A receiving fee by item charges per unit received on a purchase order, based on the SKUs in the PO. This fee type supports three additive rate components — a flat per-item rate, a weight-based rate, and a volume-based rate — and can be scoped to specific product types using product profiles.
For an overview of all available fee types, see Overview: 3PL Billing Fees. To charge a flat rate per PO instead, see How to Set Up Receiving Fees by PO in 3PL Billing.
Before You Begin
Receiving fees are configured inside a billing profile. You must have an existing billing profile to add fees to. See How to Create a 3PL Client Billing Profile.
If you want to scope this fee to specific product types, set up product profiles and assign them to the relevant products first. See How to Use Product Profiles in 3PL Billing.
Before configuring your product profile scoping options, read — the default fee behaves differently than most users expect.
Important
Fee rate configuration in the UI is not yet fully implemented. Rate setup may require assistance from your account manager or ShipHero Support.
Table of Contents
- How to Set Up Receiving Fees by Item in 3PL Billing
- Field Reference
- How Receiving Fees by Item Are Calculated
- Important Considerations
How to Set Up Receiving Fees by Item in 3PL Billing
- Go to 3PL Billing > Billing Profiles and select a billing profile.
- Select the Fees tab, then click Receiving > Add Fee.
- Select By Item as the fee type.
- Enter a fee name and configure at least one rate field. See Field Reference below.
- Select your product profile scoping option. See Understanding Product Profile Matching for 3PL Billing Fees before choosing.
- Click Save.
Field Reference
Rate Fields
At least one rate field must be non-zero. All three components are additive — if more than one is configured, they are combined in the charge calculation.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Fee name | A label for this fee. Must be unique within the billing profile — two By Item fees targeting the same product profile cannot share the same name. |
| Rate | A flat dollar amount charged per unit received. Example: $0.50 × 10 units = $5.00. |
| By weight rate | An additional charge per unit of weight × quantity received. Example: $0.10/lb × 2 lb item × 5 units = $1.00. Supported units: oz (default), lb, g, kg, stone, short ton, long ton, t. |
| By volume rate | An additional charge per unit of volume × quantity received. Volume = height × width × length from the product record. Example: $0.05/cu in × 24 cu in × 10 units = $12.00. Supported units: cu in (default), cu ft, cm³, m³. |
Product Profile Scoping Options
| Option | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Specific product profiles | Only items whose SKU belongs to one of the selected profiles are charged. Cannot target the same profile with two fees in the same billing profile. |
| Applies to products without a profile | Charges items whose SKU has no product profile assigned. Use this to ensure unclassified inventory is not silently skipped. |
| Applies to any product profile | Charges all items regardless of profile. Broadest possible scope. |
| Default fee | Per-PO fallback — fires only when no other By Item fee generated any charges for that PO. See Understanding Product Profile Matching for 3PL Billing Fees before using this option. |
How Receiving Fees by Item Are Calculated
When a bill is generated, the system processes each PO closed within the billing period. For each PO it iterates over every line item and:
- Skips items with no product record.
- Skips items whose product profile does not match the fee's scoping.
- Checks how many units were already billed on a previous bill — only un-billed units are charged.
- Calculates the charge as:
(Qty × Flat rate) + (Qty × Item weight × Weight rate) + (Qty × Item volume × Volume rate)
The charge description on exported bills reads: "Received [quantity] of SKU [SKU] ([weight], [volume]) for PO [PO number]."
| Factor | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Trigger | PO status is Closed and closed date falls within the billing period. |
| Charge unit | Per qualifying line item — one charge record per matching SKU in the PO. |
| Double-billing protection | Previously billed quantities are tracked. Only un-billed units are charged on each new bill. |
| Charge date | The PO's closed date — not the date billing was run. |
Important Considerations
Multiple By Item Fees Are Allowed
You can add multiple Receiving by Item fees to the same billing profile as long as each targets a different product profile — for example, a standard rate for general inventory and a higher rate for fragile items.
| Fee Type | Multiple Per Profile? |
|---|---|
| Receiving by PO | No — only one allowed per billing profile. |
| Receiving by Item | Yes — multiple fees allowed, each targeting a different product profile. |
At Least One Rate Must Be Non-Zero
The system will reject the fee with the error "At least one rate should not be zero" if all three rate fields are set to 0.
Re-opened and Re-closed POs Are Charged Again
If a PO is closed, billed, re-opened, and re-closed in a later billing period, the item fee fires again for the new closed date. See How to Set Up Receiving Fees by PO in 3PL Billing for full details.