Ecommerce Logistics Costs: In-House vs 3PL Compared

Every ecommerce founder eventually asks the same question: "Should I manage logistics in-house or outsource to a 3PL?" The answer is never simple because it depends on dozens of variables, volumes, product categories, margins, growth stage, location. But one thing is certain: the cost of in-house logistics does not stop at rent and carrier fees, and the items left out of the business plan erode margins.

This guide analyzes every logistics cost line item for ecommerce in Italy, shows how to compare in-house and 3PL models with a worked example using hypothetical figures (to be replaced with your own numbers and quotes), and provides a framework for understanding when switching to an external partner makes financial sense.

In-house logistics costs: the complete map

When an ecommerce business handles logistics internally, costs fall into six macro-categories. The problem is that many of these items are hidden or underestimated in the business plan.

1. Warehouse: rent and utilities

Warehouse costs vary enormously by location and by building. To get a feel for values in your area, you can start with the property quotations of the Real Estate Market Observatory (OMI) of the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate): every six months they give, for each zone of each municipality, a minimum and maximum range of rental values per square meter, including for industrial properties. They are rough indications: the real number is the one in the lease you are offered.

The floor area depends on how many SKUs you carry, how much stock you hold, and how many orders you prepare each day. On top of the rent come utilities (electricity, heating, connectivity), insurance, and maintenance.

Then there are setup costs, which you pay before you ship your first parcel: shelving, adequate lighting, flooring, picking and packing zones, returns area.

2. Staff

In the example further down, staff is the heaviest fixed cost. To handle 100 orders per day, we assume:

• 1 warehouse manager
• 2 picking/packing operators
• 1 returns and customer service person (part-time)

For each person, what goes into the calculation is the total employer cost, not the gross salary on the payslip: on top of the minimum pay set by the collective agreement you apply come social security contributions, severance pay (TFR), and additional monthly salaries. Your payroll consultant can give you the right figure.

And this is the baseline. During peaks (Black Friday, Christmas, sales), additional resources are needed. Temporary staff costs more per hour than permanent employees (you also pay the agency's fee) and has lower productivity in the first days.

3. Technology

A serious ecommerce business needs a WMS (Warehouse Management System) to manage inventory, picking, packing, and shipping, plus shipping software for labels and tracking. Both come with a subscription that varies by provider and volume, from off-the-shelf solutions for simple workflows to custom systems for more complex ones.

Add to this the equipment: thermal label printers, barcode scanners, an industrial scale, workstation PCs and monitors. Plus the cost of integration with the ecommerce platform, which may require initial development.

4. Packaging materials

Packaging costs are often underestimated. Every parcel needs:

• Boxes, in different sizes depending on the products
• Fill material (paper, bubble wrap, chips)
• Adhesive tape
• Labels, documents, packing slips
• Custom packaging, if you use it

The cost per order depends on your packaging suppliers' prices: it is small on a single parcel, but multiplied by a year's orders it becomes a line item that matters.

5. Shipping

With a direct contract, the rate is set by your negotiation with the carrier: it depends on volumes, parcel weight and size, and destinations. Besides standard national shipping, the calculation includes:

• COD collection fee, on orders paid on delivery
• Surcharges for some destinations, such as islands and remote areas, if your contract provides for them

What counts for the calculation is the average cost per order, surcharges included, which you get from your carrier invoices.

6. Hidden costs

These are the items that do not appear in the business plan but erode margins:

• Staff training: every new operator has to be trained, and productivity is reduced while they learn
• Picking errors: every wrong order costs a return and a new shipment; multiply your error rate by the year's orders
• Inventory shrinkage: inventory discrepancies mean lost products
• Stock insurance: a premium that grows with the value of your stock
• Founder time: the hours dedicated to operational logistics management have an enormous opportunity cost

Total in-house cost: an example with hypothetical figures

Here is an example with hypothetical figures, to be replaced with your own quotes. We assume an ecommerce business with 100 orders per day (26,000 orders a year), 2,000-3,000 SKUs, and a 300-500 sqm warehouse. The last two columns show a low and a high assumption, not market averages.

