Pick and Pack UK: Services, Costs and How to Choose
01/10/2026
Pick and pack is the heart of eCommerce fulfilment: it is the process of taking items from warehouse shelves, packing them securely and labelling them ready for the courier. In the UK it is typically charged per order, from around £0.70, and the quality of this single operation decides whether your customers get the right product, on time, in one piece.
This guide explains what pick and pack services include, how the pricing works, what separates a careful operation from a careless one, and how to choose a partner you can trust with your brand.
What pick and pack actually involves
Every order passes through the same basic stages:
Receiving and put-away: your stock arrives, is checked against the delivery note and placed in its storage locations.
Picking: when an order comes in, the picker collects each item from its shelf or bin location. Single-item orders are the fastest; multi-item orders take longer because each additional pick adds handling time.
Packing: items are packed into the right-sized box or mailer with appropriate protection. Good packing balances protection against damage with keeping parcel weight and size down, because both affect your courier cost.
Labelling: the shipping label is applied, with any customs documentation for international orders. Barcode verification at this stage catches mispicks before they leave the building.
Dispatch: parcels are sorted by carrier and service level, then handed to the courier network for collection.
Some providers add quality-control steps such as weight checks or double-check stations for high-value goods. Ask what happens between pick and dispatch, because that gap is where most errors are caught or missed.
How pick and pack pricing works
The standard model is a per-order fee covering a single-item pick, pack and label. Additional items in the same order attract an extra pick charge each, because they genuinely cost more labour. At Storage and Logistic, the structure is simple: pick and pack from £0.70 per order, label service at £0.25 per order, and £0.40 for each additional pick beyond the first item.
Watch for the extras that inflate a cheap headline rate. Some providers charge separately for standard packaging materials, add a monthly minimum that bills you even in quiet months, or apply long-term storage surcharges that punish slow-moving stock. A fair per-order price with no minimum commitment usually works out better than a headline rate wrapped in fees. For the full breakdown of every fee line, see our guide to 3PL fulfilment costs in the UK.
Worked example: what 500 orders cost
Hypothetical example to show how the maths works. Assumptions: 500 orders in a month, of which 300 are single-item and 200 contain two items each. Every order uses the label service. Packaging materials are included in the pick fee. Storage and courier charges are excluded.
Pick and pack: 500 orders x £0.70 = £350
Label service: 500 orders x £0.25 = £125
Additional picks: 200 second items x £0.40 = £80
Monthly total: £555, or £1.11 per order
That per-order figure is the number to compare against any quote. Run the same calculation with your own order profile before you sign anything: a provider that looks expensive per order can be cheaper overall once minimums and extras are included.
Accuracy: what separates good from bad
A mispick costs far more than a re-shipment. There is the replacement product, the extra courier charge, the customer service time, and the review that mentions the wrong item arriving. The cheapest fulfilment is the kind done right the first time.
When you evaluate a provider, ask concrete questions: is every pick scanned and verified, or picked on trust? What is the measured error rate, not just a promise of "high accuracy"? What happens when a mispick is discovered, who pays for the reship, and how fast is it corrected? A provider that answers these precisely is usually the one with the processes to back it up.
How to choose a pick and pack partner
Shortlist against these fundamentals:
Transparent per-order pricing with no hidden extras or monthly minimums.
A clear, described accuracy process, not just a claim.
Same-day dispatch as standard for orders received before the cut-off.
Real-time visibility of your stock levels and every order's status.
A returns process that inspects and re-stocks, not just a receiving dock.
A UK-based team you can call when something needs attention.
The cheapest quote is rarely the best value over a year of trading. Reliability and accuracy compound; errors and delays do too. If you are comparing full fulfilment partners rather than just pick and pack, our fulfilment centre buyer's checklist gives you ten points to score them against, and our plain-English guide to what a 3PL does explains how pick and pack fits the bigger picture.
Need a number for your volumes? Try our pricing estimator for an instant per-order cost, or call 07380 636829 and talk it through with our warehouse team.