What is a 3PL in Amazon selling?

A 3PL is a third-party logistics provider you outsource warehousing and fulfillment to. For Amazon sellers it typically stores bulk inventory outside Amazon, fulfills FBM and multichannel orders directly to customers, and sends replenishment shipments into FBA as needed. It does the physical fulfillment work for the orders Amazon's own warehouses do not handle.

FBA functions like a 3PL for orders placed on Amazon, since Amazon stores your inventory and fulfills those orders. Amazon also offers Multi-Channel Fulfillment to ship your non-Amazon orders. But FBA cannot fulfill from a single shared pool the way an independent 3PL can across every channel, and it comes with storage limits and IPI rules that a standalone 3PL does not impose.

Should I use a 3PL or FBA?

Use FBA for fast-moving Amazon demand where the automatic Prime badge and Amazon-handled service matter most. Use a 3PL for bulky or slow items, multichannel fulfillment, and as a buffer to feed FBA so you avoid storage limits and surcharges. Many scaling sellers run both, sending FBA only what sells quickly and keeping the rest at the 3PL.

How do I account for 3PL fees?

Split them by nature. Receiving and inbound prep costs attach to your inventory as part of landed cost and flow through COGS when the units sell. Per-order pick, pack, and shipping fees are fulfillment costs of the sale. Keeping them separate, rather than in one lump, preserves accurate per-unit cost and gross margin across channels.

Glossary

What is 3PL?

Third-party logistics — outsourced warehousing and fulfillment.

A 3PL, short for third-party logistics, is an outside company you outsource warehousing and order fulfillment to. Instead of storing inventory in your garage or sending everything into Amazon's warehouses, you ship your goods to a 3PL, and they receive it, store it, then pick, pack, and ship orders to your customers as they come in. For Amazon sellers, a 3PL most often sits between your supplier and the marketplace: it holds bulk inventory, fulfills your FBM and multichannel orders directly, and drip-feeds inventory into FBA as needed.

Sellers turn to third-party logistics for Amazon and beyond for a few reasons: to avoid the storage limits and aged-inventory surcharges of FBA, to fulfill orders across multiple channels from one pool of stock, and to keep a buffer of inventory outside Amazon so they can restock FBA on demand. A good 3PL for Amazon sellers can also handle returns, kitting, and FBA prep. The trade-off is that a 3PL adds its own fee layer, and those fees are a real part of your cost of selling.

How a 3PL fits into an Amazon and multichannel operation

The most common setup is a hub-and-spoke model. Your factory or supplier ships a large quantity to the 3PL. The 3PL stores it and becomes your central inventory hub. From there, two things happen: it ships your FBM and off-Amazon orders (Shopify, eBay, Walmart, TikTok Shop) directly to customers, and it sends replenishment shipments into FBA whenever your Amazon stock runs low. This lets you keep FBA lean to protect your IPI and storage limits while still never running out, because the buffer lives at the 3PL.

Some sellers use a 3PL specifically as an FBA prep and forwarding partner: receive from overseas, prep to Amazon's requirements, and forward into the fulfillment network. Others run their entire FBM Prime or Seller Fulfilled Prime operation out of a 3PL to hit the delivery-speed requirements. The right configuration depends on your channel mix, but in every case the 3PL is doing the physical work that Amazon otherwise would, for orders Amazon does not fulfill.

•Receiving: the 3PL takes in bulk inventory from your supplier and logs it
•Storage: a central inventory pool outside Amazon's warehouses
•Pick, pack, ship: fulfillment of FBM, Shopify, eBay, Walmart, and other channel orders
•FBA replenishment: sending right-sized shipments into Amazon on demand
•Value-add: returns processing, kitting, bundling, and FBA prep

3PL versus FBA: when each one wins

FBA wins on Amazon-native demand: it gets you the Prime badge automatically, Amazon handles customer service and returns, and the Buy Box favors Prime offers. The downside is cost and control. FBA storage gets expensive for slow or bulky items, storage limits and IPI can cap what you send in, and aged inventory racks up surcharges. You also cannot use FBA inventory to fulfill orders on other channels.

