How FulfillYN Vets 3PLs and Matches Brands: Our Full Methodology

Every 3PL directory, marketplace, and matchmaker says its providers are "vetted."

Including us.

So it's fair to ask what the word actually means. Here's our full process, start to finish: who gets into our network, who doesn't, how a match runs, how we get paid, and the things we turn down.

The network, by the numbers

As of October 2026, the FulfillYN network includes 219 vetted providers operating 379 facilities with about 76 million square feet of space. We've advised more than 200 brands.

That's smaller than the big marketplaces, on purpose. A smaller network we know well beats a large one we'd have to re-vet every time a brand asks a question.

Who gets in

Every provider has to clear a minimum bar before we'll send them a single brief:

• At least 30,000 square feet.
• At least three years in operation.

Those two rules filter out most small local 3PLs. That's intentional. A brand trusting us with its inventory needs a provider with a track record and room to grow.

Then we check the things that actually predict how a relationship goes:

• The facility: racking, climate, dock capacity, and how much space is really available, not what's on the brochure.
• Systems: which WMS they run, how deep their integrations go, how they measure inventory accuracy, and what reporting a brand actually gets.
• Insurance and certifications: appropriate to the categories they say they handle. In writing.
• References: live clients at a comparable volume and order profile.
• Capacity headroom: so a new brand isn't their biggest account on day one.

Finally, every provider signs a revenue share agreement with us before they ever see a brand's name. It includes non-circumvention and audit rights, and the core terms are the same for every provider. A provider that wants to negotiate those terms before signing tells us something about how they'll treat the brands we send them.

Who doesn't get a match

We turn brands away too. Not often, but it matters.

When our network is wrong for you. A premium jewelry brand came to us earlier this year. Our providers looked at the volume and said it was too small. Instead of forcing it, I told the founder a smaller local 3PL outside our network was the right fit for now.

When the problem isn't the 3PL. A brand once asked me for recommendations, and when I asked how many 3PLs they'd used, the answer was that we'd be finding their fifth in three years. I didn't send recommendations. Five providers in three years usually means something on the brand's side has to change first.

When the numbers aren't real. We ask for actual order data, not projections. A 3PL once priced a brand at its stated 3,000 orders a month, and the brand shipped about 1,000. That relationship was broken before it started.

How a match runs

1. Intake

We start with a detailed brief. Not "how many orders do you ship," but the things that actually drive cost and fit:

• How many fulfillment centers you need, and where
• How product arrives: containers, pallets, or parcel, and how often
• Pallet and carton dimensions, whether pallets can be stacked, whether cartons are barcoded
• Average pallets or containers stored per month
• SKU count, and any climate or special-handling requirements
• How DTC orders come in, monthly DTC volume, items per order, and average package size
• How B2B and retail orders come in, and which routing guides apply

You can see the full list in our 3PL fulfillment brief template.

2. Pre-qualifier

Before we send a full RFQ, we send a short pre-qualifier to providers who look like a fit. It confirms interest and the obvious capability questions first. This matters most in niche categories (big-and-bulky, cold chain, high-security, co-packing) where a provider might look right on paper and pass immediately once they see the details.

3. Anonymized RFQ

The full RFQ goes out with the brand's name withheld. Every provider gets the same requirements and the same itemized pricing template, so the answers come back in a format we can compare.

Two rules we never break during this stage:

• We don't share one provider's pricing with another, unless it's anchored to that provider's own numbers.
• We don't commit the brand to anything. We pass questions and answers between both sides, and we advise the brand privately.

4. Normalization

This is where most of the work is, and where most searches go wrong.

Proposals come back built on different assumptions: different storage billing methods, different receiving charges, different minimums. We rebuild every one into the same comparison model and price it at more than one volume, because a provider that's cheapest at your current volume can be the most expensive in a slow month.

Here's a real example. For a big-and-bulky consumer brand, five providers quoted. On our first pass, one looked clearly cheapest. When we corrected the model for the brand's real inbound volume of roughly five containers a month, the order flipped.

5. Open questions, in writing

We don't hand over a recommendation with loose ends hidden. On that same RFQ, the brand got a written list of what was still unresolved: whether one provider's parcel rates covered retailer dropship orders, whether another could actually support Seller Fulfilled Prime, and how a 30-day anniversary billing cycle would affect the first storage invoice.

And we treat verbal answers differently from written ones. On a high-security search, one of the two finalists told us on a call that it held a payment-card security certification. We flagged it as verbal until we had the document.

6. The shortlist and the decision

The brand gets two or three providers, each with normalized pricing and the open questions next to it. The brand decides who to meet. We set up the calls, and we stay in them if the brand wants us there.

7. Contract and onboarding

We review the contract with the brand before signing: inventory liability, SLAs with real consequences, rate lock, termination terms, data access, dispute process, insurance, and auto-renewal dates. Then we stay involved through onboarding, because the first year is when most 3PL relationships run into trouble.

How we're paid

Providers pay our fee when a match closes, under the revenue share agreement they signed to join the network. Brands put down a refundable deposit before we start, and when the brand signs with a 3PL, we pass the deposit to them as a credit on the brand's first invoice.

I'd rather be upfront about this than have you wonder. Being paid by providers is exactly why we hold the network to a written standard, use the same core agreement terms for everyone, and tell brands when our network isn't the right answer.

What this process is not

• It's not the fastest. A platform that makes introductions will get you on calls sooner. We collect and normalize full quotes first. If speed is the priority and your operation is simple, a larger platform may suit you better. I compared the two approaches honestly in FulfillYN vs Fulfill.com.
• It's not a directory. You won't get a list of 20 warehouses to call.
• It's not for every brand. Very small brands often fit better with a local 3PL, and we'll say so.

Frequently asked questions

What does "vetted" mean at FulfillYN? Every provider has at least 30,000 square feet and three years in operation, passes a facility, systems, insurance, and reference check, and signs the same core revenue share agreement before seeing any brand's details.

How many 3PLs are in the FulfillYN network? 219 vetted providers operating 379 facilities, as of October 2026.

Do providers know who my brand is during the RFQ? No. Briefs go out anonymized until a provider is under agreement.

How long does a match take? We match within 72 hours once a brand is qualified. Full, normalized quotes take longer, especially in niche categories like cold chain or high-security, where more providers pass at the pre-qualifier stage.

How do I start? Tell us what you ship. If you want to understand the process first, read how to choose a 3PL or use our 3PL evaluation scorecard to compare providers yourself.