Running a 3PL warehouse comes with its own unique set of challenges. Having to fulfill orders on behalf of another business means that you have to not only provide a good delivery experience, but also a fulfillment experience that your clients would hope to provide. Additionally, your clients want to stay in the loop to make sure their customers’ orders are being fulfilled and delivered. Different clients may have different needs depending on the products they sell. Communicating shipment data and order statuses between platforms and clients can be difficult. 

Luckily ShipStation 3PL provides warehouses with a seamless way to receive orders from clients and deliver to their customers. Onboarding is simple and allows you to pack your shelves with inventory and never lose a beat. 

What is ShipStation 3PL

ShipStation 3PL is a subscription add-on that allows third-party logistics companies a simple way of onboarding new and existing clients into a ShipStation ecosystem. Regardless of how many clients you have, or how many shipments you fulfill, ShipStation 3PL provides you with the tools to integrate, sync, and ship these orders. It also provides your clients with crucial insight into their orders’ fulfillment status. 

What is Third-Party Logistics (3PL)? 

Third-party logistics (3PL) refers to a business model where a seller outsources some or all of their inventory to a third-party company, usually a warehouse, to house, fulfill, and ship orders to the end consumer. Additional services that a 3PL may provide are returns logistics, picking, and LTL/FTL. 3PLs are also referred to as fulfillment warehouses, fulfillment centers, or fulfillment providers such as Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA). 

Benefits of ShipStation 3PL 

ShipStation 3PL provides 3PL warehouses with a centralized view of all of your clients’ orders being fulfilled. But it also gives access to many more features. ShipStation is a powerful shipping platform that helps businesses of different sizes and structures fulfill their ecommerce orders. ShipStation 3PL just adds more possibilities to your workflow. ShipStation’s automated shipping process, shipping discounts up to 87% off, and 100s of integrations are all there, but you now gain powerful dropshipping functionality. But there are features that make ShipStation 3PL unique from the rest of ShipStation’s offerings.

The ShipStation 3PL Advantage

ShipStation 3PL is a dynamic 3PL solution at an unbeatable price. But you don’t have to sacrifice service for affordability. You and your clients can access live updates on any shipment’s fulfillment/delivery status and send tracking updates to the original selling channel. 

Affordable 3PL Software 

ShipStation 3PL provides a range of premium tools, features, and services that come at an affordable price. Apart from your monthly ShipStation fees, you only pay an additional $50 a month for ShipStation 3PL. This allows you 1,000 shipments per month. Each additional shipment costs $0.03 per shipment sent to your account from your clients. 

Requirements and setup process for ShipStation 3PL

Onboarding for ShipStation 3PL is simple. If you already use ShipStation, the process will be familiar. Once you and your clients are using ShipStation and are ready to start shipping, you just need to meet the following requirements. For the complete requirements and setup instructions, read our tutorial Enable & Use ShipStation 3PL.

  • Sign up for a ShipStation paid plan
  • Add the ShipStation 3PL add-on to your subscription
  • A client’s store also using a ShipStation account to fulfill their order
  • At least one Ship From Location address set up for the client
  • Connect the client’s ShipStation account to yours
  • Your clients will then approve the connection
James Messer
James Messer

James Messer is a copywriter specializing in shipping, logistics, and ecommerce.

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