Pick Fee

What Is a Pick Fee?

A pick fee is what a fulfillment warehouse charges for the labor of picking products off the shelf to fill a customer order. It is often combined with packing into a single pick and pack fee. Pick fees are one of the most visible parts of 3PL pricing because they are charged on every order shipped.

How It Works

3PLs structure pick fees in a few common ways:

• Per order plus per item: a base fee covers the order and its first item, and each additional item adds a smaller fee.
• Per item only: every unit picked is charged the same amount.
• Tiered pricing: rates decrease as monthly order volume increases.
• Separate pack fees: some providers charge picking and packing separately, or add fees for packaging and inserts.

For example, with a structure of $1.50 per order plus $0.35 per additional item, a single-item order costs $1.50 to pick and pack, while a three-item order costs $1.50 plus two additional items at $0.35 each, for a total of $2.20 before postage.

Why It Matters for Ecommerce Brands

Pick fees scale with order volume, so small differences per order add up over thousands of shipments. Brands should calculate pick costs using their actual average items per order, since a low per-order fee with a high per-item fee can cost more for multi-item orders. Pick accuracy matters as much as price: a wrong item means a return, a reshipment and an unhappy customer. Asking how a 3PL verifies picks, such as barcode scanning, gives a sense of the error risk behind the fee.