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OUR GOAL
To provide an A-to-Z e-commerce logistics solution that would complete Amazon fulfillment network in the European Union.
When you were just starting with shipping orders to Europe, paying extra for international shipping once in a while or spending additional time preparing packages for Amazon FBA was fine, since you only had a handful of packages a month. It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough to keep customers satisfied and operations predictable. But as your order volume started to grow, most likely, so did the problems, starting from customers complaining about long delivery time to your margins visibly shrinking under the international shipping costs or FBA fees. That's usually the moment when non-European e-commerce stores start to look for a 3PL partner that could take some of the work off their shoulders.
The problem is, at the first glance, all 3PL companies offer look identical: storage, fulfilment, FBA prep, returns management, system integrations. How can you actually find the one 3PL provider that would support a non-EU brand the way you operate?
The answer is: using the right questions asked during the first meeting with a potential 3PL partner. Those questions will help you see whether a 3PL has real experience with sellers like you, how transparent they are about operations and costs, and whether their setup will support your growth instead of slowing it down. In this article, we'll give you a list of such questions, together with an explanation why those questions are worth asking and what you can learn about the company from the answers.
So if you're preparing for your first round of 3PL calls, asking those questions might help you separate general promises from real operational fit.
1. What experience do you have working with non-EU e-commerce brands selling into the EU?
This might sound like an obvious starting question, but it can actually tell you quite a lot about the 3PL company you might be working with. A 3PL company that worked with several non-European e-commerce brands already will be happy to show you proof of their experience: how many of their clients sell into the EU from outside Europe, which sales channels they rely on (Shopify, Amazon, or both), and what kinds of operational challenges and problems those brands brought with them. For example, maybe they helped a US cosmetics seller divide their stock into FBA and local fulfilment, with them taking care of FBA prep, forwarding and returns management. Or they had a home decorations store that initially only rented warehouse space, but later on asked the 3PL to help them with fulfilment tasks as well.
3PL companies that don't have enough experience with non-European e-commerce brands might meanwhile try to answer this question as vaguely as possible, using general phrases such as "We worked with e-commerce brands from multiple sectors" or "We can adapt to any type of e-commerce seller". What should raise even more suspicion is when the 3PL provider can't mention any specific challenges an e-commerce client came to them to solve and what they did in such a situation, or when they try to blur the difference between EU-based sellers and non-EU sellers.
To know more about the company, you can also ask the following questions:
What percentage of your clients operate from outside the EU, and which markets do they sell from?
How have you supported brands transitioning part of their business away from Amazon FBA Europe?
What challenges do non-EU brands typically face during the first three months when working with 3PL partners?
How do you manage communication and issue resolution when your clients are in a different time zone?
After you sign the contract, the 3PL provider becomes the local extension of your business: your hands, your response time, and, in many ways, your problem-solving capacity inside the EU. And if they can't answer questions about how they typically solve problems non-EU companies face when shipping to Europe or talk about how they are prepared to adjust their processes to your brand's needs, there's the risk they might not be able to help you when things go awry - which will affect your reputation rather than theirs.
Meanwhile, a logistic partner that has proven experience with e-commerce brands (ideally those from your own sector) will know not only what logistic problems brands such as yours face, but also how to prevent those in advance, simply because they did it several times before.
2. Which services are included in your standard pricing — and which ones are billed separately?
Virtually every single provider has "clear" or "transparent" pricing promises on their website. The definition of “clear” varies wildly from one company to another though, so it's important that you ask them to clarify how exactly their pricing works. For example, some company might include essential services in their base rates and everything else is treated as add-ons, added only when you specifically ask for those. Other companies might work similarly to Amazon FBA though and silently add more services to your standard pricing, which might lead to a situation where the monthly invoice looks nothing like the pricing sheet you received during the sales call.
