Houston, Texas · The 3PL Pillar Guide
Houston 3PL: The Ultimate Guide to Ecommerce Fulfillment (2025)
Why Houston beats the coasts for shipping, how 3PL pricing actually breaks down, the questions to put in your RFQ — and our full published rate card. Written by the people who run a 32,000 sqft warehouse on Long Dr, not a content team.
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Get your Houston 3PL 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.
Why ship from Houston
Houston gives you three things most fulfillment cities cannot combine: a deep-water container port, a central position on every carrier's ground map, and warehouse costs well below the coasts. That is the whole case, and it holds up on an invoice.
The port is next door
If you import, your containers can land at the Port of Houston and be devanned straight into a local warehouse. There is no cross-country rail or truck leg between the ship and your shelf — which is where a surprising share of "freight cost" actually lives. We handle container devanning at our facility, quoted per shipment at negotiated carrier cost.
Central shipping zones cut postage and transit
Carriers price postage by zone — by distance. Ship from a coastal warehouse and an order headed for the opposite coast crosses the maximum number of zones and costs the most. From Houston you sit near the middle of the map, so the typical order crosses fewer zones in either direction — cheaper ground labels, shorter distances for parcels to cover, and no air rates needed to make up for a bad starting point.
Climate control is standard here, not an upsell
Houston heat and humidity are brutal on skincare, supplements, candles, chocolate, and electronics. Our entire 32,000 sqft warehouse is climate-controlled and monitored 24/7 — and that is included in the $25 per pallet storage rate, not sold back to you as a premium tier.
How 3PL pricing actually works
Every 3PL invoice is built from the same five parts: receiving, storage, pick-and-pack, packaging materials, and postage. Quotes only look different because of what each provider marks up, bundles, or hides.
Where budgets go wrong is rarely the headline rate. Typical industry practices to watch for: setup and onboarding fees, software or integration fees, pick fees that are not on the rate card, packaging marked up above cost, postage marked up above the carrier's price, minimum monthly spend, twelve-month contracts, and peak-season surcharges in Q4. Many 3PLs use several of these at once. We use none of them. Here is our full published rate card — the same numbers on our pricing page and price list, locked through Q1 2027.
| Service | Published rate | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon FBA prep | $0.75 per unit | FNSKU labeling, polybagging, bubble wrapping, standard cartonization. Materials billed at cost (polybag or bubble wrap $0.20 when used). |
| FBM / DTC fulfillment (up to 5 lb) | $2.00 per order | Pick, pack, ship — standard packaging materials from $0.25. Flat per order, plus $0.25 × the item count on multi-item orders. |
| FBM / DTC fulfillment (5–8 lb) | $2.75 per order | Same scope, heavier parcel. |
| FBM / DTC fulfillment (8–15 lb) | $4.00 per order | Same scope, heavier parcel. |
| FBM / DTC fulfillment (over 15 lb) | Custom quote | Same scope, heaviest tier. |
| Pallet storage | $25 per pallet | Climate-controlled, billed monthly — you pay for the fraction of the month you actually use. |
| Receiving | $20 per pallet ($5 per carton) | Charged on every inbound |
| Returns processing | $1.50 per return | Inspection included. |
| Postage | At cost | Discounted USPS, UPS, and FedEx rates passed through with no markup. |
Kitting, subscription-box assembly, custom inserts and thank-you cards, LTL freight, and white-glove work are custom-quoted — tell us your specs and you will have the number in 24 hours.
What a month actually costs
At 300 orders a month of sub-5 lb parcels with four pallets in storage, the fulfillment side of your bill comes to $780 before postage. Here is the arithmetic at three volumes, using only the published rates above.
| Line item | 50 orders/mo | 100 orders/mo | 300 orders/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick, pack, ship — $2.00/order, under 5 lb | $100.00 | $200.00 | $600.00 |
| Storage — $25/pallet | 2 pallets · $50 | 3 pallets · $75 | 4 pallets · $100 |
| Receiving, one inbound — $20/pallet ($5/carton) | 2 pallets · $40 | 3 pallets · $60 | 4 pallets · $80 |
| Total before postage | $190.00 | $335.00 | $780.00 |
Postage sits on top, at the discounted USPS, UPS, and FedEx rates we pass through at cost — your label bill is the carrier's price, not ours plus a margin. Orders over 5 lb move to the $2.75 or $4.00 tiers (custom over 15 lb). Receiving is charged per inbound shipment, so months without a restock skip that line entirely.
Storage is billed monthly, so a pallet that leaves mid-month is not billed for the full month.
