Switching 3PL Providers Without Losing Orders
Switching 3PL providers puts your orders at risk at one point: the gap between the old warehouse stopping and the new one shipping. This page lays out the move in order and the questions to ask before you sign, with timing that keeps the switch clear of peak season. It comes from a Fort Worth, TX 3PL that onboards DTC brands on ShipHero.
- The short answer
- Keep your current provider shipping until the new warehouse has counted your stock and run a test order, then switch routing. If your peak season starts before that can finish, wait until January.
Where orders get lost in a 3PL move
Orders go missing while stock is in transit, or while the store points at a warehouse that cannot ship yet. Every step below exists to close one of those windows.
Most brands leaving a fulfillment provider are not leaving over one bad order. The usual triggers are mispicks that keep recurring, inventory counts that never match, slow answers when something breaks, or a peak season that went badly. Switching guides across the industry point to peak-season failures as one of the most common reasons a brand moves.
The move itself carries its own risk. Inventory leaves one building before it is available in the next, the store connection changes, and packaging rules that lived in someone’s head have to be written down for a new team. A switch that runs in the right order keeps those risks small. A switch run in a hurry, or during your busiest weeks, is how a brand trades one provider’s problems for a lost month of orders.
If you want the general picture of how an order moves through a 3PL first, start with how DTC fulfillment works. This page covers the move.
The move, in order
Seven steps from giving notice to the first order shipped from the new warehouse, in the order that keeps stock and orders lined up.
01
Read your current contract
Find the termination notice period before you set any dates. Switching guides commonly put it at 30 to 90 days. Note what the contract says about releasing your inventory, so the outbound pickup is not the step that stalls.
02
Reconcile inventory by SKU
Pull a SKU-level count from your current provider and check it against your own records while the stock is still on their shelves. A discrepancy found before the move is a question for the old warehouse. Found after, it becomes an argument about which building lost it.
03
Write down your packaging specs
Box or mailer by product, void fill, inserts, branded packaging you supply, and how each kit or bundle is built. Your current provider may know these from habit. The new one needs them on paper.
04
Sign with the new provider and get set up
At Marketplace Prep this runs in a fixed order: discovery call, signed agreement, prepaid wallet funded, a dedicated WhatsApp group created for your team, then your specs documented. Nothing ships until the wallet is funded and the specs are written.
05
Connect the store and run a test order
DTC fulfillment here runs on ShipHero, and connecting your store to it is required. Shopify and WooCommerce connect through ShipHero. Before go-live, a test order runs from your store through pick, pack and ship, with tracking written back, so routing problems surface on a test rather than on a customer.
06
Move and receive the inventory
The first shipment into the new warehouse is coordinated with you: carrier, tracking, arrival date and case or pallet count. Pallet and LTL deliveries are booked by appointment. Stock is counted against your inbound sheet and entered into ShipHero, and you confirm the counts before orders route.
07
Cut over, then watch the first orders
Switch order routing once the stock is counted and available, not when the truck leaves. Let your current provider ship out what it still holds before the notice period ends. On the new side, the first live orders are watched closely so any setup issue is fixed before volume builds.
What to ask a 3PL before you sign
The questions that decide whether the next move is your last one for a while. These are our answers. Ask every provider you are considering the same things.
What system holds my inventory and orders?
One ledger that your store syncs to is what keeps counts from drifting as volume rises.
ShipHero. Your store connects to it, and that connection is a requirement for DTC with us.
How is the store connection tested before go-live?
An untested connection can drop or duplicate orders on the first day of a cutover.
A test order runs through pick, pack and ship before go-live, and tracking is checked on your storefront.
What turnaround is written into the agreement?
A blanket promise made in a sales call is not the same as a service level in a signed document.
Service levels are scoped per engagement and documented in the service agreement. We do not make blanket turnaround guarantees.
Who do I contact when an order goes wrong?
When something breaks, how fast you hear about it decides how many customers notice.
Every client gets a dedicated WhatsApp group with our team in it. Email is kept for agreements and invoices.
How does billing work?
You want to know what you pay for, and when, before your first invoice.
A prepaid wallet, funded before work begins. Our DTC fulfillment cost page explains what drives the bill.
What happens to returns?
A return that sits unprocessed is inventory you cannot sell.
Returns are received and condition-checked. Sellable units go back into stock, and damaged ones are flagged for your decision.
Is my order volume a fit?
A volume floor is better learned on the first call than after onboarding.
