3PL Storage Fees (2026)

Source	Pallet	Bin	Shelf	Cubic foot
The Fulfillment Advisor survey, 2025 average	$20.17	$3.08	n/a	$0.46
Same survey, 2024 average	$20.37	$2.67	n/a	$0.55
Fulfyld (501–1,000 orders/month tier)	$28.00	$2.20 (small bin)	n/a	n/a
ShipBob (fulfillment-costs guide)	$40	$5	$10	n/a
ShipCalm	n/a	n/a	n/a	$0.19 per week (about $0.82 a month)
Amazon FBA, standard-size	n/a	n/a	n/a	$0.78 (Jan–Sep), $2.40 (Oct–Dec)

The survey covers more than 600 warehouses; The Fulfillment Advisor matches brands with 3PLs, so treat it as one benchmark. ShipCalm also charges $1.45 per week per managed SKU. Simpl Fulfillment bills by small bin, large bin, shelf and pallet but doesn't publish the rates. RyderShip's Shopify listing says storage starts at $0.45 a month without naming the unit.

It depends on how full your locations are.

• Per pallet: you pay for the whole pallet position. Cheapest when pallets are full and SKUs move slowly.
• Per bin or shelf: you pay per location. Good for small, fast-moving SKUs; costly if each SKU gets its own mostly empty bin.
• Per cubic foot: you pay for measured volume. Fairest for mixed catalogs, but it requires the 3PL to measure accurately.

Illustrative conversion: a 48 × 40 in pallet stacked 60 in high is 48 × 40 × 60 ÷ 1,728 = 66.7 cubic feet.

Rate	Monthly cost for that pallet's volume
Survey pallet average	$20.17
Survey cubic-foot average ($0.46)	$30.67
ShipCalm ($0.19/week ≈ $0.82/month)	$54.89
FBA Jan–Sep ($0.78)	$52.00
FBA Oct–Dec ($2.40)	$160.00

For full pallets, per-pallet pricing is usually cheapest. For partial pallets and small SKUs, cubic-foot or bin pricing usually wins.

A higher rate, or an added fee, for inventory that stays past a set age, often a number of days since receipt. The Fulfillment Advisor's survey found 48.6% of warehouses charge them in 2025.

Questions to ask before signing:

1. After how many days does inventory count as long-term?
2. Is the fee per unit, per cubic foot or per pallet?
3. Is age tracked by lot, by SKU or by receipt date?
4. Can you remove or liquidate stock before the fee applies, and what does removal cost?

Usually because "free storage" was conditional. Common patterns:

• Free storage for a set number of days after receipt, then standard rates.
• Free storage up to a ratio of inventory to monthly sales, with anything above it billed.
• Storage included only while you meet the monthly minimum.
• A rate change with notice, allowed by the contract.

Get the storage terms, the unit of measure and the notice period for rate changes in writing. If your 3PL raised rates, what to do when your 3PL raises rates covers the options.

Formula: storage per month = locations (or cubic feet) occupied × rate, plus any long-term surcharge on aged units.

Illustrative example: 30 SKUs, 20 of them in bins and 10 on pallets, one pallet each.

Line	Survey averages	ShipBob published rates
20 bins	20 × $3.08 = $61.60	20 × $5 = $100
10 pallets	10 × $20.17 = $201.70	10 × $40 = $400
Total	$263.30	$500

Divide by monthly orders to see storage per order. At 1,000 orders that's $0.26 against $0.50 per order. At 200 orders it's $1.32 against $2.50, which is why storage matters most to low-volume brands with wide catalogs.

• Cut dead stock. Every slow SKU occupies a paid location.
• Consolidate partial pallets when you're billed per pallet.
• Ask for cubic-foot pricing if most locations are partly empty.
• Time inbound shipments to arrive closer to when stock is needed, especially before Q4 if you also use FBA.
• Negotiate a free-storage window tied to inventory turns rather than a flat number of days.