Lara GuevaraSupply Chain expert (Product and Service)

You’ve Probably Outgrown Your Rates

17 May 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:50

In this YouTube monologue, Lara Guevara explains how a simple rate review for a Direct-to-Consumer (DPC) brand uncovered $124,000 in annual savings without any operational changes. She details the original pick and pack rates ($0.45 per item pick, $2.75 per order pack) versus the revised rates ($0.28 per item pick, $1.85 per order pack), noting that the previous rates were based on a much lower order volume three years ago (800 orders/month) while the brand now processes 8,000 orders/month. The 3PL wasn’t malicious; it simply never updated rates, and the brand never asked. Guevara warns that many brands may have similarly outdated rates and urges a review. She teases a follow‑up segment on freight costs, covering Red Sea rerouting, state rates, and the real cost impact on DPC brands.

Chapters

$124,000 saved, one conversation, nothing operationally changed. Before the rate review, pick is $0.45 per item, pack is $2.75 per order. After, pick is $0.28, pack is $1.85. Same 3 PLs, same staff picking and packing their orders, just rates that reflected what 8,000 monthly orders actually cost to fulfill, not the 800 orders they did 3 years ago. The 3PL was not being malicious, they just never had a reason to change the rates and the brand never asked. 124,000 is not a rounding error, that is a marketing budget, a new hire, a product launch. Your rates might be just as outdated. Next week, freight: Red Sea rerouting, state rates, and what it is actually costing DPC brands right now.