KAK Sourcing · Houston 3PL
Fulfillment Knowledge Base: FBA Prep, FBM & Storage, Explained
Every rate we charge and every question buyers ask before they sign — FBA prep, FBM pick-pack-ship, storage, receiving, and returns — answered straight, with the actual numbers, no discovery call required.
Free quote · Reply within one business day · No sales call
Get a fulfillment quote in 24 hours
Tell us what you sell and your monthly volume. A real person replies within one business day with exact numbers.
Before you request a quote
Know the cost. Check the fit. Plan your first shipment.
Start with a small shipment or an established operation. There is no minimum volume. Tell us what you sell so we can confirm the handling, space and shipping you actually need.
What will my first month cost?
Example: 500 single-item orders under 5 lb × $2.00 full-service handling = $1,000. At $0.25 per mailer add $125; two full billable pallet-months add $50 and one inbound pallet adds $20. Total: $1,195 BEFORE postage, returns or extra work.
Examples use standard storage in the first three months. Long-stay pallet rates are $28/month in months 3–6 and $32/month after six months. Your written quote separates receiving, storage, handling, materials and shipping. Build your own estimate.
Why are there two handling prices?
Under 5 lb, Lean FBA is $0.50/unit and Lean FBM is $1.75/order when goods arrive pre-packed and ready to label. Full-service handling is $0.75/FBA unit or $2.00/FBM order; materials and postage are separate. These are service tiers, not automatic volume discounts.
Heavier items use different weight bands; over 15 lb or bulky items need a written quote. See the complete rate card.
Can you handle my products and platform?
Share your product type, packed dimensions and weight, sales platform and expected volume. Small batches and returns-only enquiries are welcome. Batteries, liquids, food, supplements, temperature-sensitive, hazardous or oversized items need acceptance and handling requirements confirmed before you ship.
For Shopify, Amazon, Walmart or another platform such as Amboras, tell us how orders and inventory are exchanged. The team confirms the connection or file workflow before onboarding; a platform name alone does not guarantee a supported integration.
How do I send inventory?
- Send your SKU list, dimensions, weights and carton/pallet count.
- Receive the written scope, rates and product-acceptance confirmation.
- Confirm account setup, labeling and receiving instructions with the team before dispatch.
- Send shipment details and tracking; agree the first prep job or order workflow.
Receiving location: 6117 Long Dr, Houston, TX 77087. Confirm inbound instructions before sending goods.
What about shipping and storage dimensions?
For a shipping estimate, send origin and destination ZIP codes, packed dimensions, weight, parcel count and desired delivery speed. Handling prices do not include carrier postage. Storage is charged only by carton or pallet. Bin and shelf storage is included in our standard pick-and-pack rate, with no separate charge. Send product dimensions and quantities so the team can confirm usable space, availability and the applicable carton or pallet storage rate in writing.
After you enquire: a real person from our Houston team replies within one business day, confirms any missing details and sends itemized pricing. You can ask for a written quote without booking a sales call. Unsure of volume? Select “Not sure yet” in the quote form.
What's in this knowledge base
This page is the index. We built it because most RFQs we get ask the same dozen questions — minimums, setup fees, storage billing, what's included in a pick-pack rate — and buyers shouldn't have to book a call to get a straight number. Below is every published rate we run, how each service works, and links to the deep-dive page for each one.
Amazon FBA prep
$0.75/unit
Full-service FBA handling for units under 5 lb is $0.75/unit, including FNSKU labeling and prep labor. Materials are separate: polybag $0.20/unit and bubble wrap $0.20/unit when needed. Receiving, storage and outbound freight are separate. Lean label-ready units start at $0.50; heavier units use the published weight bands.
FBM / DTC fulfillment
From $2.00/order
Pick, pack, ship for Shopify, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and more. See the 3PL warehouse service page.
Pallet storage
$25/pallet monthly
Climate-controlled, billed for the fraction of the month you actually use. See the storage page.
Returns processing
$1.50/return
Inspection included.
Our founders, Sohail Ahmed and Kanwar Khan, have spent 7+ years building fulfillment infrastructure for DTC and marketplace sellers out of one 32,000 sqft warehouse at 6117 Long Dr, Houston, TX 77087 — monitored 24/7. If you want the full rate card in one document, see the KAK price list or the pricing overview.
FBA prep: $0.75 per unit under 5 lb for full-service handling, with materials separate
Full-service FBA handling for units under 5 lb is $0.75/unit, including FNSKU labeling and prep labor. Materials are separate: polybag $0.20/unit and bubble wrap $0.20/unit when needed. Receiving, storage and outbound freight are separate. Lean label-ready units start at $0.50; heavier units use the published weight bands.
| Service | Rate | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| FBA prep | $0.75/unit | FNSKU labeling, polybagging, bubble wrap, standard cartonization |
| Receiving (into KAK) | $20/pallet ($5/carton) | Charged on every inbound |
| Storage before shipment to Amazon | $25.00/pallet, monthly | Climate-controlled, billed for actual time used |
Inventory that arrives before our 2pm CT cutoff, Monday through Saturday, gets prepped the same day. There's no minimum unit count to start — we take on brands launching with a few hundred units the same way we take on sellers moving pallets a week.
