Kitting fees: what kitting is and how 3PLs charge for it

Kitting is putting separate items together into one ready-to-ship unit, such as a gift set, a bundle or a subscription box. 3PLs bill it per kit, per component or by the hour, usually on top of the normal pick and pack fee. The finished kit should then ship as one item, and how the 3PL counts it at that point is where many kitting errors start.

What kitting is

ShipBob describes kitting as "the assembly of separate pieces into a single offering", most often pre-built in batches. There are two main approaches:

Pre-kitting (batch). The 3PL builds a set number of kits ahead of time as a project. The kits get their own SKU and sit in storage until they sell. This suits combinations you know in advance, such as a holiday gift set.
Kitting at order time. The 3PL picks the components when an order arrives and assembles the kit as part of packing. This suits build-your-own bundles, but each order takes longer.

Kitting can also include related work such as breaking cases into single units, bagging, labeling or adding inserts.

How 3PLs bill kitting

Model	How it works	What to check
Per kit	A fee for each finished kit	Kits billed against kits built
Per component	A fee for each item placed in a kit	Components per kit against the bill of materials
Per kit plus per component	A base fee per kit and a fee per component	Both counts
Hourly or project	Labor hours for a batch	Time logs and kits built per hour
Setup fee	A one-time charge per kit SKU or project	Whether it is charged again on repeat runs
Materials	Boxes, tissue, inserts supplied by the 3PL	Whether you supplied them

For a pre-built kit, check how the pick and pack fee is counted when it ships. If the kit is one SKU, it should usually be billed as one item, not as all of its components.

Typical kitting fees

Kitting is often quoted per project rather than listed on a public rate card. ShipBob, for example, offers kitting at an additional cost and asks you to request a quote. Published figures at the time of writing:

Fulfill.com reports hourly kitting and special project rates of $35 to $60, with a survey range of $39 to $43 per hour, citing The Fulfillment Advisor's 2025 survey.
Speed Commerce's 2026 guide gives $0.50 to $5.00 per order for kitting and value-added services, depending on complexity, billed per unit, per hour or as a project rate.
eFulfillment Service publishes kitting and assembly labor at $20 per half hour.

A per-kit price depends heavily on the number of components and how fiddly the assembly is, so ask for a quote on your actual kit.

How the amount is calculated

Worked example (made up). Juniper & Pine, a made-up brand, asks Ridgeline Fulfillment, a made-up warehouse, to build a holiday gift set: a candle, a mug, a card and a gift box, so four components. For this example, suppose Ridgeline quotes $0.50 per kit plus $0.20 per component, and agrees that each finished kit ships as one item at the normal pick and pack rate ($3.25 first item, $0.65 per additional item).

Building 500 kits:

Kit fees: 500 × $0.50 = $250.00
Components: 500 × 4 = 2,000 components
Component fees: 2,000 × $0.20 = $400.00
Correct kitting charge: $250.00 + $400.00 = $650.00

When the kits ship, an order for one gift set is billed $3.25 (one item). If the pick and pack line instead counts the four components as four items, each order carries 3 extra additional items. Across 300 single-kit orders that is 300 × 3 = 900 extra items, and 900 × $0.65 = $585.00 billed in error.

Billing errors on the kitting line

Kits billed as components at shipping. As in the example, the kit SKU is charged as several picks. Check this on the pick and pack line.
More kits billed than built. Check component stock: 500 kits of four components should use exactly 500 of each. If the invoice bills 540 kits but each component fell by only 500, the 40 extra kits at $0.50 + (4 × $0.20) = $1.30 each come to 40 × $1.30 = $52.00.
Kit fee and component fee when the quote was one or the other.
Hourly billing with no time log, or hours far above what the kit count suggests.
Setup fees charged on every run when the contract says once per kit SKU.
Materials billed that you supplied, such as gift boxes or cards you shipped in.
Kitting at order time billed twice, once as kitting and again as extra pick and pack items.

How to check kitting charges

You need the kitting work order or project approval (kit SKU, quantity, components and rates), the bill of materials, component inventory before and after the build, the finished kit inventory, the kitting lines on the invoice, and your Shopify order export for the kit SKU.

Confirm the agreed rates and pricing model in writing.
Compare kits billed with kits added to inventory.
Check that each component's stock fell by kits built × quantity per kit.
For hourly billing, divide kits built by hours billed and ask about anything that looks slow.
Check that orders containing the kit SKU were billed as one item each on the pick and pack line.
Recalculate quantity × rate on every kitting line.

Kitting and other one-off work are often billed as special project fees, so look there too.

Questions to settle in the contract

Is kitting priced per kit, per component, by the hour or per project?
Is there a setup fee, and is it charged once per kit SKU or on every run?
Are kits built ahead of time or at order time?
How is a finished kit counted for pick and pack: one item or its components?
Who supplies the packaging and inserts, and are they billed?
What is the minimum run, and who pays for damaged components or leftover stock?
Does kitting work need your written approval before it starts?

Our 3PL contract checklist covers these with the other value-added services. Have a lawyer review the agreement before you sign it.

Get your kitting charges checked

3PL Checker compares your kitting and pick and pack lines with your kit quotes, inventory movements and Shopify orders, and flags kits billed as several items or billed more than once. The first audit is free, and a person reviews every finding.

Questions

What is kitting?

Kitting is putting separate items together into one ready-to-ship unit, such as a gift set, bundle or subscription box. The finished kit gets its own SKU and is picked as one item when an order comes in.

What are kitting services?

Kitting services are the assembly work a 3PL does for you: picking the components, putting them together with any packaging or inserts, labeling the finished kit and storing it until it ships. Some 3PLs build kits in batches ahead of time and others assemble them as orders arrive.

How much does 3PL kitting cost?

It depends on the kit and the pricing model. Fulfill.com reports hourly kitting rates of $35 to $60 (a 2025 survey range of $39 to $43), and Speed Commerce's 2026 guide puts kitting and similar work at $0.50 to $5.00 per order depending on complexity.