Questions to ask a 3PL before you sign, grouped by what the answer reveals.

Before you sign with a 3PL, ask questions that make the warehouse show you a measurement, a unit or a procedure instead of a promise. Group them by what the answer reveals: accuracy, cutoff and SLA, how each line is billed, receiving, returns, peak, integrations, who you talk to, and how you leave. A good answer has a number, a unit and a method in it. A weak one has an adjective.

Ask every 3PL the same list, in writing, and keep the answers side by side. Where a question has a number in it, ask for it on your own data: your last three months of orders with weights and zip codes, your SKU list, your returns count. A rate card answers a hypothetical order; a quote on your orders answers you.

Accuracy: how do you know an order is right before it ships?

Accuracy is the question most 3PLs answer with an adjective. Ask what the pick and pack error rate is, how it is measured, and what holds it there. The rate means little until you know the denominator: errors per order, per unit or per line, and whether a wrong size the customer never reported counts. Ask for last month’s number, not the one on the website.

A good answer names a method. Every variant barcoded at receiving. Every unit scanned against the order before it goes in the box, so a multi-unit order is several scans, not one glance. Look-alike sizes and shades in separate bins. Cycle counts that reconcile the shelf to the system on a schedule you can see. Careful people are not a method. Then ask who pays for the reship when a mispick gets through, and how fast it leaves.

Cutoff, SLA and peak: when does an order ship, and what counts as shipped?

Ask for the cutoff as a time with a time zone, the SLA as a count of business days, and the definition of shipped. Shipped should mean the carrier has scanned the parcel, not that a label was printed. A label printed on time on a parcel that waits for the next pickup is a late order with a good-looking report. Ask where you can watch the SLA and what happens to orders that miss it.

Then ask what changes in peak, because the SLA and the rates can both move in the fourth quarter. A good answer states both: how many business days the SLA becomes, from what date, and whether handling or storage carry a seasonal surcharge. Ask how they staff a spike you call at short notice, and ask for one they can describe step by step. Planning peak season with your 3PL has the timeline.

Billing: what is the unit on every line?

A quote is a list of units, and the units decide the bill. Quotes with the same headline rate produce different invoices when the units underneath differ. For every line, ask what the unit is, when it is measured, and when it is invoiced.

• Handling: per order or per item? If per item, what does the second unit cost, and what does a kit count as?
• Storage: per cubic foot, per bin or per pallet? When is the cube measured?
• Returns and receiving: per parcel or per unit returned? Per pallet, per carton or per hour inbound, and what does the charge become when cartons arrive unlabeled or the count is off?
• Packaging and postage: packaging billed as used or bundled into handling? Postage billed how, how often, and traceable to one order per line?
• Setup, software, dashboard, account management, special-project labor: is any of these its own line, and at what rate?

Then ask what is not on the rate card. Peak surcharges and account fees tend to sit in a schedule, not on the card. Carriers add their own demand surcharges in the holiday season: FedEx publishes a schedule of them, says it applies them during times of elevated volumes and high demand for capacity, and reserves the right to reassess or reinstate them (FedEx demand surcharges, as of October 2026). Ask how a carrier surcharge appears on your postage invoice, separately from any surcharge of the 3PL’s own on handling or storage. The hidden 3PL fees checklist lists every line that can sit outside the headline rates.

Receiving and returns: the lines that grow when something goes wrong

Receiving is the first thing a 3PL does with your stock and the first place a bill grows. Ask what a clean inbound looks like to them, in writing: a label on every carton, one SKU per carton, a packing list, advance notice with counts. Ask what they do when the count does not match, and whether the discrepancy shows on your dashboard or arrives in an email. Ask whether lot and expiry dates are captured at receiving if your product needs them. How to send inventory to a 3PL has the inbound checklist.

Returns are their own work: receive the parcel, open it, grade the contents, restock what is sellable, set aside what is not, and tell your store so the refund can fire. Ask who writes the grading rules, how long a return waits after it arrives, whether the refund can fire on receipt through your store, and whether they work with your returns portal. Ask what you get to see afterward: which SKUs come back, and why. How 3PL returns processing works covers the flow.

Integrations and data: what syncs, and what do I see?

Ask what connects natively and what connects through a middle layer, because the middle layer is where orders get stuck. Ask which direction each piece of data moves: orders in, inventory out, tracking out, refunds out. Ask whether a subscription order, an Amazon order and a TikTok Shop order draw on one inventory pool.

If you sell on Shopify, ask how the 3PL will appear in your store. In Shopify a third-party logistics service can be treated as a location, and order routing rules can assign online orders automatically based on inventory availability and proximity (Shopify Help Center: Locations, as of October 2026). Each location keeps its own inventory count (Shopify Help Center: inventory for multiple locations and apps, as of October 2026). So ask which location your orders will route to on the first day, and who turns the old one off. How a 3PL connects to Shopify has the test plan.

Live inventory by SKU, order status and SLA tracking on a screen you can open, or a report that arrives monthly? Ask whether the dashboard is the one the warehouse runs on, and whether it costs extra. A good answer is the floor’s own screen, open to you from the day you go live.

Who you talk to, and how you leave

Ask who picks up when something breaks late in the day before a drop: a named account manager, a shared inbox or a ticket queue. Ask whether anyone you can reach has run a brand, because the person deciding whether to hold the truck should know what a missed launch costs. Ask what the standing rhythm is after go-live: a weekly review of order flow, SLA and inventory, or a monthly report.

Then ask how you leave, before you arrive. Most 3PL agreements set a notice period and an exit process; ask for both in writing. Who runs the final count, and is it a physical count signed by both sides? How long from notice until the inventory ships out? Who disconnects your store, and when? A 3PL that answers these calmly plans to keep you by doing the work well, not by making it hard to go. 3PL contract terms explained takes the clauses one by one, and how to switch 3PLs without missing a day covers the move.

How these questions are answered at YNK

The rates below are estimates, confirmed in your quote once we see your volume and profile.

The whole card is on the pricing page and the longer answers are in the FAQ. Veiled and Nominal are the records behind the accuracy and peak rows. For these answers on your own numbers, the intake takes about ten minutes.

The checklist to bring to every 3PL call

• What is your pick and pack error rate, how is it measured, and what holds it there?
• What is your cutoff, in which time zone, and what is the SLA in business days?
• Does shipped mean a carrier scan or a printed label, and where do I watch the SLA?
• What changes in peak: the SLA, the rates or both, and how do you staff a spike?
• For every line: what is the unit, when is it measured, and when is it invoiced?
• How is postage billed, how often, and how does a carrier surcharge appear on it?
• What does a clean inbound look like to you, and what happens when the count does not match?
• How is a return received, graded and restocked, and can the refund fire on receipt through my store?
• Which platforms connect natively, and do all channels draw on one inventory pool?
• Who do I call when something breaks, and what is the standing review rhythm?
• What is the exit process: final count, timing, last invoice, who disconnects the store?
• Will you price my last three months of orders, with weights and zip codes, at your units?

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