Why 3PL proposals are hard to compare
You request three quotes and get three documents that look nothing alike: one charges per pallet, another per rack position, another is "all inclusive." None is necessarily misleading — but the structure makes the real cost hard to see. This checklist converts any proposal into the same format: seven blocks that must be there, each with an explicit price. Whatever isn't quoted today gets billed tomorrow at whatever price the provider decides.
The 7 blocks every proposal must include
| # | Block | What it must state, at minimum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Receiving (inbound) | How receiving your goods is billed: per hour, unit, box, or container |
| 2 | Storage | Billing unit (pallet, position, m², piece) and how usage is measured |
| 3 | Pick & pack | Rate per order + cost per additional unit in the same order |
| 4 | Packaging materials | Box, filler, tape: included or per piece, and at what price |
| 5 | Shipping | Rates per carrier and zone, and whose account generates the label |
| 6 | Extra services | Returns, kitting, labeling, physical counts: a price for each |
| 7 | SLA with numbers | Committed turnaround times and accuracy, in writing |
Three of these deserve a closer look:
Receiving. It's the first charge you'll see and the one that varies most between providers. We already explained how receiving works at a 3PL and why it's billed — for comparing proposals, what matters is that the billing unit is clear and you can estimate it with your actual merchandise.
Shipping. Ask whether the rates shown are the carrier's or already include the 3PL's margin, and whether you can use your own carrier accounts. Neither answer is "wrong," but it moves the total more than any other block.
SLA. "We ship fast" is not a commitment. "Orders placed before 1 pm ship the same day, 99.5% picking accuracy" is. Which numbers to ask for and what they mean is covered in what a fulfillment SLA is.
The fine print: 6 clauses worth reading twice
- Monthly minimums. Is there a minimum bill? What happens in a slow month? A reasonable minimum is normal; a high one turns your variable cost into a fixed one.
- Per-SKU fees. Some providers charge by number of active SKUs. If your catalog is wide and slow-moving, this line can exceed your storage bill.
- Peak-season rates. Does the per-order price go up in November-December? Better to know in July than to discover it during Buen Fin.
- Setup fees and annual charges. One-time integration or "account maintenance" fees. Legitimate when explained upfront; suspicious when they appear after signing.
- Exit clause. How much notice do you need to leave? What does pulling your inventory out (the removal) cost? Do you get your history and data back? A provider confident in its service doesn't chain you down.
- Insurance and liability. Up to how much does the operator answer for damaged or lost goods — and against which value (cost or retail price)?
How to use the checklist without drowning
Don't hunt for the cheapest proposal line by line: hunt for the most complete and comparable one. Build a scenario with your real numbers — this many orders per month, this many units per order, this many pallets stored — and ask every provider for the total cost of that scenario. It's the same exercise we ran in how much a 3PL costs in Mexico, and it puts unit prices in perspective: cheap pick & pack with expensive shipping usually costs more than the other way around.
The takeaway
A good 3PL proposal isn't the one that promises the most: it's the one that leaves everything priced before you sign — the seven blocks quoted and the six clauses unambiguous. If a provider avoids putting a number on something, that something is exactly what will end up costing you. At Ecommex we operate as a 3PL in Mexico with proposals that break down all seven blocks — because a brand that understands its quote is a client that stays.