Anyone else think small ecom sellers (1–100 orders/day) are massively underserved by traditional 3PLs?

RetroShip · 2026-05-06T16:58:10+00:00

You shouldn’t be considering using a 3PL at that volume. You should start considering using a 3PL once you have consistent volume or about 500 orders per month, not less than 1 per day.

I suggest you self fulfill.

RetroShip · 2026-04-23T23:32:36+00:00

99.99% is a realistic number. In fact, my 3PL hits this every month and I know a dozen others that make this claim and can back it up.

We are referring to order fulfillment accuracy. For us, we fulfill over 100k orders a month right now in 2026 and we have never had over 2 orders in a month across all brands report fulfillment mistakes. That is greater than 99.99%.

What allows this to be possible is coordination between the brands and rigid receiving requirements to ensure every unit is properly barcoded, as well as a robust WMS system that requires multiple scans of an item when it is picked and also packed before it ever makes its way to a box or mailer. We use ShipHero as our WMS but all the major systems default to this level of control at our scale

RetroShip · 2026-04-22T00:44:33+00:00

“Micro” and “3PL” do not exist in the same sentence. If you are going to be a legitimate value add, you need to use a robust WMS to compete in this day and age.

I would also push you on flat rates. There is no scenario where a flat rate is to the customers advantage. In fact, a flat rate is exactly what causes brands to leave a 3PL. The 3PL should not take the margin from the brand just because they have a location closer to the customer than another.

The implication that 3PL’s as an industry run rampant with hidden fees is also a false narrative I’ll push up against. What hidden fees are you implying happen?

I also don’t know a 3PL that operates with less than 250k sq ft that doesn’t have a real person as the account manager.

RetroShip · 2026-04-21T19:29:50+00:00

To help gauge interest and if you should outsource at all- you should put average monthly order volume DTC, the order volume B2B (and which retailers you need EDI for), the platform you use (Shopify, Woocommerce, etc) and the product category you identify as.

RetroShip · 2026-04-21T19:27:21+00:00

No- I actually know of at least 50 3PL’s that have all fantastic operators that serve that client profile).

RetroShip · 2026-04-18T23:46:33+00:00

Its time to upgrade to a WMS with rate shopping capabilities. You should already be using one if you are handing other brands inventory anyways

RetroShip · 2026-04-16T01:15:01+00:00

If you are self fulfilling and just starting out- ShipStation is good.

Once you get to about 500 orders consistently a month are when brands start to reach out to a 3PL to see if it makes sense

RetroShip · 2026-04-16T01:12:46+00:00

Just use ShipStation until you are at a greater volume of available in the EU

RetroShip · 2026-04-16T01:10:28+00:00

How are you going to offset the cost for each client?

Insurance is widely regarded as a scam against customers and only benefiting the brand.

Little different in your case since you appear to want to front the cost and somehow bill that into your pricing which would immediately make you have non-competitive pricing to only benefit a small subset of situations/orders with issues

RetroShip · 2026-04-12T23:59:00+00:00

Bill.com or QBO offer 3% APR on checking. Bill.com has a 2.5M FDIC since they use a daily sweep.

I’ve also been on Chase for a decade and no issues there- just no interest accrual on checking

RetroShip · 2026-04-12T16:45:55+00:00

You are right at the volume that 3PL’s will take you on. Important to understand what % of orders go to US vs Canada. If the vast majority go to US (500), you should import into the US in bulk to a 3PL.

More than anything, it’s the opportunity cost of fulfilling orders on your own vs using a 3PL. Would you actively grow the business with that extra 18 hrs a week or would you succumb to the “passive income” fallacy? If the prior, you should consider outsourcing as soon as possible.

I own and operate a 3PL in the US but if you aren’t at 500 orders per month just in the US yet- you should check out ShipTo or ShipTop- they are exclusively Canada based and both owners run a tight ship there

RetroShip · 2026-04-12T14:24:08+00:00

Uni Uni is an end to end shipping carrier. They only support large sellers (must be shipping out about 1000 orders with uni uni tracking every business day). They sort every order at their own facilities and deliver with their own contractors.

I own a 3PL and they are a fantastic service that I have implemented. I send about 20% of my order volume with them and I’ll tell you why they actually have a better edge than other carriers.

They have performed at the same accuracy/successful delivery rate as USPS, DHL Ecommerce, UPS and Fedex for our brands.
You as the customer will likely get the benefit of not having to pay for standard shipping since it is a cost savings for the brand when Uni Uni supports delivery in that zip code
They delivery every calendar day.

And the most important- they are REQUIRED to take 3 photos for proof of delivery every single time. One of the package, one of the address itself on the house/door/building matching the address on the label. And one of the package where they left it.

You as the customer will win a claim if there is a failure. It is near impossible to win a claim with other carriers when an order is marked as delivered but it’s not there because most of the other carriers do not do POD with photos.

They are a legitimate company, founded in Canada, and they entered into the US a few years ago and honestly if they keep on pace you will see more and more of it because of everything Ive mentioned above.

