Evaluating Vendors of Ecommerce Fulfillment Services

The success of an ecommerce business largely depends on the vendor that stores and ships its products. An important decision for entrepreneurs is whether they want to go with a third-party fulfillment service provider or build their own. The pros and cons of each route are quite different.

In this blog post, we’ve gathered the data from various vendors to offer unbiased analysis of their features and services. In doing so, we hope to help entrepreneurs choose which vendor fits them best. Check out our findings below:

- Ship from multiple locations: With ThirdMall you can ship from warehouses in Los Angeles, Henderson, Las Vegas, Phoenix, as well as two additional international locations in Canada (Toronto) and China (Beijing).

- Free ground shipping: You can get free ground shipping for orders over $75.

- 90-day return policy: You can return purchased goods within 90 days of purchase without any restocking fees or handling charges.

- Free product returns using UPS Ground Service: Even if you’ve already used your free returns, you’ll still be able to return a purchased product with free UPS Ground Service. This means getting your product back to the carrier in its original packaging, which is always better than the alternative of being returned in a box with no other packaging material. Learn more about UPS Ground Service here . " - Shipping from multiple locations is awesome (and so is free shipping!). Our customers love being able to ship from multiple warehouses, because it's convenient. We also offer UPS Ground shipping for free, which is an awesome value-add to the customer. But as important as what we offer is how we deliver it. Our customer service team are true professionals who know their business inside and out and are extremely effective at taking care of customers." - Steven Yang, Product Manager at ThirdMall

M - Free ground shipping: Even if your order is under $75, you can still get free shipping with M . However, keep in mind that state and local sales tax may be applied to your order depending on the state where you live. " - Free shipping is something that we offer, and while there are other providers who offer free shipping as well, we're able to do it for $0.99/order in the continental US. The reason why we're able to do it is because of our size and volume with UPS."

- Shipping from multiple locations: Warehouses in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and additional international locations are available when you use W . Learn more about W's shipping policies here . Ship from 1 location : With ShipBob you can only ship from a single warehouse in Chicago. However, their pricing is flexible and affordable whether you ship 1 item or 100 items. - Free ground shipping: You will be charged $5.99 for small items and $7.99 for large items to get free shipping, regardless of the number of orders.

- Free returns: You will get free returns on all orders. However, if you need to return more than 2 items in one order, you will be charged $20 per item. Learn more about how to return an item here . -   " - Free shipping and free returns across the board are what we're known for. It's built into our brand promise to offer this.

Conclusion

So, which ecommerce fulfillment service do you think offers the best value? Let us know in the comments below! And if you want to get more info about any of these vendors, here is a link to their profiles on our site:

ShipBob

ThirdMall: click here

M: click here

Sources and Further Reading: * Ship from multiple locations -  company sites * Free ground shipping - company sites * 90-day return policy - company sites * Free product returns using UPS Ground Service - company sites "How to Return an Item","UPS Ground Service", "Using UPS Ground to Return Items". Accessed October 20, 2018. http://www.ups.