A solid 3PL won’t hesitate to walk you through what’s covered in their core pricing and where additional fees start. They should be able to show you exactly how they charge for picking and packing, storage, inbound receiving, FBA prep tasks, forwarding, returns handling, and any non-standard work that tends to fall outside fixed rates. The more concrete their examples are, such as how returns are billed when an EU customer sends back a damaged item, or how much FBA labelling costs per unit, the easier it will be to understand whether their model aligns with your margins and order patterns.
If the provider stays vague or leans on broad statements like “it depends on the client”, “we can calculate that after onboarding,” or "our pricing is very flexible", that’s usually a sign you should look closer at their pricing. Another red flag is when a 3PL gives you surprisingly low storage or pick-and-pack fees while avoiding details about when and where they charge more. Low headline prices are often balanced by higher fees for inbound receiving, returns, packaging materials, or mandatory add-ons, so getting a pricing offer that appears to be much lower than what other shortlisted companies offer should make you suspicious. Plus, very low prices might mean the 3PL c0mpany is inexperienced and doesn't have many clients yet, so they are using low prices as "client magnet" - only that with the low price also comes low quality of their services, which might put your brand's operations, reputation and revenue at risk.
To get a clearer picture, it helps to ask follow-up questions such as:
Are there any minimum monthly fees, volume commitments, or package minimums?
Which services tend to generate additional costs for new clients, and why?
How do you charge for returns, special handling, or relabelling?
Can you provide a full pricing breakdown before onboarding, including optional services?
A 3PL that’s confident in its pricing usually has no issue providing this level of detail. And in practice, the way they communicate costs is often a preview of how they’ll communicate everything else once you start working together.
3. How do you handle onboarding for new clients based outside the EU?
The onboarding stage is often where brands first discover how well a 3PL is organized — and how much of the operational burden will quietly fall back on them. For non-EU sellers, this phase matters even more because the 3PL isn’t just learning your products and order flow; they’re also setting up processes that account for customs requirements, VAT status, time zone differences, shipping preferences, and the combination of D2C and Amazon FBA activity. So asking about onboarding early helps you understand whether the provider has a structured, repeatable process for brands like yours, or whether you’ll be piecing things together as you go.
A reliable 3PL will be able to explain the onboarding steps clearly:
- which documents they need from you,
- how they prepare for inbound stock,
- how they will configure integrations with your store and Amazon,
- and how they test workflows before orders go live.
They should also walk you through the timeline — for example, how long it typically takes from signing the contract to receiving your first pallet, or how many days they need to fully set up FBA prep workflows. The more specific they are, the more likely it is that they’ve done this process repeatedly with non-EU clients.
It’s also a good sign when a 3PL proactively brings up areas that tend to slow things down: incomplete SKU data, incorrect labelling from the manufacturer, delays in customs clearance for the first shipment, or the need to align on packaging guidelines before any fulfilment begins. A partner who names these issues upfront is usually one who knows how to solve them before they become real operational blockers.
Vague or overly simplified answers, meanwhile, can be a red flag. If the provider insists that onboarding is “quick and easy for everyone,” avoids explaining who will guide you through each step, or cannot describe how they support brands that operate from a different time zone, there’s a good chance the process is either unstructured or heavily dependent on you figuring things out yourself. Another sign to pay attention to is when a 3PL frames onboarding purely as a technical setup (for example, connecting your store) without mentioning the operational preparation needed for FBA workflows, returns management, or quality checks on inbound stock.
To dig deeper, you can ask follow-up questions like:
What information and documents do you need from us before the first shipment arrives?
How long does onboarding typically take for non-EU sellers, and what slows it down most often?
Who will be our main point of contact during onboarding, and how do you handle time zone differences?
How do you prepare your team for handling our D2C and Amazon workflows before orders go live?
Of course, a strong onboarding process doesn’t guarantee that everything will run perfectly from day one — but it does reveal how seriously the 3PL treats long-term collaboration, and whether they’ll be a partner who removes friction rather than adding to it.
