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How are Storage Fees computed?

Storage Fees

Effective July 14, 2023

Flexport charges a storage fee for each SKU with units in inventory in our fulfillment network. A SKU's storage fee depends on the following factors:

  • Length, width, and height of the SKU
  • Number of units of the SKU in inventory
  • Current month of the year
  • How long those SKUs have been in inventory with Flexport

Storage fees start at the following rates:

  • From January through September, the standard fee is $0.027 per cubic foot, per day.
    • This is equivalent to $0.81 per cubic foot over 30 days.
  • From October through December, the standard fee is $0.080 per cubic foot, per day.
    • This is equivalent to $2.40 per cubic foot over 30 days.

 To calculate the unit volume for a SKU:

  1. Find the length, width, and height (in inches) of a single unit of the SKU.
  2. Multiply length x width x height to get the volume in cubic inches.
  3. Convert this volume to cubic feet by dividing by 1728.
  4. Round up to the nearest hundredth to get the unit volume on which Flexport computes the storage fee.

Example: If A SKU has dimensions 3.23" x 6.54” x 9.49”. Then the volume in inches is 3.23 * 6.54 * 9.49 = 200.47 This volume is  200.47/1728 = 0.116 ft³. We round this value up to the nearest hundredth, which would be .12  cubic feet. Multiply 0.12 by $0.81/30 for non peak months and $2.40/30 for peak months to find your daily storage charge. This is the volume on which Flexport will compute the storage fee.

View Storage Fees Per SKU

Simply go to your inventory page and click on a product to go to the inventory details page. Go to the 'Dimensions' card and select 'Storage Fees' to see this calculated for the SKU.

 

Long-term Storage Fees

Flexport charges long-term storage fees for units in inventory for more than 365 days. For units that are in inventory for more than 365 days, the long-term storage fees are as follows:

  • The standard fee is $0.230 per cubic foot, per day.
    • This is equivalent to $6.90 per cubic foot over 30 days.
  • The per-unit minimum is $0.005 per unit, per day (Note: pre-unit minimum rate previously $0.15 per unit, per day - Updated 10/12/2022)

To see which items are affected, go to the reports page and create an 'Inventory - Units in Long Term Storage’ report. Items that are non-zero in the last column, 'Units >= 365 days old,' will be charged at this different rate.

We encourage you to create promotions for these items to clear out inventory or create a removal order to send those items back to you. 

Notes:

  • Long-term storage fees will be stop when a warehouse decrements those units from inventory. This is soon after, but not exactly when a removal is created in seller portal.
  • FIFO (first in, first out)
    • When accounting for storage fees — Flexport does operate on a FIFO basis. This means that we decrement counts based on the oldest units first. This will move you out of the long term storage tier faster and overall decrease your total fees.
    • When considering actual fulfilled units for a customer order or a removal order — Flexport does not use FIFO. We choose which actual unit to fulfill a given order based on the warehouse location and carrier that we believe can best fulfill the service level of that particular order. Within a given warehouse, there is no guarantee which item will be fulfilled.

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