Choosing a 3PL is one of the highest-leverage decisions a growing seller makes. The right partner quietly handles thousands of units while you focus on sourcing and growth; the wrong one creates a steady drip of errors, surprise fees and customer complaints. Before you sign anything, get clear answers to these nine questions.
1. Where is the warehouse, and does the location serve your customers?
A GTA warehouse puts you next to Canada's largest population cluster and within easy reach of amazon.ca fulfillment centres — which means faster inbound and lower last-mile costs for most Canadian orders. If you also sell into the US, ask how they handle cross-border movement.
2. Do they actually know Amazon and Walmart prep requirements?
General warehousing and marketplace prep are different skills. Ask specifically about FNSKU labelling, poly bag rules, WFS carton requirements and how they stay current when Amazon changes a policy. Vague answers here are a red flag.
3. How is pricing structured?
You want per-unit or per-order pricing, in writing, before you commit. Ask what is included in the base rate and what counts as an extra — receiving, labelling, bagging, storage and forwarding should each be named with a price. Be cautious of percentage-of-spend pricing for physical work; it has no relationship to the labour involved.
4. What are the receiving fees and how is inbound handled?
Receiving is where hidden costs live. Ask the per-carton or per-pallet receiving fee, how discrepancies are reported, and how quickly inbound is counted and available. A good 3PL confirms receipt promptly and flags problems the same day.
5. What turnaround do they commit to?
Standard prep and fulfillment turnaround should be measured in hours, not weeks — 24 to 48 hours is a reasonable benchmark for routine work. Ask what happens during peak season and whether rush service is available.
6. How do they handle returns?
Returns are inevitable; the question is what happens next. Can they inspect, relabel and restock sellable units? What is the per-unit returns processing fee? A 3PL that just piles returns in a corner is costing you recoverable inventory.
7. What visibility do you get?
At minimum: photo proof of prep work, inventory counts you can check, and tracking on outbound shipments. If you cannot see what is happening to your stock without asking, keep looking.
8. Are there minimums or long-term contracts?
Many 3PLs require hundreds of orders a month before they will talk to you. If you are growing, look for a partner with no minimums and no long lock-in — you should be able to leave if the service slips.
9. Can they grow with you beyond warehousing?
The best 3PL relationships deepen over time: listings, PPC, design and account management from the same team that already handles your inventory. Ask what else they do, so you are not stitching together five vendors later.
Start with your own numbers
Before you interview a single 3PL, write down four figures: your monthly order volume, your active SKU count, your average units per order, and how much of your catalogue is Amazon-bound versus everything else. These numbers determine which pricing model favours you and whether a provider's minimums even apply. A seller shipping 80 orders a month across 40 SKUs needs a very different partner than one shipping 5,000 units of three SKUs into FBA. Walking in with your numbers turns vague sales calls into concrete quotes — and immediately exposes providers whose model was built for someone else.
The trial shipment test
However good the answers sound, run a small trial shipment before committing your main inventory. Send a few cartons, watch how receiving is confirmed, check the photo proof, and time the turnaround against what was promised. A trial costs very little and reveals everything: communication speed, attention to detail, and whether the operation matches the pitch. Any 3PL worth keeping will welcome the test.
SellerOrbit answers all nine the way sellers hope: Oakville, Ontario warehouse, published per-unit pricing, 24–48 hour turnaround, photo proof on every job, no minimums and no long-term contracts. Chat with us for a free audit and a written quote.
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