The origin
In late 2024 I was running Australian Glow on a 3PL contract that no longer fit the business. Nine sales calls produced nine quotes. Different units. Different fee structures. Different tier breakpoints. Each one came back claiming to be the best deal I'd find.
I wanted a tool that would read the contract and tell me where I was overpaying. Not a directory of providers, not a marketplace of leads, not a chatbot. A real review by someone who understood ecommerce operations, with the data to back it.
It didn't exist. So I made one.
Jackson Wilson
Founded Australian Glow in 2018, scaled it to a multi-channel ecommerce brand across Shopify Plus, Amazon Australia and selected wholesale. Negotiated the original 3PL contract personally. Watched it scale, then outgrow it.
Started 3PL Compare in early 2026 to build the review tool he had needed two years earlier — and to put the data behind it into the public domain.
What we do
We review 3PL contracts. We compare them — line by line — against verified market benchmarks built from 47 AU 3PL contracts and counting. We tell you whether to renegotiate, switch, or stay. If switching makes sense, we introduce three vetted alternatives. If staying makes sense, we tell you to stay.
Reviews are written, not algorithmic. A human reads your contract. The output is a four-page advisory document, not a leaderboard.
What we are not
We are not a marketplace. Brands are not bid on. We do not sell leads to multiple providers. Each match is delivered to a maximum of three vetted 3PLs and only after the brand confirms the introduction.
We are not a directory. We do not list every 3PL in Australia. We list the ones that have signed our partner agreement, accepted our 72-hour dispute window, and disclosed at least one rate-card line for inclusion in the index.
We are not a software product. Reviews are written by humans. The calculators on this site are for self-service estimates; the reviews you receive are bespoke advisory documents.
The principles
Every operating decision runs through these. They are written down because they will be tested.
Brands never pay.
Per-handshake fees from 3PLs, only when a brand confirms the introduction. If we ever charge brands, we have lost the reason we exist.
Cite every figure.
Every number on this site has a sample size. Where the data is thin, we say so. Where it conflicts, we publish both sides. The index is open methodology, not proprietary mystery.
Sometimes stay is the answer.
If renegotiation is the right call, we say so. If your provider is already in the 25th–50th percentile band, we tell you to stay. We are not optimising for your switch — we are optimising for the right call.
The matching has zero pay-to-rank.
Providers cannot pay for higher placement. Match weights are price fit, location fit, integration fit and SLA. If we corrupt the brand-side outcome, the marketplace loses its only reason to exist.
Confidentiality is technical, not promised.
Contracts are encrypted at rest with a row-scoped key. Auto-deleted from raw storage after 90 days. Aggregated anonymised pricing data may inform the index — never your individual contract.
Scale slowly.
The directory is capped at three active providers per (city × category) cell. Better fewer high-quality matches than a long list nobody reads. Every match is a hand-shake.
The methodology, in plain English
Sources. The index is built from 47 verified AU 3PL contracts as of May 2026: 14 supplied by partner 3PLs under disclosure agreements, 33 uploaded by brands during reviews with anonymisation consent. Refreshed weekly.
Normalisation. Every contract is mapped to standard volume bands and storage units. Tiered structures are evaluated at midpoint volume; flat-rate contracts are mapped to the tier matching their effective volume.
Hidden fee detection. Each contract is parsed in full and cross-checked against the AU 3PL Fee Catalogue (44 known types). Vague language gets confidence intervals, not silent inclusion.
What we do not claim. The review identifies overpay against the verified market median. It does not predict that switching delivers the full saving — execution costs and provider-specific terms apply. The median brand recoups switching cost in 38 days.
What you can verify
Where to reach us
Headquartered in Sydney. Reviews are written in-house. For brands and operators: jackson@3plcompare.com.au. For 3PL operators interested in becoming a partner: read the partner brief. Press and data inquiries: same address.