Kitting, bundling, subscription-box assembly, and custom inserts or thank-you cards are available but priced per job — tell us the spec on your quote request and you'll have a number in 24 hours.
FBM and DTC fulfillment: pick, pack, ship by weight tier
FBM and direct-to-consumer orders are billed by weight, flat per order — packaging materials from $0.25. No separate packing charge — one number per order, plus $0.25 × the item count when an order holds two or more items.
| Order weight | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 lb | $2.00/order |
| 5–8 lb | $2.75/order |
| 8–15 lb | $4.00/order |
| over 15 lb | Custom quote |
That rate applies whether the order is Shopify, TikTok Shop, Walmart, eBay, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Etsy, Magento, or Amazon FBM — we integrate with all of them, and the per-order rate doesn't change by channel. A 1-item order is billed at the weight-tier rate; a 5-item order in the same package adds $0.25 × 5 = $1.25.
Carrier labels — USPS, UPS, FedEx — are passed through at our discounted rate with no markup. We don't add peak-season surcharges. If you want preassembled kits instead of pick-on-demand bundling, that's available and custom-quoted; tell us the SKUs and assembly steps on the quote form.
Storage, receiving, and returns
Storage bills monthly, pro-rated, which matters if you're comparing quotes: $25 per pallet per month works out to just $25 per pallet for a full month, and you pay for the fraction of the month you actually use.
| Line item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet storage | $25/pallet, monthly | Climate-controlled, $25/month flat |
| Receiving | $20/pallet ($5/carton) | Charged on every inbound |
| Returns processing | $1.50/return | Inspection included |
Every pallet sits in the same 32,000 sqft climate-controlled, 24/7-monitored facility, and every shipment we handle carries insurance coverage up to $500,000 — we're liable for our own handling. Lot-number and expiration-date tracking is available through KAK WMS, our real-time inventory dashboard, so you can see what's on the floor and what's aging without emailing us to ask.
Larger freight moves — container devanning, LTL, white-glove delivery — are quoted per shipment at negotiated carrier cost. We don't publish a flat rate for those because the cost genuinely depends on lane and volume; send us the shipment details through contact us and you'll get a real number, not a placeholder.
What a month actually costs
Here's a worked example, using only the published rates above. Say you're a DTC brand shipping 300 orders a month, all under 5 lb, holding 4 pallets of inventory, with a 5% return rate:
| Line item | Calculation | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| FBM pick-pack-ship | 300 orders × $2.00 | $600.00 |
| Mailers | 300 × $0.25 | $75.00 |
| Storage | 4 pallets × $25 (one month) | $100.00 |
| Returns | 15 returns (5% of 300) × $1.50 | $22.50 |
| Total, recurring | $797.50 |
That's before any one-time receiving charge on a new inbound shipment, which at, say, 5 pallets would add $100.00 (5 × $20). No setup fee gets added on top, and there's no minimum spend that pushes the total higher.
If you just want the pick-pack-ship line at different volumes, here's the same $2.00/order rate at a few common monthly volumes (orders under 5 lb, before storage or returns):
| Orders/month | FBM cost at $2.00/order |
|---|---|
| 50 | $100.00 |
| 100 | $200.00 |
| 300 | $600.00 |
For a full breakdown across FBA prep, FBM, and storage together, see the 3PL pricing guide or full price list.
Getting started
Onboarding is a straightforward sequence, not a software project. Here's the actual sequence:
- Send your SKU list and current shipping volume through the quote form — you'll have line-item pricing back within 24 hours.
- Ship your inventory to 6117 Long Dr, Houston, TX 77087. Walk-ins are welcome with 24 hours' notice, Monday through Saturday, 9am–6pm CT.
- We receive and log it into KAK WMS — inventory shows up on your real-time dashboard as it's checked in, with lot and expiration tracking if you need it.
- Connect your sales channel (Shopify, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and the rest integrate natively) and orders start flowing to us for same-day pick-pack-ship ahead of the 2pm CT cutoff.
For support after you're live, call +1 832 759 1368 or email sales@kaksourcing.com — those go to the same Houston team handling your account, not a ticket queue.
Frequently asked questions
Do you accept new brands launching with a few hundred units?
What does FBA prep cost and what's included?
What does FBM or DTC pick-pack-ship cost?
Are there setup fees, software fees, or contracts?
How is storage billed, and is it climate-controlled?
What does receiving cost?
Do you support lot number and expiration date tracking?
Can you handle bundles, kits, or multi-item orders?
What do returns cost?
What's the cutoff time, and how are shipping labels priced?
Ready when you are
Get a fulfillment quote in 24 hours
Lean handling under 5 lb: FBA $0.50/unit or FBM $1.75/order for pre-packed goods. Full service: $0.75/FBA unit or $2.00/FBM order. Materials and postage are separate; storage is $25/pallet/month.