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Oct 3, 2023
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What is Warehousing?

Mastering Warehousing 101: Your Guide to Understanding Inventory, 3PL, and Distribution Centers
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Warehousing is the process of storing goods to be sold or distributed. When you are starting an e-commerce business, you might use a spare room, garage, or temporary storage as your warehousing. However, with scale, businesses usually use warehouses to safely and securely store products in a more complex and organized manner to track the location, timing, and number of items being stored. Warehouses are buildings or locations specifically built to function as a warehouse facility with a proper warehouse management system. 

Warehousing is the process of storing physical goods before they are sold or further distributed. Warehouses safely and securely store products in an organized way to track where items are located, when they arrived, how long they have been there, and the quantity on hand. There are many types of warehousing, which we’ll touch on later. 

Are warehousing and third-party logistics (3PL) the same?

Sort of. Warehousing is one of the functions of a third-party logistics partner. Third-party logistics (3PL) is the outsourcing of logistics to a provider. A 3PL will handle order fulfillment services for you, which includes warehousing products to fulfill those orders. 

What is the difference between warehousing and a distribution center?

These are often used interchangeably. Warehousing is more focused on the storage function, which a distribution center also does. However, the distribution center also performs order fulfillment on top of storing products. To put it simply, not all warehouses are distribution centers, but all distribution centers are warehouses. 

Types of warehousing

There are many kinds of warehouses. Some of those are:

  • Private Warehousing - owned by a private entity and used either for their own inventory or could be used by a third-party logistic provider
  • Public Warehousing - owned by the government and used for storing their own inventory
  • Cold Storage Warehousing - used for storing inventory that requires specific temperatures, like food storage or medicine storage

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Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to use Fourthwall?

There are no monthly fees, no upfront costs, and no contracts to use Fourthwall. You set your prices and choose your own margins. Here is how our pricing and splits work when you sell:

  • Products from our product catalog. All products in our product catalog have a publicly listed flat fee, which gets deducted from the selling price you set. There are no extra percentages/margins. You keep 100% of profits.
  • Products you ship yourself. No fee (0% fee)
  • Digital products. 3% flat fee
  • Subscription memberships. 5% flat fee

Additionally, all US-based credit card transactions have an added 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee (same as Shopify). Fees vary for PayPal and other providers. Learn more.

How much money do I make on sales from the Fourthwall catalog?

Product costs are listed directly in our product catalog.

If a t-shirt is listed in our catalog at a $10 cost, we will automatically deduct that amount from your profits whenever you make a sale. You can sell products for any price you want.

For example, if you sell the shirt for $22, you'll make $12 in profit on each unit sold. If you sell it for $50, then you'll make $40 in profit on each unit sold.

Does Fourthwall ship worldwide?

Yes! Fourthwall works with manufacturing & fulfillment partners around the globe in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Japan.

Shipping rates are dynamically determined by the size of package and destination. We work with most major carriers and pass through the true cost of shipping. That means that you can offer low-cost, fast shipping to your fans. Most items have a delivery window of 5-8 days.

Be sure to browse our product catalog to find products that are fulfilled out of your target regions to provide the fastest & cheapest shipping for your community.

Does Fourthwall handle sales tax?

Fourthwall operates as the "Merchant of Record", which means that we're responsible for handling all sales taxes. This includes nexus registration, collecting sales tax, and remitting this to US states & other countries.

That way you can focus on designing products and promoting your shop, not taxes.

Can I connect a custom domain to Fourthwall?

Yes. You can connect a custom domain or subdomain on Fourthwall. Learn More.

Does Fourthwall offer artwork & design support?

If you need help finding an artist or designer, check out our design community.

This is a vetted network of exceptional designers that can help you make great quality designs for your audience. We also recommend tools like Canva or Kittl.

Does Fourthwall provide customer support for my orders?

Yes. For any product from our product catalog, we'll handle all customer support for you.

From answering general order questions to making address changes, our team is there to ensure that your buyers are treated with the same level of care that you would personally give them. We have a 12-hour or less average reply time, including nights and weekends.

For any items that you source on your own and ship from home, however, you'll need to do customer support.

Can you show me examples of storefronts on Fourthwall?

Yes! Over 200,000 sellers use Fourthwall to power their storefronts. This includes creators, podcasters, artists, musicians, startups, non-profits, and more.

Get inspired and browse all examples sites.

What integrations does Fourthwall have?

Fourthwall supports many free integrations, including:

  • YouTube Product Shelf (Merch Shelf)
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  • Facebook and Instagram Shopping
  • Twitch Product Gifting
  • StreamElements and Streamlabs stream alerts
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  • Mailchimp
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