This is the question we get in the second month, almost every time: the quote was USD 0.45 per order, so why is the invoice three times what we budgeted? Nothing was overcharged. The quote covered one of the five fees, and the other four arrived with the first month's activity.
The five fees behind one warehouse quote
- Inbound handling. Unloading, counting and putting away — charged per carton, per pallet or per hour, and usually with a minimum.
- Storage. Per pallet, per CBM or per day, often tiered by how long the goods stay.
- Pick and pack. A base fee for the first item plus a fee for each additional item; some warehouses add a box or dunnage charge.
- Returns. Receiving, inspection, photos and grading, then relabelling if you want the unit resold.
- Value-added work. Relabelling, kitting, repalletising, photographing — priced per unit and easy to miss.
Which one blows the budget? Storage, almost always
A seller sends 12 CBM, expects to sell through in six weeks, and then the listing slows down. At USD 12 per CBM per month, twelve cubic metres is USD 144 a month — but once the goods sit for four months and the pallets are half-empty, the space is still charged while the revenue is not. The storage line quietly overtakes what the first leg cost.
The second most common surprise is the additional-item fee on multi-item orders. A set of four products is not one pick; it is one pick plus three.
Three numbers to check before you sign
- Monthly outbound volume, in orders and in items. This is what pick and pack is actually charged on.
- Average days in stock. Multiply by storage rate and by CBM; that is your real monthly storage bill.
- Return rate. Above 5%, add inspection and relabelling to the cost; below it, returns are noise.
Five questions for the quotation
- Is unloading included, and is there a waiting charge if the truck is late?
- How many free storage days, and does the rate step up after that?
- Is the additional-item fee charged per unit or capped per order?
- Does the return fee include inspection, photos and a grading report?
- Is there a peak-season surcharge, and from which date?
How sellers keep the number down
- Keep the fast movers in the warehouse and send the slow tail home or to a liquidation channel.
- Book inbound appointments; unplanned arrivals attract waiting and rehandling fees.
- Ask for a monthly statement by fee type — you cannot manage a line you never see.
Send us three numbers — monthly orders, average days in stock and return rate — and we will build the monthly cost for your SKU mix, fee by fee, so the invoice in month two is not a surprise.