Renting Space vs. HIring a 3PL
When your eCommerce brand starts outgrowing your garage or spare bedroom, you'll face a critical decision: rent warehouse space and handle everything yourself, or partner with a true 3PL provider. It's tempting to think that renting a small warehouse space gives you the best of both worlds: more room to grow without giving up control. But the reality is far more complicated.
Let's break down the real differences between renting space through services like Warespace and partnering with a full-service 3PL like Rogue Fulfillment. The choice you make here will impact everything from your daily operations to your bottom line.
What Warespace Actually Offers
Warespace positions itself as a flexible warehouse rental solution for small businesses. You can rent a small section of warehouse space, typically with shared dock access, climate control, and basic security. On paper, it sounds like a great middle ground: you get professional warehouse space without committing to a massive lease.
But here's where things get interesting. When you rent from Warespace, you're essentially becoming your own warehouse operator. You're responsible for:
All picking and packing operations
Hiring and managing warehouse staff
Negotiating shipping rates on your own
Managing inventory systems and accuracy
Handling returns and exchanges
Coordinating inbound freight
Maintaining warehouse organization and efficiency
You're paying for space, but you're still doing all the work. That shared dock access? You'll need to coordinate your own freight deliveries and pickups. And you'll be the one monitoring and maintaining inventory.
The Hidden Costs of DIY Warehousing
Renting warehouse space seems cost-effective until you factor in everything else. Beyond the monthly rental fee, you're looking at:
Labor Costs: Whether you're doing the work yourself or hiring part-time help, someone needs to pick, pack, and ship orders. During busy seasons, you'll need more hands. During slow periods, you're still paying for space you're not fully using.
Shipping Rates: Small businesses typically pay retail shipping rates. You're not getting the volume discounts that larger operations negotiate with carriers. Over time, this adds up significantly: especially as shipping costs continue to rise.
Equipment and Supplies: Packing materials, scales, label printers, shelving, carts: it all comes out of your pocket. Plus, you'll need to manage inventory for these supplies.
Time Investment: Every hour you spend in the warehouse is an hour not spent on marketing, product development, or growing your brand. As an entrepreneur, your time has value.
Freight Coordination: When you receive large shipments, you're responsible for coordinating delivery windows, unloading, and getting everything properly stored. Miss a delivery window? You'll pay extra fees.
What True 3PL Partnership Looks Like
A real 3PL partnership (like what Rogue Fulfillment offers) operates on a completely different model. Instead of renting space and doing everything yourself, you're outsourcing the entire fulfillment operation to specialists.
Here's what's included in a true 3PL partnership:
Complete Order Fulfillment: Your orders automatically flow to the warehouse, get picked, packed, and shipped: often the same day. No manual intervention required on your end.
Volume Shipping Discounts: 3PLs negotiate better rates with carriers because they're shipping hundreds or thousands of packages daily. These savings get passed along to you.
Negotiated Freight Rates: Inbound freight costs are typically lower because 3PLs receive multiple shipments weekly and can negotiate better LTL and truckload rates.
Inventory Management: Real-time inventory tracking, automatic reorder alerts, and accurate reporting. You know exactly what you have and when you need to restock.
Value-Added Services: Custom packaging, kitting, gift wrapping, handwritten notes: services that help your brand stand out without you having to manage the details.
Scalability: During peak seasons, you automatically get access to additional labor and resources. During slow periods, you're not paying for unused capacity.
The Real-World Impact on Growing Brands
Let's look at a practical example. Say you're doing $50,000 in monthly revenue and shipping 800 packages per month.
With Warespace-style space rental:
Monthly warehouse rental: $800-2,000
Part-time labor (20 hours/week): $1,200-1,600
Shipping costs (retail rates): $3,200-3,600
Packaging supplies and equipment: $400-600
Your time investment: 15-20 hours/week
Total monthly cost: $5,400-7,500 plus significant time investment
With true 3PL partnership:
Rent: $200-$500
Maintenance/integration fees: $100-$200
Pick/pack fees: $1,500-$1,800
Negotiated shipping rates: $2,800-3,200
Packaging supplies at volume discount: $250-$300
Your time investment: 2-3 hours/week for coordination
Total monthly cost: $4,800-6,000 with minimal time investment
The numbers might seem close at this volume, but think of what this looks like when your doing 2,000 packages per month, or 10,000 packages a month. And consider what you're getting. With the 3PL model, you're free to focus on growing your business. You're also getting better shipping rates, professional packaging, and scalability for growth. And, you’re free to take a vacation from time to time.
Why Volume Pricing Matters More Than You Think
One of the biggest advantages of working with a 3PL is access to volume pricing across multiple areas:
Small Parcel Shipping: 3PLs typically get 20-40% better rates than individual businesses. On 800 monthly shipments, this could save you $400-800 monthly.
Freight and LTL: When you're receiving pallets of inventory, 3PLs can often get freight rates that are 15-30% lower than what you'd pay individually.
Packaging Supplies: Bulk purchasing power means lower costs on boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and other materials. This can range from 15-40%.
Technology: Instead of investing in warehouse management software, you get access to professional-grade systems as part of the service.
The Focus Factor
Perhaps the most significant difference isn't financial: it's operational focus. When you rent warehouse space, you become a logistics company in addition to running your brand. You're dealing with shipping carrier issues, managing warehouse staff, coordinating freight deliveries, and handling fulfillment problems.
With a true 3PL partnership, you stay focused on what you do best: developing products, marketing your brand, and growing sales. The logistics expertise stays with the logistics experts.
This focus factor becomes even more critical as you scale. A brand doing $20,000 monthly in revenue can't afford to have its employees spending 20 hours a week in a warehouse. Those hours need to go toward strategic growth initiatives.
When Renting space Makes Sense
To be fair, there are situations where renting warehouse space might make sense:
Very large, established operations with dedicated logistics staff
Businesses with highly specialized storage requirements that most 3PLs can't accommodate
Companies with extreme cost sensitivity and surplus labor capacity
But for most growing eCommerce brands, these situations don't apply. The flexibility, expertise, and time savings of a true 3PL partnership typically provide better value.
The Bottom Line
Renting warehouse space through services like Warespace might seem like a cost-effective middle ground, but it's often a false economy. You're paying for space but not getting the operational expertise, volume discounts, or scalability that come with true 3PL partnership.
The question isn't whether you can handle fulfillment yourself: it's whether you should. Every hour spent picking and packing is an hour not spent growing your brand. Every shipping rate negotiation is time away from product development or marketing.
At Rogue Fulfillment, we've seen countless brands make the switch from DIY warehousing to professional 3PL partnership. The relief is immediate: better shipping rates, professional packaging, scalable operations, and most importantly, the ability to focus on what matters most: building your brand.
If you're currently considering warehouse space rental, ask yourself this: Do you want to be in the logistics business, or do you want to focus on growing your brand? The answer to that question should guide your decision.
For growing eCommerce brands, true 3PL partnership isn't just more convenient: it's often more cost-effective and always more strategic. Your time and energy are better invested in activities that directly drive growth, not in managing the operational details of order fulfillment.
Contact us to learn more.