Updated October 2026
Storage, picking and packing, shipping and returns each add to what a luggage brand pays. Shipping is usually the largest, since carriers typically bill a suitcase on the size of its box.
The main drivers of luggage fulfillment cost are:
A 3PL can potentially lower some of them with cartons sized to each piece, careful carrier choice, and stock kept closer to your buyers.
By The Fulfillment.com team
Carriers and warehouses both usually charge luggage for the room it takes, so the size of the carton and where it ships from move the bill much more than they would for a small, dense item.
Two brands can pay identical rates for the same suitcase and still end the year far apart. One packs in snug cartons from a warehouse near its buyers. The other ships oversized boxes across the country, and more of its pieces come back. Their carriers differ too, and each of those differences shows up in the total.
The rates for your own pieces come with your quote.
Luggage doesn't spoil, so storing it comes down to space, and it needs plenty. A suitcase or a nested set fills far more shelf than a typical small-parcel item. You pay for the room your stock takes and for how long it stays. We keep oversized and odd-shaped pieces in racking and slots built for their size. They stay easy to reach and to pick correctly, soft-sided bags don't get crushed, and hard shells don't get scuffed.
A bag that sits unsold keeps taking up paid space. Buying in line with what actually sells keeps this cost down.
On every order, someone on our team pulls the piece, scans its barcode, and packs it. A single suitcase is the cheapest order to handle. Multi-piece sets, a bag sold with accessories, and kitted travel sets each take more handling. The scan is what keeps a customer who ordered the carry-on from opening a checked bag. Getting it right saves money as well, since a wrong piece has to come back and the right one has to go out again. Orders are picked in BestOMS, which has Deposco underneath it.
Shipping is usually the largest single cost for a luggage brand. A suitcase is light for the box it needs, so carriers usually bill it on the box's size, which is called dimensional weight (DIM). Any empty space in an oversized box is billed as though product filled it. The biggest cases and multi-piece orders can also cross carrier size limits and pick up extra fees.
The box, the carrier and where your stock sits all move this cost, and the next section covers each one. Large or multi-piece orders can sometimes cost less as LTL (less-than-truckload) freight on a pallet, which we arrange through our carrier relationships. Our guide on how to ship bulky, low-density luggage has the formula, the size limits, and when each way of shipping makes sense.
Most shipping damage to a suitcase lands on its moving parts or scuffs its finish. Damaged pieces turn into returns, so we pack to prevent the damage. The extra board, padding and the check before a box is sealed add a small amount per order. Set that amount beside your returns cost, covered next, because a little saved on packing can come back as a much larger returns bill. Our guide to damage-prevention packaging for wheels, handles, and finishes shows how we protect each part.
A piece that comes back costs you a second trip and a check on arrival, and only the ones that pass go back on sale. You choose what happens to a piece that fails, and that choice sets much of what it costs you. Our luggage returns and warranty workflow follows a return step by step.
Your product and your volume set most of these costs. A 3PL can potentially lower three of them.
Have each 3PL you talk to price the costs above one at a time. Ask who chooses the carrier and service for each order, how they decide carton size, and which warehouses would hold your stock. If you ship large or multi-piece orders, ask how they weigh parcel against LTL and who books the freight. On those orders, that choice can make a big difference to the shipping bill.
Be wary of one flat price per order with no breakdown, because you can't see which part is driving it up. Our own quote is free and commits you to nothing.
Freight is usually the biggest, because carriers typically bill a suitcase on the size of its box more than on its weight. You also pay to store bulky stock and to have each order picked and packed. Packing that protects wheels and finishes adds a little per order, and every piece that comes back costs money too. A 3PL can potentially lower some of them with a carton sized to the piece and a carrier picked by the team that packed it. Keeping stock in more than one warehouse, if you choose to, can shorten each trip.
A suitcase weighs little for the box it fills, so carriers usually bill it on the size of the box instead of the scale, which is called dimensional weight. They multiply length by width by height and divide by a set number: 139 for UPS and FedEx, 166 for USPS Priority. When that result is higher than what the piece actually weighs, you pay the higher figure, so a light bag in an oversized carton is billed on its size. A piece over 130 inches in length plus girth, or 96 inches on its longest side, can also pick up a UPS Large Package or FedEx Oversize fee on top. What keeps the bill in check is a carton sized to the piece, with the same team that packed the order also choosing its carrier and service.
Cutting the box down to the smallest size that still protects the piece is the main way to bring freight down. There's no single figure, because it comes down to how much empty space your boxes carry today. We'll put a number on it in your quote. A box cut down to fit the piece is billed on less space, and a suitcase that can't shift on the way can potentially arrive undamaged more often, which means fewer returns.
It adds a modest amount of material and labor to each order. The wheels, handles and zippers are the parts most often hurt on the way, and hard and leather finishes scuff easily too. Damage is a common reason luggage comes back. A reinforced carton, cushioning and a check before shipping cost a little per order and can save more than that in returns, so weigh this cost against your returns cost rather than on its own.
You pay for each return's trip back, for its inspection, and then for restocking it or dealing with it some other way. We inspect and grade every returned piece as it comes in, and only the ones that pass a check for resellable condition go back into stock. A scuffed case or one with a damaged wheel is not sent to your next customer as new. Where a failed piece goes is your call, and repair, liquidation and scrap each cost something different. Most of the saving comes earlier, from packing that keeps the damage from happening.