Costco vendor compliance fees

no fee amounts published · club · newest source document undated

Costco publishes vendor requirements but does not publish any fee amounts. Every clause below states that a chargeback applies without saying how much. The amounts exist — they are just not public, and are only learnable from your own deduction history.

Source links go to a copy republished by www.land-link.com — Costco's own public copy of this document could not be located. Verify against the retailer's current document before relying on any figure.

Published non-compliance fees

Quoted from Costco's own publicly posted vendor documents. Where a figure is not published, it says so rather than guessing.

ViolationPublished fee Effective / versionSource
Deviation from routing instructions without prior written consentnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Origin detention beyond free loading time (Collect shipments)not published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
LTL shipment not booked/labeled with required carrier service levelnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Large LTL shipment routed without required Traffic Department verificationnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Small-package PO routing requirement (weight-based carrier selection)not published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Back order or split shipment resulting in additional freight without prior authorizationnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Over-shipment, unauthorized substitution, or defective goods returned to vendornot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Unauthorized air shipment (Collect)not published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Pallets not meeting Costco specifications - shipment refused / rework chargednot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Pallet stretch-wrap specification (Efficient Handling / "NO TOUCH" pallet standard)not published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Dry-load pallet maximum height specificationnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Refrigerated-load pallet maximum height specificationnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Disallowed trailer type presented at Costco Depot (lift gate)not published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Delivery appointment not secured within required lead timenot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
PO received short - freight charged back to vendornot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Truck Order Not Used (TONU) / layover charge - merchandise not ready to shipnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Incorrect delivery appointment type booked at Costco Depotnot published as a figure"Revised 071816" (verbatim revision code printed on final page; format/meaning not labeled in source)source
Walmart, Target and Amazon publish nothing.

Their fee schedules are not published anywhere, so they can only be learned from chargebacks suppliers actually receive. That may never be something we can cover — leave an email and you'll hear if it changes.

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