To calculate fulfillment costs, first describe the goods’ journey: how they arrive, how long they stay and what needs to be done before dispatch. Then identify the quantity and billing unit for each operation. This helps you compare quotes and understand the work included in the price.
What makes up fulfillment costs
Calculation outline: work on arrival + storage + order or batch preparation + materials if charged separately + additional work + delivery.
Include only agreed work. Some entries are alternatives, such as the receiving method or storage option. Do not automatically add them together for the same volume.
- Goods arrival. Unloading and receiving are different operations. Specify how cargo arrives and whether goods need to be received individually or by the box. Standard and urgent receiving have separate rate table entries.
- Storage. Agree on volume, duration and placement. For storage while marketplace goods are packed, check the specific conditions in the storage section.
- Preparation. Picking, packing, applying labels and processing boxes are calculated by the selected operations.
- Materials and additional work. Check whether materials are included and whether repacking, photos, measurements, weighing or document preparation are needed.
- Transportation. Pricing depends on the handoff location, finished cargo details and delivery conditions. It is calculated separately from warehouse work.
What a per-unit price means
“Per unit” means the unit of a specific operation. Product packing counts the products processed; box operations count boxes. Before calculating, establish what each rate entry applies to.
For a selected operation, use: number of objects processed × that operation’s rate. Picking with extra-item surcharges and storage follow the conditions of their respective rate table entries.
- Product units and identifiers. One product identifier can cover many units. The number of identifiers does not replace the unit count for individual processing.
- Orders and items. One order can contain several products. Picking requires the item count in each shipment.
- Boxes and pallets. Operations involving transport packaging count boxes or pallets separately.
- Storage. Rates per cubic meter per day, per cubic meter per month and per fully or partly occupied cell use different calculation bases. Choose the agreed option and clarify how the storage period is counted.
FBS and FBO calculation examples
These examples show how to count the work. Use monetary rates from the current warehouse rate table and agree on the final operations for your goods.
FBS: one order with five items
Shipperty’s rate table has a base picking rate for a shipment containing up to three items, with a surcharge from the fourth item onwards. Five items mean one base picking charge + two surcharges.
Add the selected packaging and labels using the actual object counts. Account for receiving and storage at batch level or over the agreed period, then allocate these costs across orders if needed.
FBO: 100 products in four boxes
If individual packing is agreed for every product, count 100 units for that operation. If each product needs one product label, count 100 labels. An agreed operation on every box counts four boxes.
Determine receiving, additional labels, storage and transportation separately. Having 100 products does not mean 100 customer orders or 100 base FBS picking charges.
For a cost per order or product, divide the agreed total for the chosen period or batch by the corresponding order or product count. Compare the same cost components. The workflows are explained in our FBS and FBO guide.
How to compare fulfillment center quotes
- Send identical instructions: batch contents, order and item counts, storage duration and preparation requirements.
- Compare billing units as well as rates. Per-product and per-shipment prices cover different amounts of work.
- Check materials, additional labels and box operations: are they included in the quote or listed separately?
- Compare unloading, receiving, storage, additional work and delivery separately. Do not count the same operation twice.
- Agree on the changes that require a revised quote, such as product quantity, packaging, storage duration or dispatch destination.
The marketplace’s own commissions, storage and other services form a separate part of the seller’s budget. They do not replace the calculation for Shipperty warehouse work and transportation to the platform.
What to prepare for a quote
- The marketplace, FBS or warehouse model, and handoff address.
- A list of product identifiers and variants, quantities for each, product dimensions and weights.
- The arrival format: individual goods, boxes or pallets, with incoming batch details.
- Expected storage duration. For FBS, order count for the period and the distribution of item counts per order.
- Packing, label and additional work instructions. Use our packing and labeling guide.
- Planned dispatch date and cargo details: package count, dimensions and weights after packing.
Mark assumptions for details you do not yet know. This helps you get a preliminary quote and identify what needs to be confirmed before work starts.
Where to find rates and request a quote
Shipperty fulfillment in Moscow can cover a full workflow or selected warehouse operations. Prices and billing units are published in our warehouse rate table, including receiving, fulfillment and additional services.
Prepared orders and batches can be handed over for marketplace delivery. Transportation uses our separate delivery rates.
For transportation pricing, prepare details using the FBS and FBO delivery guide.
Put your instructions together with the warehouse brief guide and template.
Questions and answers
Is a per-unit rate the full preparation cost?
No. A per-unit price applies to a specific operation and the object being processed. The total requires a list of operations, the object count for each operation, storage, materials and separate delivery where needed.
Can I get a quote before goods arrive at the warehouse?
You can request a preliminary quote using a product list, quantities, dimensions, weights, storage duration and preparation instructions. If batch details or the required work change, update the calculation before that work is carried out.
Is storage always charged during shipment preparation?
The warehouse rate table includes specific free storage conditions while goods are being packed for marketplaces. Check eligibility and duration against the current rates and agree on them for your batch. Other storage uses the applicable rate table entry.
Does a warehouse operations quote include marketplace delivery?
Delivery of prepared orders or a batch is priced separately by destination, cargo details and handoff conditions. The marketplace’s own commissions and services are also accounted for separately from Shipperty warehouse operations.
Calculation conditions come from Shipperty’s warehouse and marketplace delivery rate pages linked above. Confirm current rates and the agreed scope before work starts.
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