Small Business Fulfilment

Fulfilment for small businesses, without committing to volumes you haven't reached yet.

Small business fulfilment is usually pitched the same way as fulfilment for any other seller: flexible, scalable, no hassle. What providers don't often say is what it actually costs to fulfil a small number of orders rather than a large one. This page sets that out plainly. Storeship's Low Volume plan has no minimum monthly orders, and it carries a specific, stated trade-off in exchange: a slightly higher per-order fee and a lower storage rate. If you're weighing up whether to outsource fulfilment before your order volume is settled, that's the detail worth understanding before anything else on this page.

The trade-off: what small-volume fulfilment actually costs

Fulfilment pricing generally moves in one direction as order volume moves in the other: the more you commit to, the lower your per-order fee. Providers built around minimum order volumes can offer a lower headline rate because they know roughly how much work is coming in each month. A seller who can't yet guarantee that volume doesn't get access to the same rate, whichever provider they use. The honest question isn't whether a "no minimums" plan exists. It's what you pay for it.

On Storeship's Low Volume plan, pick and pack costs £1.20 per order,1 and storage starts from £0.002 per item, per week, which is the lowest storage rate across Storeship's plans. There is no minimum number of orders per month. By comparison, the Standard plan charges £1.00 per order and £0.003 per item in storage, with a minimum of 75 orders a month, and the High Volume plan charges £0.80 per order and £0.004 per item in storage, with a minimum of 250 orders a month.

Low volume vs standard vs high volume

Plan	Pick and pack fee	Storage fee (from)	Minimum orders per month
Low Volume	£1.20 / order	£0.002 / item / week	None
Standard	£1.00 / order	£0.003 / item / week	75
High Volume	£0.85 / order	£0.004 / item / week	250

In practice, this means the Low Volume plan suits a seller who is still establishing what their monthly order volume looks like, or whose volume genuinely fluctuates and doesn't sit reliably above 75 orders a month. It is not the cheapest per-order rate Storeship offers. It is the rate that comes with no commitment attached, and both of those facts matter equally when deciding whether it's the right fit.

How fulfilment works, step by step

Once you've chosen a plan, the process itself is the same regardless of volume:

Connect your sales channels: Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and more than a hundred other platforms sync automatically through Storeship's free fulfilment software.

Send your stock: You ship your products to Storeship's Nottingham warehouse by courier, container, or direct from your manufacturer.

Orders are picked, packed, and shipped: Each order goes through barcoded accuracy checks as it moves through the warehouse.

You track everything in real time: Inventory, order status, and reporting are visible around the clock through the same software.

For the fuller picture of how this works day to day, including receiving stock and platform integrations, see the ecommerce fulfilment centre page.

When it's worth outsourcing (and when it isn't)

Outsourcing fulfilment doesn't automatically make sense at every stage of a small business. A few honest signals help work out whether now is the right time:

Worth considering when:

• Packing orders is taking time away from sourcing, marketing, or customer growth
• Storage space at home or in a small unit has stopped being enough
• Order errors or late dispatch are creeping up as volume grows, even slightly
• You want to sell on additional channels but can't keep up with the manual work of another integration

Not yet worth it when:

• Order volume is very low or occasional, and the cost of any outsourced plan outweighs the time saved
• Your products need specialist handling, such as temperature control or hazardous storage, that a general fulfilment warehouse isn't set up for

If most of the first list applies to your business, it's worth working out what the Low Volume plan would actually cost against what fulfilling orders yourself is currently costing you in time and errors.

What's included on the Low Volume plan

The Low Volume plan covers the same core service as Storeship's other plans, without a monthly order commitment:

Storage: Charged per item, from £0.002 per item per week. See the full breakdown on the ecommerce storage page.

Pick and pack: Barcoded accuracy checks at pick, at pack, and a check weigh, with photographic evidence of the packed order.

Shipping: Discounted carrier rates on our shipping, passed through at cost.

Free fulfilment software: Real-time visibility of stock and orders, included as standard on every plan.

Item limits: Maximum item weight of 17kg and maximum item size of 110cm on this plan. Products outside these limits aren't covered by the Low Volume plan, so get a tailored quote rather than assuming they're included.

Value-added services: Kitting, custom packaging, and other extras are available on the Low Volume plan for an additional fee.

Explore more: 3PL, sustainability, and going further

If you want the fuller picture before deciding, a few other pages cover related ground. Our 3PL fulfilment services page sets out the full service across all plans in more depth. If sustainability is a priority alongside cost, green fulfilment covers Storeship's approach to packaging and waste. If you're weighing up what happens when a customer wants to send something back, our returns management page covers that in full. And if you're still getting familiar with the terminology, our guides on what 3PL means and what ecommerce fulfilment involves explain both from first principles.

Why small ecommerce sellers choose Storeship

Storeship has been independently owned and operated since 2009, and is registered under HMRC's Fulfilment House Due Diligence Scheme (FHDDS: XZFH00000100040). We currently process stock for over 700 UK and international ecommerce sellers, having handled more than 971309 orders. Every order goes through the same three-stage check regardless of plan or volume: scanning at pick, scanning at pack, and a check weigh. You also get a dedicated account manager rather than a general support queue, from your first order. Full company details are available on our About Storeship page.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a minimum number of orders I need to commit to?

Not on the Low Volume plan. It carries no minimum monthly orders, in exchange for a higher per-order pick and pack fee than Storeship's higher-volume plans. There's no commitment to make before you've established what your order volume actually looks like.

What if my order volume grows? Can I move to a different plan?

Yes. As order volume increases, moving to the Standard or High Volume plan brings the per-order fee down, in exchange for taking on a monthly order minimum. Contact your account manager: once your order levels reach the next plan's threshold, they can upgrade your account.

Do I need my own warehouse or equipment to get started?

No. You send your stock to Storeship's Nottingham warehouse, and storage, packing materials, and warehouse equipment are all included in the service.

Can I use Storeship if I'm just starting out and don't have many orders yet?

Yes. The Low Volume plan exists specifically for this. It has no minimum order requirement, so you're not committing to volumes you haven't yet reached. That makes it well suited to start-ups and new businesses that haven't yet finalised their expected order volume.

Get a small business fulfilment quote

If you're weighing up whether outsourced fulfilment makes sense at your current order volume, the quickest way to find out is to see the actual numbers for your business. Request a free, no-obligation quote tailored to your order volume and product size, or see the full fulfilment pricing breakdown first.