In short
- Under 100 orders a month the best fulfilment is one with no fixed costs: pack yourself while your hour is worth less than €37.20, and above that use peer-to-peer at €3.10 an order plus the label. A 3PL with a €1,000.00 minimum invoice costs you at least €33.33 an order at 30 orders.
- Monta and Byrd publish no prices: you get a quote on request. Byrd targets shops from 500 shipments a month; Monta names no hard threshold.
- Of the four providers in this article, two publish an amount: Boxxl from €3.75 an order, Fulfilment.nl a minimum monthly invoice.
- If you sell into another country, the label matters more than the fulfilment fee. The gap between a cross-border and a domestic label is often bigger than the fee.
- Above a few hundred orders a month a 3PL wins. That is not an edge case; it is the normal order of things.
- AirPost is a peer-to-peer fulfilment network: online shops have their orders packed and dropped at a parcel point by verified people near their customers, who earn a fee per parcel from home. No warehouse, no minimum order volume.
Under a hundred orders the question is not which warehouse is best. It is whether your volume is big enough to carry fixed costs. Usually it is not.
This article puts side by side what four fulfilment providers publish about small volumes, works it out at 30 and 100 orders a month, and says what fits each volume band. Where the two models cross on an example quote is in peer-to-peer fulfilment vs a 3PL; eight providers and their minimums are in EU fulfilment without minimum orders compared.
Where the figures come from
Provider figures only from their own pricing pages, checked on 26 September 2026; where there is no price, this says "on request". Label prices were measured on 26 September 2026. The AirPost amounts come from our own rates.
What do fulfilment providers publish about small volumes?
| Provider | Minimum | Price per order | Storage | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monta | No hard threshold stated | On request | Per location or per m³, monthly | No fixed contract |
| Byrd | Targets 500+ shipments a month | On request | Per shelf or pallet, monthly | Not published |
| Boxxl | None stated | From €3.75, plus €0.55 per extra item | On request | Not published |
| Fulfilment.nl | €1,000 minimum invoice a month | On request | On request | Not published |
| AirPost | None | €3.10 for a small parcel, plus the label | No storage fees | No contract |
| Shipping yourself | None | The label, plus your own time | Your own space | n/a |
Three things stand out. Monta says itself that outsourcing to them is "almost always" cheaper above 300 orders a month. Below that it depends on your situation, which is a fair thing to say.
Byrd groups customers by volume, and its smallest group starts at 500 shipments a month. Under a hundred orders you are not who it is built for.
Fulfilment.nl has no set-up fee but does have a minimum invoice. That is a minimum with a different label: you pay it in a month with ten orders too.
Worked example: 30 and 100 orders a month
Fulfilment only, without the label, because you pay that with every option. For shipping yourself we count 5 minutes an order at €25 an hour: €2.08 an order in time. Change that assumption to your own hour.
| Option | 30 orders a month | 100 orders a month | Per order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping yourself (your time) | €62.40 | €208.00 | €2.08 |
| AirPost | €93.00 | €310.00 | €3.10 |
| Boxxl | from €112.50 + storage | from €375.00 + storage | from €3.75 + storage |
| Fulfilment.nl | at least €1,000.00 | at least €1,000.00 | at least €33.33 / €10.00 |
| Monta | On request | On request | On request |
| Byrd | On request | On request | On request |
In euros, shipping yourself is cheapest while your hour is worth less than €37.20. That is not an advert for us; it is just the sum. If you want those hours back for buying or marketing, a model with no fixed costs is the next step.
A minimum invoice hurts most at 30 orders: per order it is around ten times the other options. At 100 orders the gap is smaller, but still wide.
Which option fits which volume?
0 to 30 orders a month
Ship yourself, with shipping software for a better rate. You spend a few hours a month at most, and there is nothing to outsource that is worth a fixed fee.
The exception: if you sell a lot into one other country, read the section on labels below. There, outsourcing can pay from the first order.
30 to 60 orders a month
This is where packing yourself starts to pinch, especially in busy weeks. A 3PL with a minimum is still expensive per order. A model with no fixed costs, such as peer-to-peer, lets you outsource without a quiet month costing money.
Start with one product line. Then you compare two routes on your own numbers instead of on this table.
60 to 100 orders a month
Now is the time to ask for quotes, even if you do not sign them yet. Ask about storage, minimum invoice and returns, and convert everything to cost per order.
If you will grow to a few hundred orders within six months, a 3PL that takes you on now is often the sensible choice. If your volume stays around a hundred, a model with no fixed costs stays cheaper.
