Don't Do What I Did: A Short Story on a Big Mistake.

Learn from my mistake, makers of physical product! I thought having a 3PL (fulfillment center) to fulfill my orders would create efficiencies that I would not be able to achieve on my own. I went with Shipbob, and encountered nothing but problems. Customers got the wrong pet bed size and color, some of them multiple times. Some of my inventory went missing. Returned items that were supposed to be quarantined weren't. Those that were quarantined were disposed of without my permission, even though I specified I did not want disposal in my onboarding paperwork. On top of this, I was being charged $1600/month for warehousing, with attendant pick/pack fees and more. My solution: move out of California and rent a large house in Arizona. Right now I'm paying $3k for a somewhat decent apartment in Silicon Valley, for around 978 sq feet. In Arizona, I can rent a whole beautiful house for $2k, and get 400 more square feet, garage, and yard! This is where I plan to move my pet beds as well, and fulfill them myself. I'd be saving at least $2600/month. And there would be NO errors since I know what I'd be doing. Moral of the story: if you can, have your inventory moved into your house. - maybe into the garage and/or a spare bedroom. Go with UPS or USPS to fulfill your orders. You'll save thousands and will also ensure that far fewer mistakes occur. Fulfilling your own orders will, ironically, save you time and money.