A 3PL wins on flexibility and multichannel reach. It typically charges less for long-term storage than FBA, it fulfills every channel from one stock pool, and it gives you a buffer to feed FBA so you avoid overstuffing Amazon. The catch is that 3PL orders do not get the automatic Prime badge unless you run Seller Fulfilled Prime and meet its strict speed requirements, and you own customer service. Most scaling sellers end up using both: FBA for fast-moving Amazon volume, a 3PL for overflow, bulky items, and non-Amazon channels.

3PL fees are part of your landed cost and COGS

Here is the accounting point most sellers miss. 3PL pricing is layered: a receiving fee when inventory arrives, monthly storage charged by pallet, bin, or cubic foot, a pick-and-pack fee per order or per unit, and outbound shipping, plus extras for kitting, labeling, and returns. Each of these is a genuine cost of getting your product to the customer, and lumping them all into one 'fulfillment expense' bucket hides which products are actually profitable.

The cleanest treatment splits the fees by their nature. The portion tied to getting inventory in and stored, receiving and inbound prep, is part of landed cost and should attach to the units, ultimately flowing through COGS as those units sell. The per-order pick, pack, and shipping fees are fulfillment costs of the sale itself. Treating them this way keeps your per-unit cost and your gross margin honest across channels. BeanHawk is built to pull marketplace and fulfillment activity into your books so these 3PL costs land in the right accounts instead of disappearing into a single line.

Choosing the best 3PL for Amazon sellers

The right 3PL depends on your products and channels, but a few things separate a good fit from an expensive mistake. Look at warehouse location relative to your customers and to the FBA fulfillment centers you forward into, since shipping zones drive a big part of your cost. Confirm they handle FBA prep to Amazon's exact requirements if you need it, and that they support every channel you sell on with real inventory sync, because a 3PL that does not sync stock cleanly will cause oversells.

Then scrutinize the fee schedule line by line, not the headline rate. A low pick fee paired with high storage or surprise receiving and surcharge fees can cost more than a transparent flat-rate competitor. Ask how they handle peak-season storage, returns, and damaged-unit claims. The cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest 3PL once your real order profile runs through it, so model your actual volume against each fee before signing.

Frequently asked questions

What is a 3PL in Amazon selling?: A 3PL is a third-party logistics provider you outsource warehousing and fulfillment to. For Amazon sellers it typically stores bulk inventory outside Amazon, fulfills FBM and multichannel orders directly to customers, and sends replenishment shipments into FBA as needed. It does the physical fulfillment work for the orders Amazon's own warehouses do not handle.
Is Amazon a 3PL?: FBA functions like a 3PL for orders placed on Amazon, since Amazon stores your inventory and fulfills those orders. Amazon also offers Multi-Channel Fulfillment to ship your non-Amazon orders. But FBA cannot fulfill from a single shared pool the way an independent 3PL can across every channel, and it comes with storage limits and IPI rules that a standalone 3PL does not impose.
Should I use a 3PL or FBA?: Use FBA for fast-moving Amazon demand where the automatic Prime badge and Amazon-handled service matter most. Use a 3PL for bulky or slow items, multichannel fulfillment, and as a buffer to feed FBA so you avoid storage limits and surcharges. Many scaling sellers run both, sending FBA only what sells quickly and keeping the rest at the 3PL.
How do I account for 3PL fees?: Split them by nature. Receiving and inbound prep costs attach to your inventory as part of landed cost and flow through COGS when the units sell. Per-order pick, pack, and shipping fees are fulfillment costs of the sale. Keeping them separate, rather than in one lump, preserves accurate per-unit cost and gross margin across channels.
What fees do 3PLs charge?: Typically a receiving fee when inventory arrives, monthly storage by pallet, bin, or cubic foot, a pick-and-pack fee per order or unit, and outbound shipping, plus extras for kitting, labeling, FBA prep, and returns. Always model your real order profile against the full fee schedule rather than comparing only the headline pick rate.

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