What a third-party logistics provider does, how it works, what it costs, and how to tell when your brand is ready to outsource fulfilment.
A 3PL (third-party logistics provider) is a company that stores your stock and picks, packs and ships your orders for you, so you can focus on growing your brand instead of packing boxes.
The "third party" is the warehouse partner that sits between you (the first party, the seller) and your customer (the second party). Instead of running your own warehouse, hiring packers and negotiating courier rates, you send your stock to a 3PL. Your online store connects to their system, orders flow in automatically, and they get each one out of the door, usually the same day.
You pay for what you use: storage, a fee per order and per item picked, packaging and postage. As your sales grow, the 3PL grows with you, so you never have to find a bigger unit or hire more staff to keep up.
Pallet, shelf and bin storage, with stock counted regularly and visible live in your portal.
Find out more →Every order picked, packed and handed to the right courier. With us, orders in by 12pm go out the same day.
Find out more →Cases and pallets for retailers, wholesalers and marketplaces like Amazon, alongside your D2C orders.
Find out more →Gift sets, bundles, subscription boxes and promotional packs built for you.
Find out more →Returned items checked, graded and put back into stock, quarantined or disposed of.
Find out more →Shipping worldwide and, with an EU warehouse, delivering to European customers without customs on every parcel.
Find out more →A 4PL (fourth-party logistics) manages your whole supply chain, often by coordinating several 3PLs. Most growing brands don't need one, they need a good 3PL.
| In-house | 3PL | 4PL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who runs the warehouse | You | The 3PL | Coordinates several 3PLs |
| Who packs the orders | You or your staff | The 3PL | The 3PLs it manages |
| Costs | Fixed: rent, staff, software | Pay per order and storage | Management fee on top of 3PL costs |
| Courier rates | Your own volume | The 3PL's negotiated rates | Negotiated across partners |
| Scaling for peak | Hire and train temps | The 3PL adds capacity | The 4PL arranges it |
| Best for | Very small or very specialist brands | Growing D2C and B2B brands | Large, complex global supply chains |
Most 3PLs, including us, charge for a handful of things. What you pay depends on your products, packaging and volumes.
Use our free calculators to see what fulfilment would cost your brand.
Answer five quick questions for an honest view.
Ask who else they work with in your industry, and whether they can handle anything special, like alcohol, batteries or batch and expiry dates.
Look for live stock and order visibility in a client portal, and proof of what went in each parcel. We film every packing desk.
You should be able to understand every line on your invoice. Ask for published rates and an itemised quote.
A named account manager who knows your brand beats a ticket queue.
Check they can handle your peak, B2B orders and, if you need it, European fulfilment.
Ask how they'll move your stock in without stopping your orders. See how a good move works.
Tell us about your brand and volumes and we'll send a transparent, itemised quote, usually within one business day.
See us in action
Who we are, how we fulfil your orders and why growing brands across the UK and Europe trust us with their stock.
Is Scale 3PL right for you?
We work best with growing D2C and B2B brands shipping 300+ orders a month. Selling into Europe? Our Rotterdam hub gets you there without the Brexit headaches.
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