs on aged inventory), dimensional-weight rebills (carriers reweigh packages weeks later), peak-season surcharges, and address-correction charges that surface only after the fact.
This calculator deliberately leaves shipping and those surcharges out, because estimating them honestly requires your actual order and invoice data. That gap, quoted versus actual, is the whole point of measuring fulfillment from your own data instead of trusting the rate card.
About the defaults
The default rates are typical ranges from published 3PL rate cards and industry surveys, last reviewed June 2026. They are starting points, not a specific data set, and rates drift year to year (carriers raised base rates again for 2026).
For a number you can actually plan against, open Override rates with your own rate card and replace the defaults with your provider's real figures. The estimate is only as good as the rates you feed it.
Related
- SLA Breach Cost Calculator: what late shipments are costing you in unclaimed credits
- Find a 3PL: matchmaking services for ecommerce brands choosing or switching providers
- 3PL Pulse pricing: flat monthly, no per-order fees
These tools and APIs are free and public. We'll do our best to keep them stable, but response shapes may evolve and uptime isn't guaranteed. For production SLA tracking with full reliability, use 3PL Pulse.
Have a suggestion or found an issue? Let us know.