What rates are changing and when is the change going into effect?
Flexport is updating its fulfillment pricing for D2C Fulfillment and fulfillment-related ancillary fees, which will automatically go into effect on February 13, 2025. You should have received an email notification of the rate increase on January 14, 2025. Our updated pricing will be live in the Seller Portal on February 13. For additional questions or support, please contact your account management team or our customer support team here.
Why are my prices changing?
We are changing our rates at the beginning of the year as is industry standard. Carrier rates go up annually at the start of every year, with our carrier increases in 2025 ranging from 6% to 10% above 1lb and 15% to 30% below 1lb. Labor and operational costs are both rising, which accounts for these increased costs. We strive to mitigate rate changes and to absorb extra costs whenever possible; we’re increasing our costs to continue to provide you with quality fulfillment services.
What is happening with other services I use, like Reserve Storage?
We are pleased to share that pricing for fulfillment storage and reserve storage rates will remain the same. You will receive notice of Parcel and Prep rate changes at least 30 days prior to the rates going into effect if these changes apply to you.
What are the main pricing changes that are happening?
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Updating base D2C fulfillment rates for all service levels.
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Introducing surcharges for marketplace carrier restrictions and SIOC non-compliant items for which we currently incur extra costs.
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Carrier Restrictions: Our fulfillment service relies on a broad network of carriers, allowing us to deliver cost-efficient and fast shipping to your buyers. However, certain marketplaces have implemented carrier restrictions that limit the carriers we can use for their orders, resulting in higher fulfillment costs.
To ensure continued compliance with these marketplaces for your orders, we will be introducing a 5% surcharge when fulfilling orders from these marketplaces to offset the increased costs. We are also enabling the restriction of DoorDash at merchant request, which is associated with a 2.5% surcharge to offset the increased cost of this restriction.
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SIOC non-compliance: As detailed in our long-standing product requirements, items weighing over 20 lbs, or larger than 18” x 14” x 8”, are required to ship in their own container (SIOC). These items need additional boxing, which can significantly increase the SKU's billable weight and related costs.
We understand that it may not always be feasible for merchants to comply with these requirements. Therefore, to recover these extra costs and continue fulfilling such products, we are introducing a $6 / unit SIOC non-compliance surcharge to be charged at outbound. This surcharge will not apply if you are on zone based pricing.
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Carrier Restrictions: Our fulfillment service relies on a broad network of carriers, allowing us to deliver cost-efficient and fast shipping to your buyers. However, certain marketplaces have implemented carrier restrictions that limit the carriers we can use for their orders, resulting in higher fulfillment costs.
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Revising Box-Only protection charges: Orders that require box protection (previously referred to as "fragile" protection charge) are subject to higher shipping costs due to the added weight of the box and packing materials compared to the standard use of polybags. To align with our updated cost structure, we are adjusting our rates for these orders accordingly.
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Changing ancillary fees: After three years of maintaining the same pricing for these services, we will be updating the rates for 2025 to align with our current cost structure. This includes adjusting the rates for removals, disposals, and introducing charges for return-to-sender items, label fee pass-throughs for address corrections, and more. Please find more details here.
We anticipate that spending on these ancillary fees will continue to remain a minimal fraction of the overall costs for most of our active merchants. If you’d like to place a removal order under current 2024 rates, please place the removal order in Seller Portal by February 5, 2025.
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Monthly Minimum Fee: Starting in July, we’ll be implementing a $500 minimum monthly fulfillment spend requirement, meaning that merchants who spend less than $500 on fulfillment activities will be charged the difference on a monthly basis. We expect this minimum fee to only impact merchants fulfilling under roughly 40 orders per month (about one order per day).
This is standard across the industry and will allow us to provide a consistent, high quality service for our active customers. This concept is standard across the industry and will better allow us to focus the time and energy of our team on merchants fulfilling higher amounts of units. For clarity, the monthly minimum will exclude D2C storage fees.
For details, please refer to this help center article.
Can I remove or dispose of inventory before rates change?
Yes. Removal and disposal rates will change on February 13, 2025. Any removal or disposal order placed before that date will be charged 2024 removal and disposal rates.
There will be no change in removal or disposal SLAs: removal and disposal orders are typically filled within 10-14 calendar days. However, processing may extend to 30 days or more during the holiday season and peak removal season (February, March, August, and September).
What is included with my fulfillment rates?
There are no changes to what is included in our base rates. For unit based pricing, fulfillment rates include inbound receiving*, inventory placement, picking, packing, packaging material, and shipping costs. For zone based pricing, fulfillment rates include inbound receiving*, picking, packing, packaging material, and shipping costs.
*Unloading Floor Loaded Containers is a value added service, which incurs a fee detailed in the "Floor Loaded Container Unloading" sheet of your rate card.
Where can I find my updated rate card?
Our list rate card was linked in the price change communications. However, you may also find your updated rate card in the Seller Portal billing tab once rates go-live on February 13, 2025.
Could I be charged peak fulfillment surcharges in 2025?
Yes, but Flexport's peak fulfillment surcharges will be determined by the peak surcharges levied by our carriers in Q4 2025. If they do not charge peak surcharges, we will not either. In 2024 we charged peak rates you can find here, which was in line or lower than carriers and other 3PLs.
Why does the price change as a percentage vary across the different items I sell, or even for the same item but different units per order?
Flexport’s goal is to keep your costs as low as possible and provide you with the quality you expect. Our recent price changes reflect multiple factors including increased carrier, labor, and operational costs. These costs vary based on item weight and UPO; therefore, we did not take a flat price change across our rate card and in some cases were even able to pass along slight cost savings, specifically on 1-4lb items in 1 unit orders. As you look at your rate changes, we encourage you to account for the mix of item weight and UPO to ensure you are accurately calculating the impact to your business. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your account management team or support team with any questions.
Do I need to do anything ahead of the rate change?
No, there are no required actions from you. On February 13, 2025, your new rates will automatically go into effect. However, here is a checklist for items you may want to review so that there are no surprises:
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SIOC Compliance: Review your minimum packaging requirements in Seller Portal for products you understand to be SIOC (“ships in its own container”) and ensure they are marked appropriately in the system. This will allow you to avoid any unnecessary SIOC non-compliance surcharges.
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Payment Method: If you wish to avoid our 3% fee applied to credit cards, debit cards, or Paypal, update your payment method to ACH (instructions to switch to ACH are linked here).
- SLA Mapping: Review your SLA mapping to ensure your speed and services are accurate and what you expect.
Why do the Seller Portal Inventory / Cost Calculator pages not always reflect the rates I am expecting?
The Seller Portal Inventory / Cost Calculator pages are meant to provide accurate cost estimates based on non-peak times. However, there are multiple factors that can impact the accuracy of the Seller Portal Inventory / Cost Calculator: price structure, time of year, custom pricing, value-added surcharges, etc..
- Zone-based pricing merchants may see some inaccuracies between their rates (what they are charged) and the Seller Portal calculator as the Seller Portal defaults to cost calculation using unit based pricing.
- During peak times (mid-October to mid-January), the cost calculator may not include peak fulfillment or storage rates.
- If you have custom rates, there can be misalignment between Seller Portal displayed rates and your bill.
- Some value-added charges, like our box-only surcharge, are charged based on the full order, while the Seller Portal charges based on the specific item, sometimes causing misalignment.
Please reach out if you find any other pieces confusing or if you have questions.