ShipMonk is a fast-growing 3PL provider that began in 2015 as Bedabox, a service that allowed consumers overseas to order products, have them combined into a single shipment, and shipped to them. Since then, they have pivoted into eCommerce fulfillment and have grown rapidly over the last 7 years. In 2020, they raised $290 million to ensure they can continue expanding. While their growth is impressive, it's important to consider how this might affect their customer service, operations, and employees. With investor-led companies, there is a risk that these areas might be neglected, which can directly impact your experience as a customer. It's important to keep in mind that the biggest 3PL provider isn't always the best option.
Our goal here though is to breakdown their fees as best as we can with publicly available information. We're going to be biased by nature which is why we try to highlight fees and stick to facts.
We'll start with the fees you'll encounter prior to starting and then detail fees to work with them.
ShipMonk doesn't have a public implementation or onboarding fee, which is a plus for businesses looking to minimize upfront costs. From our research, it appears that they don't charge an onboarding fee for most customers, but it's worth confirming this with them directly.
Receiving fees are often a significant expense for eCommerce brands, but ShipMonk offers good-faith receiving, which means they don't charge a receiving fee for inventory. However, if you want them to audit your inbound inventory, you'll need to reach out to them to get pricing. They offer hourly work at $45/hour, which is a reasonable rate for auditing inventory.
ShipMonk charges per location for storage with 5 options. The smallest being their "Small Bin" which is about .43 ft and cost $1/month. The next size is their "Medium Bin" which is 23 ft and cost $2/month. After that it's their "Large Bin" which is 33 ft and cost $3/month. For larger items, they have an "XL bin" which is about 43 ft and cost $4/month. Finally, they charge $25/month for a pallet which is about 613 ft. These fees are all monthly and each SKU will need at least one location for storage. They don't say how their operations team chooses the right bin or how they monitor overages.
ShipMonk doesn't charge any ongoing account fees beyond their minimum and storage.
ShipMonk charges a $250/month minimum fee or the total of your monthly storage, whichever is higher, to use their services. This minimum fee can add up quickly, especially for apparel brands that store many SKUs. It's important to consider whether this minimum fee fits within your budget and whether it's worth the cost for your business.
Return processing is an important aspect of eCommerce fulfillment, and ShipMonk charges $2 per order plus $0.50 per item for return processing. However, it's unclear whether this fee includes any sort of inspection, folding, re-tagging, or other similar tasks, as their site only states that they either restock or dispose of the returned item. It's worth confirming with them what exactly is included in their return processing fee and whether there are any additional costs for inspection or other tasks.
While ShipMonk doesn't publicize their shipping fees, they work with all the major carriers and provide discounted postage to their customers. It's unclear how these discounts compare to other 3PL providers and whether they offer competitive rates for shipping.
ShipMonk charges $45/hour for all "special projects," which includes tasks like counting inventory, repackaging products, quality control, bagging products, or any other generic task not included in your plan. While this fee is reasonable, it's important to keep in mind that it can add up quickly, especially for businesses that require many special projects.
ShipMonk says they stock 50+ boxes, polymailers, bubble mailers, etc and bill you for each one used. The price varys from $.15-$2.00 depending on the packaging used. Every order requires packaging of course so this is another fee for each order.
ShipMonk has tiered pricing for their pick and pack. It starts at $3 for 1-500 orders a month and can get as low as $1.80 for 5,000-10,000 orders a month. It's not clear how they determine what tier you'll be in each month or if it changes. They also charge $.35 for each additional item beyond the first item. This pick fee can add up quick as only 1 item is included per order.
ShipMonk charges $.20 per insert that you want to add to an order.
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