Fulfilment without a minimum: 5 alternatives in 2026

You asked for a quote and it came back with a minimum in it: a number of orders, a monthly amount, or a tier you do not fit into yet. This article is about what you can do instead.

The difference with the other articles in this series: it also covers the options that are not fulfilment companies but solve part of the problem — the carriers themselves, a shipping platform and the marketplaces. For each one it says what they publish themselves, with the link at the bottom.

Who sets a minimum, and who does not? #

Two things stand out. The minimum rarely sits with carriers and platforms; it sits with warehouses, because they have fixed costs that have to land somewhere. And where no minimum is stated, the fixed cost often turns up elsewhere — a monthly plan, a storage surcharge or a tier.

A longer list of European warehouses that take small sellers, alphabetical and with what each one publishes about storage, is in EU fulfilment without minimum orders: 8 providers compared.

What does a minimum invoice cost you per order? #

A minimum invoice is a minimum with a different label. As long as your normal invoice stays below it, you pay the difference. Divide it by your real order count and you see what it costs you.

Read the table as a floor, not a price. At 500 orders you probably reach that minimum with your normal rates anyway, and then it does not matter. At 50 orders it is the biggest line on your invoice.

Which alternative fits you? A decision tree #

Four questions, in this order. Stop at the first one that gives a clear answer.

1. 1

   Question 1 — Is your product large, heavy, chilled or licensed?

   Yes: you need a warehouse with the right facilities, even below its minimum. Packing yourself and peer-to-peer are out. No: go to question 2.

2. 2

   Question 2 — Do you sell nearly everything on one marketplace?

   Yes: look at that channel’s own fulfilment first. There is no minimum, but count the storage surcharge or the monthly plan. No, or you do not want to depend on one channel: go to question 3.

3. 3

   Question 3 — How many orders do you ship a month?

   Under 20: ship yourself on a carrier business account or a free shipping platform; your time is not the bottleneck yet. Between 20 and a few hundred: peer-to-peer or a 3PL with no minimum. Above that: ask for quotes, because you will usually reach a minimum invoice anyway.

4. 4

   Question 4 — Are your customers in a different country from you?

   Yes: where your stock sits matters more than the rate. A batch with someone in your customer’s country turns an international parcel into a domestic one. No: keep the answer from question 3.

The line in question 3 is not a law of nature. It depends on what your own hour is worth, and on how your cost per order compares — which is the subject of peer-to-peer fulfilment vs a 3PL.

The five alternatives without a minimum #

1. Ship yourself on a carrier business account

You pack yourself and buy the label directly from the carrier. In the Netherlands, PostNL lets you open a business account yourself up to 10,000 parcels a year and pay per shipment, and DHL eCommerce lets you create an account with a one-cent bank check. Check what your own national carrier offers; we have not checked every country.

What a domestic parcel costs depends on weight and service. In our Shipping Rates Index, measured on 26 September 2026, the carrier price for a 2 kg domestic parcel (without the AirPost fee) was:

The downside is not the rate but your time: you pack and you drop off.

2. A shipping platform

A shipping platform turns the orders in your shop into labels from several carriers, in one screen. Sendcloud has a free plan and paid plans from €28 a month plus €0.10 per label.

It solves the admin, not the packing. You usually keep it when you outsource later.

3. Marketplace fulfilment

Bol and Amazon store your stock and ship it. Neither mentions a minimum. The fixed cost sits elsewhere: bol charges storage per item per day and, since 1 January 2026, a 100% monthly surcharge on stock stored longer than 180 days. Amazon.nl charges €39 a month, excl. VAT, for the Professional plan.

It fits when that channel is nearly all of your revenue. If you also sell through your own shop, check whether the platform can ship those orders from the same stock.

4. A 3PL with no minimum

They exist. GS-Fulfilment in Eindhoven says in so many words that it has no minimum per day or per month, and charges storage per week on the space you actually use. Other providers publish no minimum but no rate either; there you only see the floor in the quote.

5. Peer-to-peer fulfilment

A verified person near your customers keeps a batch of your stock at home, packs your orders and drops them at a service point. You pay per shipment: the sender’s fee (recommended €2.25 for a small parcel) plus a €0.85 platform fee, and the shipping label.

No storage fee, no monthly amount, no contract. That is also the limit: it works for small, light products in batches of tens to a few hundred items, not for a pallet or hundreds of SKUs mixed together.

• ✓Letterbox parcels and small parcels: jewellery, cosmetics, clothing, books.
• ✓Uneven or seasonal volume.
• ✓Customers in a country where you do not want to rent anything.
• ✕Large, heavy, chilled or licensed goods.
• ✕Thousands of items of stock or hundreds of SKUs.

How this works with AirPost #

1. 1

   Pick a country and your senders

   You see that country’s senders as cards, with their region, parcel sizes and fee. Tick one and the order goes to that person. Tick more and it is offered to all of them at once; the first to accept ships it.

2. 2

   Send one batch

   A box of your best sellers, as a normal parcel. No inbound appointment and no item set-up in a warehouse system.

3. 3

   The order comes in

   A sender first sees what needs shipping and what it pays. Your customer’s name and address appear only to the person who accepted the order.

4. 4

   Packed and dropped off

   The label leaves from the sender’s address, with your shop’s name on it. Your customer gets tracking.

5. 5

   Pay per shipment

   Label, fee and €0.85 platform fee per order. No monthly amount and no notice period. If something goes wrong, you file a claim on the order.

How the model works for shops is on local fulfilment in Europe.

What to check behind "no minimum" #

1. Minimum invoice. Do not ask "is there a minimum"; ask "what is the lowest amount I can be invoiced in a month".
2. Tiers. "Up to 500 orders" is a ceiling; "from 200 orders" is a minimum with a friendlier name.
3. Storage. Per pallet, you pay a half-empty pallet in full. Per week or per space used scales down.
4. Long-term storage surcharge. On marketplaces, the place where a slow month becomes expensive.
5. Monthly plan. A fixed monthly amount is a minimum, even when it is called a subscription.