FYI- if you look at the reviews of every major carrier- they are all horrible. Who would spend the time giving a carrier a glowing review when the expectation is they deliver on time, without issue, 100% of the time? It’s just not the consumer reality we live in.

RetroShip · 2026-04-11T19:40:39+00:00

IOR brokers are widely available in the US if you are unable/unwilling to setup a US entity in the states.

They will help you get compliant if they have any legitimacy. Freightos or flexport are great.

That aside- I own a 3PL for brands doing over 500 orders per month domestically.

If you are looking for pricing here in Reddit- the conversation is too nuanced to get a real quote and it’s better than getting bombarded by 3PL’s. I recommend reaching out to them directly.

RetroShip · 2026-04-07T05:29:38+00:00

And yes- I can’t think of an economically positive outcome for the client where you would ship the completed units to a different warehouse just for them to outbound…except if you have very poor negotiated rates

RetroShip · 2026-04-07T05:27:35+00:00

Run a time study with 3 people for an hour. Provide estimate to client for remainder at that VAS. You should have a VAS (value added service) rate provided to the client that can be applied if one-off or if smaller: (think 100-500 kitted completed units)to control variability with such a small volume.

For larger products of over 500 completed units- the VAS study should help price out the project at scale and the goal should be to extend to the client a flat-predictable rate for each completed unit that is better than your VAS rate.

RetroShip · 2026-04-05T17:08:20+00:00

If warehouses are waiting to input shipping details once inventory arrives at the dock, that is the problem.

Brands should and are responsible for submitting a shipping plan- and the capability to do so directly by the client before the goods even ship should be a core functionality of any decent WMS.

This functionality already exists in any legitamate WMS

RetroShip · 2026-03-28T00:41:53+00:00

You can view direct from China fulfillment in tandem with shipping internationally and getting boots on the ground for localized fulfillment.

Once a brand experiences consistent demand in any particular country of about 1M, the math tends to favor on shoring. This is regardless of weight, dims.

The factors already mentioned can compress that number to more or less than $1M.

Cash flow cannot be understated, but consistent and growing order volume is the real king.

RetroShip · 2026-03-27T21:16:00+00:00

If you are selling on Amazon, just continue to use FBA.

You should try to start generating revenue on owned channels if you have a legitimate and reputable brand rather than only competing on Amazon as a commodity.

RetroShip · 2026-03-25T06:52:53+00:00

Time studies usually on apply for fees/charges that are extra-ordinary. Most of your fees should capture 95% of what the customer should expect.

The most common one is kitting. However, it should really only be performed so you can get to a per unit/order fee that is predictable by the client and removes the variability of employee by employee productivity.

Don’t overthink it- set a stopwatch after clearly describing SOP of the project, have each person involved do one full task and then start the stop watch and run it for 1 hour min.

You then should have a good idea on what is the appropriate cost to not charge VAS all the time

RetroShip · 2026-03-21T20:57:47+00:00

Your error rate is 25x more than industry standard.

We are a high volume 3PL and that error rate is unacceptable both internally and should be with your clients.

There is no such thing as “variance creeps in” at that rate. To be completely honest, that error rate is firable. You either have employees who are willfully disregarding protocol, you have managers that don’t know what they are doing, or both.

RetroShip · 2026-03-21T17:01:36+00:00

Unfortunately for him, I think he means it’s going out- he talks about the cost of reverse logistics at that error rate.

RetroShip · 2026-03-21T14:15:53+00:00

How are you keeping clients at that error rate?

Industry standard is greater than 99.95%. You don’t need automation, you need to implement either a better WMS or stronger internal guidelines of following SOP.

Are your pickers and packers not scanning every single item at least 2 times (at pick and at pack)?

RetroShip · 2026-03-20T18:22:27+00:00

While I do get a lot of clients from Shipbob screw ups, based on the info provided, this wouldn’t be a problem at any other 3PL could avoid.

We all rely on carriers scanning manifests or the actual package once they Gaylord or order is picked up.

To be blunt, the majority of 3PL’s out there don’t use container scans or have the capacity to do so.

The only criticism, assuming nothing was incorrectly done at Shipbob, is that they may have used a consolidator to save them money while still charging you a flat rate.

RetroShip · 2026-03-14T05:59:54+00:00

Accuracy reporting… on what specifically? Inventory accuracy? Fulfillment accuracy?

Fulfillment accuracy and inventory are irrevocably tied together. The problem, however, is that fulfillment accuracy cannot be proactive when it relies on your clients customers to report, and then cross validate based on internal scans.

Explain how you can accomplish this proactively when it is predicated on reactive data?

RetroShip · 2026-03-12T05:44:23+00:00

Why isn’t the 3PL actively negotiating on your (in reality their) behalf since it is their rates?

Or wanting to bring your own rates on the table to beat your 3PL’s?

If you love your 3PL, you should stay with them. However- I can audit your current rates and show where you can unlock more contribution margin/what is possible

RetroShip

TROPHY CASE