Is This App Considered a 3PL or Drop Shipper?

There are tons of apps on Shopify to help you ship your products. Here's a handy list of the ones we consider to be 3rd Party Fulfilment or Drop Shippers versus Shipping Helpers.

Overview

This is one of the most comment questions we see with TikTok Shop & Shopify merchants. Since there's additional configuration that we must do on backend for merchants using 3rd Party Fulfillment companies and Drop Shippers, here's a quick list of those companies (as well as Shipping Helpers & Print on Demand companies) in case you aren't sure you are using one or the other. Please note that if you are using multiple warehouses to fulfill orders, you will still need the custom configuration enabled, even if you are not using a 3rd Party Logistics Company or Drop Shipper.

Quick Navigation

Shipping Helpers 💠 Print on Demand 💠 Drop Shippers 💠 Third Party Logistics Companies

Shipping Helpers

Companies that we consider to be "shipping helpers" are there to generate tracking numbers for you, basically. They aren't necessarily a third party company that's shipping the product from their own warehouses. Many of these apps give you discounts on shipping and give you better shipping rates than purchasing postage through a direct line (like through USPS, UPS, or FedEx directly). Shipping Helpers do not require any additional configuration to SKU IQ to use.

Some examples of shipping helper apps are:

You can find more here. If you still aren't sure if you are using a 3PL or Drop Shipper, contact Support. Please note that these are not advertisements for these businesses, just examples of the type of app.

Print on Demand

Print on Demand (POD) providers will print your merchandise for you on demand! These companies are fine to use with SKU IQ and as long as you are only using one and that is your soul source of where your merchandise is coming from, no additional configuration is needed. (If you are selling some POD items and some items you have in your own warehouse, you will need the additional configuration!)

Some examples of Print on Demand providers are:

You can find more here. If you still aren't sure if you are using a 3PL or Drop Shipper, contact Support. Please note that these are not advertisements for these businesses, just examples of the type of app.

Drop Shippers

Drop shippers are 3rd party apps that get merchandise from all over the globe for you to resell on your Shopify or TikTok shop. Since these products often come from multiple warehouses, it's very important that SKU IQ configure your account correctly to send TikTok Shop orders correctly to Shopify and so that they can be properly fulfilled on Shopify. Failure to configure the app properly can result in multiple duplications of TikTok Shop orders on Shopify!!

Here are some examples of Drop Shippers:

You can find more here. If you still aren't sure if you are using a 3PL or Drop Shipper, contact Support. Please note that these are not advertisements for these businesses, just examples of the type of app.

Third Party Logistics Companies

Third party logistics (3PL) companies fulfill your orders for you. These companies allow you to have your online orders picked from a completely separate warehouse from your own and fulfilled by them. If you are using a 3PL company to fulfill your orders, it is super important to have the custom configuration for 3PL users on your SKU IQ account. Failure to have this enabled will result in duplications of TikTok Shop orders to Shopify, which will then be pushed to your 3PL and will not be able to be cancelled once they are fulfilled.

Here are some examples of 3PL Companies:

You can find more here. If you still aren't sure if you are using a 3PL or Drop Shipper, contact Support. Please note that these are not advertisements for these businesses, just examples of the type of app.