A real audit returned to a Sydney beauty brand at 3,400 orders/month. Identifying details removed; pricing data verified. Yours arrives in the same format, populated with your numbers.
Your contract sits in the 76th percentile in our Sydney beauty sample (n=14). Three vetted alternatives matched, all in the 25–50th percentile band.
Each line of your contract benchmarked against the AU 3PL pricing index. Median figures from 47 verified contracts; Sydney sub-sample of 14 weighted higher for storage and account-management fees.
| Component | Your rate | Market median | Δ vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick & pack First pick + per-additional-pick. Your rate $4.85 first / $1.05 additional. Market: $3.45 / $0.80 at 2k–5k tier. | $5,950 | $4,847 | +$1,103 |
| Storage 36 pallets × $33.30/mo. Sydney median $28.00/pallet; you're 19% above. | $1,200 | $1,008 | +$192 |
| Receiving ~12 inbound pallets/month at $35 each. National median $35; you're at the median. | $420 | $420 | ±$0 |
| Shipping (cost-plus markup) 14% markup on AusPost rates. Pass-through with $0.40 admin fee available in market. | $3,950 | $3,710 | +$240 |
| Hidden fees (4 line items) Account mgmt $400 · Returns $530 · Photo on receive $48 · Long-term storage trigger $122 (90 days, 1.5×). | $1,100 | $735 | +$365 |
| Identified overpay (monthly) | $1,900 | +$1,658 |
Three findings drive 84% of your identified overpay. None are coincidence — they're patterns we see consistently in beauty brands at your volume.
You're paying flat-rate pick & pack at 3,400 orders/month. Industry standard at this volume tiers down — the 2,000–5,000 band median is $3.45 first / $0.80 additional. Your contract has no tier breakpoint above 500 orders.
This is the single biggest line item — $1,103/month, $13,236/year. Almost certainly negotiable with your current 3PL if you ask. If they won't tier you, that's your switching trigger right there.
Four hidden line items: account management ($400/mo), returns processing ($530/mo), photo-on-receive ($48/mo), and long-term storage triggers ($122/mo at 1.5× after 90 days). Market median for the same combo is $735/mo. You're $365 over.
The photo-on-receive fee is the easiest kill — $48/mo for a service you may not need. Account management at $400/mo is high; market is $350. The LTS trigger at 90 days is aggressive for a brand with seasonal slow movers.
Your contract uses cost-plus 14% on AusPost rates. The market alternative is pass-through plus a flat $0.40/parcel admin fee. At your volume, that's $240/month difference.
Cost-plus quietly scales against you as your volumes grow. Pass-through is in your interest, not your 3PL's, so you have to ask for it specifically — it's never the default.
Pre-screened against your profile (Sydney, beauty, 3,400 orders, returns + FBA + kitting required). All three sit in the 25–50th percentile band and have current capacity for your volume. Quotes available within 48 hours of your introduction.
Sydney-based, native Shopify + SP-API, dedicated beauty line, returns SLA 24h. Tier-2 pricing locked.
Beauty-specific TGA-compliant facility. Pass-through shipping. 12-month term, 60-day notice, no auto-renew.
Strong scale tier (5k+ orders pricing pre-locked). Better fit if you forecast >30% growth. 1-day extra transit to Sydney customers.
Provider names anonymised in this sample. Your actual report names them and includes contact details for the named lead at each.
Index sample: n = 47 verified AU 3PL contracts. Sydney sub-sample n = 14. Beauty & cosmetics sub-sample n = 11. Refreshed weekly. Last refresh 03 May 2026.
Volume bands: Subject's effective rates compared at 2,000–5,000 order tier (subject's actual band). Where tier mismatch exists in subject's contract (e.g. flat-rate where tiered standard), midpoint method applied.
Hidden fee detection: Subject's contract parsed in full. Each fee line cross-checked against AU 3PL Fee Catalogue (44 known fee types). Inferred fees marked with confidence interval.
Confidence: Overall report confidence 0.91 / 1.0. Per-component confidence stated in detailed PDF (page 4).
What we don't claim: Audit identifies overpay against the verified index. It does not predict that switching will deliver the full saving — execution costs, transition friction, and provider-specific terms apply. Median brand recoups switching cost in 38 days; outliers run 90+ days.
Free for brands. ~ 90 seconds to submit. Report returned within 24 hours. No spam, no sales calls, never shared.
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