We count DTC volume in orders. The working floor is about 30 orders a month, because we need you shipping rather than storing, and there is no ceiling.
When to move, and when to wait
Timing decides more switches than any contract term. For most ecommerce brands, October through December carries the heaviest order volume of the year, and a move should be finished before it starts.
Wait until after peak when
- Your peak season starts before the notice period, receiving and a test order can all finish.
- Your current provider is shipping accurately and the reasons to leave can hold for a few months.
- Your inventory counts do not reconcile yet. Fix that first, while the stock is still in one place.
- Your packaging specs and kit builds are not written down anywhere.
Move now when
- Last peak season went badly and you do not want to find out whether this one will.
- Your notice period, receiving and a test order can all finish before October.
- Mispicks and count errors are recurring rather than one-off.
- You cannot get a straight answer from your current provider when something breaks.
Counting back from October, a 90-day notice period means the conversation with a new provider starts in early summer. If that date has passed, January is usually the cleaner window.
Questions about switching
How do I switch 3PLs without disrupting orders?
Keep your current provider shipping until the new warehouse has received and counted your stock and a test order has run through your store connection. Then switch order routing. Most disruption comes from a gap in that sequence: stock in transit that no warehouse can ship, or a store connected before inventory is counted. Reconcile counts by SKU before anything leaves, write down your packaging specs, and schedule the move outside your peak season.
What should I ask a 3PL before signing?
Ask what system holds your inventory and orders, how the store connection is tested before go-live, what turnaround commitment is written into the agreement, who you contact when an order goes wrong, how billing works and how returns are handled. At Marketplace Prep the answers are ShipHero, a test order before go-live, service levels scoped per engagement in the service agreement, a dedicated WhatsApp group, a prepaid wallet funded before work begins, and returns restocked or flagged for your decision.
How long does onboarding take?
It depends on your SKU count, any kit builds, how quickly your store is connected to ShipHero and when your inventory arrives, so we scope it per brand rather than quote one timeline for everyone. The order does not change: discovery call, signed agreement, wallet funded, WhatsApp group created, specs documented, first shipment coordinated. Plan the switch so onboarding and your current contract’s notice period both finish before your peak season.
When is the worst time to switch fulfillment providers?
During your peak season, which for most ecommerce brands runs October through December. A move in progress at peak means stock in transit, counts not yet confirmed and a store connection that has not handled real volume. Peak-season failures are also one of the most common reasons brands switch, so if last year’s peak went badly, start early enough to finish before October.
What do I need to send before my inventory arrives?
A SKU list with barcodes, product names, unit weights and dimensions; your packaging specs, including box or mailer, void fill, inserts and any branded packaging you supply; any kit or bundle builds; and inbound details: carrier, tracking, expected arrival and case or pallet count. Pallet and LTL deliveries need an appointment, parcel deliveries do not. Receiving is free for clean case packs, and for mixed cases where each SKU is bundled and its quantity labeled.
Do I need to tell you who my current 3PL is?
No. What we need is your inventory by SKU, your packaging specs and your order profile. If your current contract has a notice period, tell us the date it ends so the first shipment into our warehouse can be coordinated around it.
What products does Marketplace Prep take on?
We take on inventory from private label, wholesale or brand-exclusive relationships. Some hazmat and specialty items are handled after review. DTC fulfillment runs on ShipHero, so your store has to connect to it. If your catalog fits those lines, the next step is a discovery call.
Ready to give notice?
Check these four before you set a date, whichever provider you choose. If any of them is not true yet, that is the first job.
Counts reconcile
Your SKU-level count from the current provider matches your own records, and any gap has been raised with them.
Specs are on paper
Packaging, inserts and kit builds are written down well enough that a new team could pack an order from them.
The notice date is known
You know when the current contract ends and what it says about releasing your inventory.
Peak is on the calendar
The move, including receiving and a test order, finishes before your busiest weeks start.
Marketplace Prep runs DTC fulfillment on ShipHero from 1925 Golden Heights Rd in far north Fort Worth, TX 76177. If you are leaving your current fulfillment provider, we will walk through your SKUs, specs and timing on a call.
Keep reading
How DTC fulfillment works
The four stages every order runs through, and who controls the timing on each.
Fulfillment
Pick, pack and ship on ShipHero, kitting, returns, and how an engagement gets scoped.
DTC fulfillment cost
What drives a DTC fulfillment bill, line by line.
Fulfillment for small ecommerce brands
Fulfillment for brands that have outgrown packing orders themselves.