Where the label makes the difference
Under a hundred orders the label is often the biggest cost, bigger than the fulfilment itself. Sell into another country and you pay a cross-border label. Hold stock in that country and you pay a domestic one.
| To | From the Netherlands, 2 kg | Domestic, 2 kg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | €8.90 | €4.70 | €4.20 |
| Belgium | €7.71 | €4.33 | €3.38 |
| France | €12.45 | €4.55 | €7.90 |
In all three examples the difference is bigger than the €3.10 you pay per order for fulfilment. Every country and weight is in the European Shipping Rates Index.
Stock in another country means VAT there
Stock in another EU country usually means a VAT registration in that country. OSS does not replace it. The details are in VAT when you store stock in another EU country.
When is a 3PL the better choice after all?
- You are growing quickly towards a few hundred orders a month.
- You have many SKUs, or large and heavy products.
- You need a fixed collection time or same-day shipping.
- Your stock needs to sit insured in a warehouse.
- Your volume swings and a quiet month should cost nothing.
- You do fewer than a hundred orders a month, month after month.
The fourth line matters. Stock with a sender through AirPost is not insured. That is why you start with a test batch you can afford to lose. A 3PL that does insure your stock can be worth paying for.
A head-to-head on minimum, price, contract and storage is in AirPost vs Monta vs Byrd vs shipping yourself.
How this works with AirPost
Find a sender
Filter by price and size. Every sender is ID-checked and has reviews from other shops.
Send a test batch
One box of bestsellers, with your own packaging. The rest stays with you. Not a fit? Ask for your stock back; it is returned within 14 days.
Put your orders out
In the chat, with address and size. To one sender, or to all your senders at once; the first one to pick it up ships it.
We sort the label
We find the cheapest rate within the service level you choose. Your shop’s name is on the parcel as the sender.
Track the shipment
Tracking reaches both of you, in the same conversation.
You pay per shipment: your sender’s fee, a €0.85 platform fee and the label. No storage fees, no minimum and no contract. The amounts per size are on pricing; how it works is on local fulfilment in Europe.
Put your own quote next to it
With a 3PL
≈ $4.50
Per order
≈ $450 a month
With AirPost
≈ $3.53
Per order
≈ $2.57 sender fee + ≈ $0.97 platform fee, at any volume
≈ $0.97 per order cheaper here.
| Orders per month | With a 3PL | With AirPost |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | ≈ $9.46 | ≈ $3.53 |
| 50 | ≈ $6.16 | ≈ $3.53 |
| 100 | ≈ $4.50 | ≈ $3.53 |
| 250 | ≈ $3.51 | ≈ $3.53 |
| 500 | ≈ $3.18 | ≈ $3.53 |
| 1000 | ≈ $3.02 | ≈ $3.53 |
Set-up cost spread over twelve months. Excludes carrier rates, returns and VAT.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest fulfilment under 100 orders a month?
In euros, shipping yourself is cheapest while your hour is worth less than €37.20. Above that a model with no fixed costs is cheaper, such as peer-to-peer at €3.10 an order plus the label.
Does Monta take shops with fewer than 100 orders?
Monta names no hard minimum and publishes no prices; you ask for a quote. Monta says itself that outsourcing is almost always cheaper above 300 orders a month.
Is Byrd a fit for a small online shop?
Byrd groups customers by volume, and its smallest group starts at 500 shipments a month. Prices are not on the website; you get them on request.
What is a minimum invoice?
An amount you pay every month, even when you have fewer orders. Fulfilment.nl publishes €1,000.00 a month; at 30 orders that is at least €33.33 an order.
From how many orders does a 3PL pay off?
Usually from a few hundred orders a month, once the fixed costs are spread over enough orders. On an example quote the crossing point is worked out in the article on peer-to-peer fulfilment vs a 3PL.
Sources
- Monta — fulfilment pricing: no standard rates, no fixed contract (Dutch, 26-09-2026)
- Monta — no hard minimum, almost always cheaper above 300 orders (Dutch, 26-09-2026)
- Byrd — pricing on request, storage per shelf or pallet (26-09-2026)
- Byrd — smallest segment 500 to 1,000 shipments a month (26-09-2026)
- Boxxl — from €3.75 an order, €0.55 per extra item (Dutch, 26-09-2026)
- Fulfilment.nl — €1,000 minimum invoice a month (Dutch, 26-09-2026)
- European Commission — the VAT One-Stop Shop (OSS)
Outsource from one order, with no minimum and no contract
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