What Is a 3PL Monthly Minimum?

A 3PL monthly minimum is the least a fulfillment company will bill you in a month, however few orders you ship. What happens in a slow month depends on how the minimum is written. Under some contracts you pay the difference to bring your bill up to the floor; under others, a separate charge is added on top of your normal fees.

Pay the difference or a fee on top

With a pay-the-difference minimum, sometimes called a creditable minimum, your normal fees count toward the floor. If they come in short, you're billed only the gap, so your total for the month equals the minimum.

With a fee-on-top minimum, falling short triggers a separate shortfall or low-volume charge that's added to everything you already owe. Two minimums with the same headline number can produce very different bills in the same slow month, so read how the contract handles a shortfall, not just the amount.

The common kinds of minimum

A breakdown of 3PL minimum charges from Interstate Warehousing Solutions lists three kinds. A 3PL may use one of them or combine them:

• Billing minimum: your total fees have to reach a dollar amount each month, and if they don't, you pay the minimum anyway.
• Order minimum: you commit to a set number of orders a month. Falling short can mean a penalty fee, or the 3PL may not take you on at all.
• Storage minimum: you pay for a set amount of warehouse space, such as a number of pallets, whatever you ship.

What counts toward the minimum

Two quotes with the same minimum aren't necessarily the same deal, because 3PLs count different charges toward it. Some include postage. Many apply the minimum to fulfillment fees only, which makes the number look lower than one that includes shipping. Before comparing two minimums, ask each 3PL which charges count.

What "no minimum" means

A 3PL with no minimum puts no floor under your monthly bill. It doesn't mean there are no fixed costs: storage, setup or account fees can still apply. And a provider without a stated minimum may still have a volume it prefers. One fulfillment company with no set order minimums says it generally works with companies shipping hundreds to thousands of orders a month. Compare total monthly cost at your real volume, not the label.

How Simpl's minimum works

Simpl's minimum is $750 a month, billed pay-the-difference: if a month's order billing comes in under $750, you're charged only the gap. It's a floor, not a flat monthly fee, with orders priced starting at $7/order. Because our per-order rate includes postage, packaging, up to three picks and packing, the minimum works out to roughly 90–100 orders a month for light packages on standard shipping. Heavier, larger or faster shipments reach it with fewer orders.

If you're shipping well below that, packing orders yourself a while longer is usually the better call. Our pricing page has the details.