4. What warehouse management system (WMS) do you use, and which platforms can it integrate with?
The next question you shouldn't skip when vetting potential 3PL partners is a question about the technology the third-party logistics partner uses, as reliable integration between their WMS and your systems is the only way to keep full visibility and control when your warehouse is on another continent. The thing is, this question shouldn't be only about whether they do have a WMS system at all (because all of them do) but whether the WMS will work seamlessly with your own tech stack.
A reputable 3PL provide should, besides mentioning the name of their WMS, also tell you how it works in practice:
- which platforms it integrates with natively (Shopify, Amazon, other marketplaces),
- how quickly order and inventory data are updated
- whether you can track inbound and outbound items in real time,
- and what kind of reporting your team will have access to.
What's more, they should also be able to describe how exceptions are handled, for example, what happens if an order fails to import, an FBA label doesn’t generate correctly, or a return arrives without the correct reference number (and how they solve those problems). Another good sign is when a 3PL acknowledges that integrations vary in depth. For example, Shopify might support real-time tracking updates, while Amazon FBA workflows require an additional process for labelling, cartonization, or creating shipping plans. A provider experienced with both channels will be comfortable explaining these nuances instead of pretending all integrations work the same way.
You should be wary when a 3PL salesperson either tries to simplify or downplay the importance of integrating your system with theirs ("Our WMS will integrate with anything you might need" and that's it) or the opposite, they speak in very technical and confusing terms about how their system works and refuse to show how everything works in practice. If they can't say whether you will have access to a dedicated dashboard, what data you'll have access to or only say they will send you reports instead, that should alert you as well, because that might mean they don't have a "tried and tested" integration process in practice, but instead might rely on spreadsheets or outdated programs that require plenty of manual work before the data inside it is usable.
To explore this area further, you can ask:
Do you offer native integrations, API connections, or both?
How often is inventory and order data refreshed in your system?
What level of reporting and visibility do clients get by default?
Are there additional costs for integrations or custom setup work?
Since you will be managing the warehouse from thousands kilometres away possibly, having to ask the support for updated warehouse stock data by email or calling them because your store's inventory shows integration or update errors is out of the question. You need to know how many products are in stock now, which orders are already processed and sent and which are still waiting for picking and packing - and you can only know those things if you have access to a dedicated dashboard with data updated in real-time data inside it.
5. What experience do you have with Amazon FBA prep, forwarding, and returns for the EU market?
Many non-EU brands assume that if a 3PL knows how Amazon FBA works in general, they will automatically be able to handle Amazon FBA in Europe as well, no need to ask about it. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly the case. Amazon FBA in the EU has its own rules, its own labelling and packaging requirements, and its own operational rhythm — and it's just as strict about following those requirements as other countries FBA. Asking this question early helps you understand whether the provider is simply familiar with Amazon, or do they know from experience how to handle tasks related to FBA prep, forwarding and removals/returns.
The latter will be able to explain in details which FBA services they support (prep, forwarding, removals, and returns), how they manage inbound pallets destined for different Amazon warehouses, and how they deal with Europe-specific requirements such as suffocation warnings, multi-language labelling, carton limits, or packaging differences for categories like cosmetics or electronics. They should also be comfortable explaining what typically goes wrong in FBA shipments (for example, mislabelled cartons, incorrect pallet heights, missing expiration dates, or non-compliant packaging) and how they handle these errors before the shipment reaches Amazon.
If you are looking for someone who will help you split stock between Amazon and local warehouse, you should also ask about their experience with split stock. A 3PL that has done this before will know how to organize inventory into two separate workflows, how to track units across both, and how to prepare FBA shipments without delaying your regular D2C orders.
On the other hand, if a 3PL tries to keep the conversation very general (“yes, we work with Amazon sellers”), doesn't want to explain how their FBA prep processes look like or leave the topic for "when the team familiar with FBA will be available", it might be a red flag. The biggest red flag is when a provider suggests that “Amazon works the same everywhere” and so there's no real difference between European and non-European FBA regulations, as it might mean they don't actually have experience with sending parcels to Amazon FBA.
