by Nish George, CEO
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When vetting a 3PL (third-party logistics provider), insist on invoicing transparency. Request sample invoices and real shipment quotes to expose hidden fees and untrustworthy billing systems.
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Could you imagine getting a credit card statement with 1 line on it: “Services: $50K”, with no detail for where that $50K went? Unacceptable, right? Unfortunately, that’s exactly how some 3PLs bill their brands. They hate answering billing questions, so they make it as painful as possible for you to analyze your invoice and hold them accountable to your agreed rates.
You need more from your 3PL invoices than “just trust us”. As a brand owner, you need to understand your exact costs for each individual order. Without that transparency, you’ll have no idea what you need to charge your customers on different sales channels or for different shipping methods (like express or international shipping).
As a brand owner, you need to understand your exact costs for each individual order.
So how do you know your 3PL invoices will have enough detail? And how can you predict what the 3PL will charge? Easy! First, ask for an example invoice. Then, ask the 3PL to quote a handful of specific shipments you’ve done before, including postage. Now watch for these red flags:
This means the 3PL likely doesn’t bill accurately or in detail, and they’re hoping you don’t find out until after signing. There is nothing preventing a 3PL from blanking out sensitive data from another customer’s invoice and sharing the overall structure and attachments.
This means the 3PL either has awful carrier rates, or they have no experience with the fulfillment you need. There is nothing contractually stopping a 3PL from telling you what they’ll charge you for example shipments. The only situation where fulfillment quoting is time-intensive is if you have a truly custom packout, i.e. custom inserts, different packing slips for different sales channels, extra quality-control checks before shipping, etc.
If the 3PL does not itemize your order-level costs, well done - you found the one-line credit card statement. Run!
At Fetch Fulfillment, we take accurate and transparent billing seriously. In fact, we’ve partnered with Rails to launch a metered billing system which gives brands daily visibility into their exact costs to ship every single order. Because we believe transparency and trust are the foundation of every relationship.
Coming soon: the "Show Me The Late Orders" Test
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Fetch Fulfillment is a New Jersey-based 3PL for brand owners who want direct-to-consumer fulfillment to be the least stressful part of their business. Most 3PLs are good at one thing, like shipping on-time, or having modern tech, or picking up the phone. What makes Fetch unique is that it's stellar at all 3: it provides high-end boutique-grade customer service -- as seen in its glowing reviews and +92 net promoter score -- combined with its real-time cutting-edge tech and well-managed operation, with 99.2% same-day shipping and 99.95% order fill-rate. The Fetch team lives by its motto: they are Your Brand's Best Friend.