In this example, the in-house cost per order ranges from €11.88 to €17.65. With your numbers it may come out higher or lower. What matters is the method: put every item into the calculation, hidden ones included, and divide by the year's orders.

3PL costs: what you pay

A 3PL (Third-Party Logistics) typically charges on a variable cost model, composed of:

Storage

Storage costs are calculated per pallet/month or per cubic meter/month. You pay per full pallet, per half pallet, or per shelf location (picking position), depending on how the goods are stored. What matters in the quote is how much stock you hold on average and how much arrives before the peaks.

Fulfillment (order preparation)

Fulfillment costs include picking, packing, and shipping:

• Basic pick & pack, per order
• Additional item, for each extra piece
• Special packaging (gift box, customization), as an extra
• Inserts (flyers, samples, cards), per insert, if the 3PL offers them

Shipping

3PLs negotiate with carriers on the combined volumes of all their clients, which is why they can obtain better terms than a single merchant. In the quote you will find:

• Standard national shipping, per parcel
• COD collection fee
• Surcharges for islands and remote areas, if any

Additional services

• Returns handling, per return
• Inbound (goods receiving), per pallet
• Labeling/kitting, per piece, if the 3PL offers them
• COD management (phone confirmation, checks on risky orders), per COD order

Total 3PL cost: how to read the quote

To compare a quote with your in-house cost, ask for it on the same assumptions: same orders per year, same items per order, same stock in the warehouse, same share of COD and returns. Then add up the year's costs and divide by the number of orders, as in the in-house example. A low per-order rate can turn into a high cost once storage, inserts, and returns are added, and vice versa: that is why you compare the total, not a single line item.

The direct comparison

The comparison is made on the cost per order, for the same services:

• In-house: your cost per order with every item included (in the example, with hypothetical figures, from €11.88 to €17.65)
• 3PL: the cost per order in the quote, calculated on the same assumptions
• Difference: it depends on your numbers, and no savings percentage applies to everyone

But the comparison is not just economic. There are benefits that cannot be measured in euros:

Scalability during peaks: during peaks it is the 3PL that organizes people and space, without the merchant needing to hire temporary staff or lease additional space. It works better if you share your forecasts with it in good time, and it is worth asking how it handles extra volume and how its times change during peaks.

No warehouse investment: no warehouse setup costs, no equipment purchases, no hiring.

Focus on core business: the time the founder and team dedicate to logistics can be invested in marketing, product, and expansion.

Specialized expertise: a 3PL handles logistics for many stores every day and has optimized processes that a single ecommerce business cannot replicate.

When in-house logistics makes sense

In-house management is preferable in specific situations:

• Products requiring processing: if every order needs customization, assembly, or specific work that only the internal team can do
• Very high volumes with high margins: with large, stable volumes and high margins, in-house can achieve comparable economies of scale
• Extreme quality control: in luxury, where packaging is part of the experience and every detail must be perfect
• Warehouse already available: if the brand already owns an equipped logistics space, the break-even changes significantly

Signs it is time to switch to a 3PL

• Your orders are growing and logistics takes up an ever larger share of your team's time
• Your per-order cost, with all line items included, is rising and margins are compressing
• Seasonal peaks create operational chaos and shipping delays
• Your shipping errors are increasing
• You are passing up growth opportunities because you lack logistics capacity

The Tissquad approach

With Tissquad, the complete per-order cost (storage, picking, packing, multi-carrier shipping, cash on delivery management) is calculated in a custom quote based on your volumes. For cash on delivery, we check the address before shipping and, on request, confirm orders by phone, in Italian.

We start with a kickoff call, where we connect your Shopify, WooCommerce, or PrestaShop store to our warehouse together, and we ship as soon as your stock arrives. To find out what your logistics would cost, request a quote.

Sources

2

• Italian Revenue Agency, Real Estate Market Observatory, property quotations (in Italian), 2026
• Italian Revenue Agency, Guide to the OMI quotations (in Italian), 2026