Third Party Logistics (3PL)

Are you a third party logistics provider? This page helps you understand how to integrate Sendle into your system.

A 3PL is a service that holds stock for merchants, accepts order data, and then dispatches shipments from one or more nearby warehouses. Here we help describe how 3PL partners commonly integrate Sendle into their systems, and answer common questions from these partners. Look at the Partnership section for more information, and our Partnerships team can provide more specific information and guidance.

How to ship with Sendle

We have BYOA and Reseller-style integrations, along with a number of existing plugins. Let's describe how those would work for you.

Here are the players:

Platform

This is you.

Merchant

They own the stock.

Customer

They receive parcels.

Existing plugins

If you are using an established warehouse management system, aggregator, or shipping tool, you may be able to use an existing integration to start sending parcels with Sendle. To see what software we support, take a look at our AU plugin and US plugin pages.

Bring Your Own Account (BYOA) integration

This integration style is less common for 3PL partners, but it can make accounting easier. Since Sendle handles all billing with merchants directly, your system also doesn't need to handle account reconciliation.

Each merchant has their own Sendle account.
Your system uses the merchant's Sendle API credentials to book orders.
Sendle charges each merchant's account when orders are placed.
Sendle handles adjustment charges, refunds, etc.
See our BYOA integration section.

Booking a label with a BYOA integration

You receive order information (including the Customer's address).
Your system uses the Merchant's API credentials to book a label with Sendle.
Sendle charges the Merchant for the label.
Sendle ships the parcel from the Platform to the Customer.

Importantly, Sendle charges the Merchant for the order.

Reseller-style integration

This is the most common way for 3PLs to use Sendle.

The platform has one (or more) Sendle accounts. You can have a separate Sendle account per state, warehouse, or business unit. One Sendle account per shipping location lets us provide you with Pro or Plus rates.
Sendle charges the platform's account when orders are placed.
The platform handles adjustment charges, refunds, etc with merchants.
See our Reseller-style integration section.

Booking a label with a reseller-style integration

You receive order information (including the Customer's address).
Your system uses its own API credentials to book a label with Sendle.
Sendle charges you for the label.
Sendle ships the parcel from the Platform to the Customer.

Importantly, Sendle charges your system for the order. Your system then needs to pass the charge on to the customer and reconcile any other charges/refunds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions we get from 3PL partners, and answers from our team:

I'm using offline billing, why does Sendle ask for a credit card?

Our system needs a credit card to complete account setup. But once you've sent account details to us (your Sendle ID or the email address of the account), and we enable offline billing, that card won't be charged.