To get a clearer picture, you can ask follow-up questions such as:
Which Amazon EU marketplaces do you support, and how often do you ship to each?
Do you manage FBA removals and returns, and how are those items processed?
How do you handle changes in Amazon’s packaging and labelling requirements?
Can you manage both FBA prep and local EU fulfilment from the same inventory?
A good idea might also be to look for an "Amazon Service Provider Network (SPN) partner" certification on 3PL providers website, as this proves the 3PL company works closely with Amazon warehouses and thus knows the Amazon's FBA regulations inside-out. Though it's always worth it to ask those questions even if you do see the certification on their website, just to know exactly what you can expect from them.
6. How does your pricing and operational setup scale as order volumes grow?
When you move your EU operations to a 3PL, you’re not choosing a partner for where your business is today — you’re choosing a partner for where it will be six or twelve or more months from now. And during this time, you might more orders, more returns, more inbound shipments, more SKUs, and often more complexity around Amazon and D2C running side by side. To not get unpleasantly surprised with quickly rising fees or strained logistics processes, it's important that you also ask how the 3PL will adapt their pricing and operations as your volumes increase and can they scale together with you.
A transparent 3PL should be able to explain how their fees evolve at different volume thresholds — for example, whether pick-and-pack rates decrease once you hit consistent order numbers, whether storage fees change with seasonal fluctuations, or whether bulk inbound shipments become more cost-effective at scale. They should also tell you how they handle operational capacity as clients grow: adding more dedicated staff, expanding pick stations, adjusting cut-off times, or introducing automation. A provider who has scaled brands before will describe these changes naturally because they’ve done it in practice rather than in theory.
Another encouraging sign is when a 3PL can tell you what typically changes first for fast-growing brands and how it looked for their other clients - for example, that they had a client who moved from a standard packaging for their clothes and accessories into custom packaging once their European order frequency stabilized. A partner who can anticipate these shifts is usually one who thinks beyond the first 90 days.
On the other hand, stay cautious when a 3PL insists that “pricing stays the same regardless of volume” or “scaling won’t be an issue.” In reality, scaling always introduces operational changes (more inbound pallets, more picking, more returns, more exceptions to manage), so overly simplistic answers usually mean the provider hasn’t supported significant growth before. Another sign to pause is when a 3PL avoids discussing capacity limits. Every warehouse has them, and a partner who acknowledges that openly tends to be far more reliable when volumes spike.
To explore this area in more detail, you can ask:
At what volume thresholds do your picking, packing, or storage fees change?
Do you offer volume-based discounts or tiered pricing models?
How do you handle peak seasons or sudden order increases?
What operational limits should we be aware of as we grow?
Also, while it might be a good idea to talk about other services the 3PL can offer once you brand grows, don't feel pressured to sign up for additional services "just in case" at day 1, especially if you aren't even sure how the cooperation with the 3PL will look like in the next months. A trustworthy 3PL will leave the decision when and how you add extra services to your company for you, and be ready to add those whenever you will need them - but not pressure you into adding them right at the start and pay for services you might not need yet.
The more you ask, the more you know
Choosing a European 3PL is one of those decisions that might seem deceptively simple at a start, since all companies seem to be offering the same services. But while the services' description on the 3PL websites might look the same, the companies' experience and capabilities won't. And to find the 3PL partners with the experience and skills matching your brand needs, you need to ask them the right questions. The questions we listed above absolutely aren't exhausting the topic - we would need a solid book to describe all the questions you might want to ask during the first meeting. But they are a good start - and might even lead to what other questions related to your business you should ask during the meeting.
What matters is whether the 3PL partner you are talking with is ready to answer all your questions and doubts, or just wants you to sign the contract and then "we'll think about the details" - that's what separates 3PL partners that want to help you grow and logistic companies who might just think "we'll manage it somehow". In our case, we are always eager to answer any doubts, questions or issues you might have, as we learn as much from the questions asked as clients do from our answers.
So book a call with us, bring the questions from this article, and we’ll go through each of them together — plus any others you may have.
