If you have been packing orders yourself and Q4 is looming, the question is not just "can I cope?" but "what else am I not doing while I pack?" Outsourcing the physical work can free you to run marketing, customer service and the rest of the business through the busiest weeks of the year.
Signs you should outsource before Christmas
- You or your team are spending hours every day picking, packing and printing labels.
- You already struggle with order volume in a normal week.
- You are planning promotions, a Black Friday campaign or a big marketing push.
- Your stock is taking over your home, garage or unit.
- One carrier or one person going wrong would stop your whole operation.
What a 3PL actually takes off your plate
A third-party logistics provider receives and stores your stock, picks and packs each order, books the carrier, prints the labels, handles tracking updates and manages returns. You keep control of your brand, pricing and customers; the warehouse handles the physical work. Take a look at what is included in our 3PL fulfilment service and our picking and packing.
Is it too late to start?
Not necessarily, but time is tight. Setting up a fulfilment partner involves connecting your sales channels, agreeing how products are stored and packed, and getting stock into the warehouse. That can be done in weeks rather than months with a straightforward product range, but the more complex the products, the earlier you should start. Our Q4 readiness checklist lists the key tasks.
What to prepare before you call
- Your SKU list with dimensions, weights and typical quantities.
- Your expected November and December order volumes, even as a rough range.
- Your sales channels (Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce and others).
- Any special handling, such as fragile goods, alcohol, batch tracking or gift packaging.
- How many parcels are going to which destinations, UK or international.
Choose a partner that connects to your systems
The faster your orders flow automatically from your store into the warehouse, the fewer errors and the less admin you have. Reilly's connects to major platforms through DespatchLab, with multi-carrier shipping built in, so orders can be routed to the right service without manual work.
How to compare costs honestly
Do not compare headline pick fees alone. Ask for storage, receiving, packaging, carrier costs, returns handling and any minimums to be itemised. Read our guide to hidden 3PL fees to watch out for before you sign anything. Then compare the total against what your own time and space really cost you.
Bottom line: outsourcing just for peak can work, but the smoothest Christmases belong to brands whose 3PL has already handled their orders for a few weeks before the surge. If you are considering it, get a quote now and we will tell you honestly whether the timing works for your product range.