The questions to put in every 3PL RFQ — answered
Serious buyers send itemized RFQs — like this real one from a skincare brand launching with 500 units. That is exactly the right way to buy fulfillment. Here are the questions, with our answers on the record.
| RFQ question | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Do you take new brands with ~500 units? | Yes. No minimum volume, spend, or SKU count — start with one unit. |
| Setup, onboarding, software, or account-management fees? | No setup fees, no contracts; real-time inventory via the KAK WMS dashboard. |
| Contract or cancellation penalty? | No contracts. Month-to-month; leave with 30 days' notice, no penalty. |
| Receiving cost, and how fast is stock sellable? | $20 per pallet ($5 per carton). In before 2pm CT Mon–Sat, it is processed the same day. |
| Storage billing basis? Climate control? | $25 per pallet, billed monthly — you pay only the fraction of the month used. Fully climate-controlled. |
| Lot and expiry tracking? | Yes. Lot-number and expiration-date tracking are available in KAK WMS. |
| Per-order pick-pack for 1–5 item orders? | Flat per-order rate by weight: $2.00 to 5 lb, $2.75 to 8 lb, $4.00 to 15 lb, custom-quoted above that. |
| Bundles — preassembly or pick-on-demand? | Your choice. Bundles are picked and packed per order at the flat rates — no forced preassembly. Kitting is available, custom-quoted. |
| What packaging is included? Branded inserts? | Standard packaging materials are billed from $0.25. Custom inserts and thank-you cards are custom-quoted within 24 hours. |
| Carrier mix, markup, surcharges? | Discounted USPS, UPS, and FedEx rates passed through at cost. No markup, no peak-season surcharges. |
| Returns: fee and inspection? | $1.50 per return, inspection included. |
| Integrations and inventory visibility? | Shopify, TikTok Shop, Walmart, eBay, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Etsy, Magento, Amazon FBM — with real-time inventory in KAK WMS. |
| Turnaround and support contact? | 2pm CT cutoff, Mon–Sat, same-day. +1 832 759 1368 · sales@kaksourcing.com. |
| What if you damage my goods? | Insured up to $500,000 per occurrence, and we are fully liable for our own handling. |
| Sample monthly cost at 50 / 100 / 300 orders? | $190 / $335 / $780 before postage — full math in the section above. |
Put this same list in front of every Houston 3PL you evaluate. Any provider who dodges the receiving fee, the postage markup, or the cancellation terms is telling you exactly where the invoice will grow.
Who we are
KAK Sourcing is a Houston 3PL founded by Sohail Ahmed and Kanwar Khan, logistics operators with 7+ years building DTC fulfillment infrastructure. Today we fulfill for 180+ ecommerce sellers out of one building we run ourselves.
- 32,000 sqft climate-controlled warehouse at 6117 Long Dr, Houston, TX 77087 — monitored 24/7.
- Real-time inventory in the KAK WMS dashboard; lot-number and expiration-date tracking available.
- Same-day turnaround: inventory and orders in before the 2pm CT cutoff, Mon–Sat, ship or get prepped that day.
- Insurance coverage up to $500,000 per occurrence; we are fully liable for our own handling.
- Trustpilot-reviewed. Walk-ins welcome with 24 hours notice, Mon–Sat 9am–6pm CT.
Under this one roof: Amazon FBA prep, FBM and DTC fulfillment for Shopify, TikTok Shop, Walmart, eBay, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Etsy, Magento, and Amazon FBM, pallet storage, returns processing, kitting and subscription-box assembly, container devanning, and LTL freight. The full service breakdown is on our 3PL warehouse service page.
How to get a number
Send your SKU list — or your current 3PL invoice — and you will have a line-item quote within 24 hours. No discovery call, no rate-card runaround.
- Submit your SKUs through the quote form, call +1 832 759 1368, or email sales@kaksourcing.com.
- We reply with line-item pricing against the published rates above, plus custom quotes for anything like kitting or freight.
- Connect your store, send inventory. No setup fee.
- Orders in before 2pm CT ship the same day, Mon–Sat.
Prefer to see the floor before you commit? Walk-ins are welcome with 24 hours notice — details on the contact page.
Houston 3PL FAQ
Do you accept new brands with only 500 units or fewer?
What does FBM order fulfillment cost in Houston?
How much does Amazon FBA prep cost?
How is storage billed?
What do receiving and returns cost?
Do you mark up shipping labels?
Which ecommerce platforms do you integrate with?
What happens if my inventory is damaged?
Can I tour the warehouse before committing?
Ready when you are
Get your Houston 3PL 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.