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Toy Fulfillment for Toy, Baby and Kids Brands, Planned Around Q4

KSP stores and ships toys, games, baby products and kids' gear for brands selling on their own site, on Amazon and into toy and big-box stores. Every batch is recorded at our dock from its tracking label, so a recall traces straight to the orders it shipped on. Your fourth quarter gets planned by date, with us, before the containers land.
Get My Toy Fulfillment Quote See What We Ask For Before Your First Toy Ships ↓
Carrier trailers backed into KSP's dock doors
order accuracy across 32.1M orders
99.999%
dock doors for holiday containers
29
Locus robots on the pick floor
135+
kits built on our kitting floor
20.9M

What Is Toy Fulfillment?

Toy fulfillment is storing, packing and shipping toys, games, baby gear and kids' products for a brand, to shoppers, marketplaces and stores. Children's products sold in the US need third-party testing, a Children's Product Certificate and permanent tracking labels, so the warehouse has to keep every batch traceable from the dock to the doorstep.

The calendar comes first. A toy brand can book a large share of its year between October and December, so container arrivals, retailer ship windows and carrier holiday cutoffs decide how the year goes. A container that clears customs two weeks late in November misses the gift-buying weeks it was made for.

Then there's the paperwork. The CPSC counts any consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 or younger as a children's product. Those products carry tracking labels on the item and its packaging that name the manufacturer or importer, where and when it was made, and a batch or run number. When a recall comes, that batch number is how you find the customers who got the affected units.

The Compliance File We Ask for Before Your First Toy Ships

Send us these five things at onboarding. Each one does a job on our floor, and each one answers a question a retailer or marketplace can ask you later.

What you sendWho issues itWhat we do with it
Children's Product Certificate, one per SKU

The US manufacturer or importer, based on test results from a CPSC-accepted third-party lab

Kept on file against the SKU, ready when Amazon or a retail buyer asks for it.

Tracking label layout

The manufacturer or importer, marked on the toy and on its packaging

Checked at receiving. The batch or run number goes into the inventory record before the stock can be sold.

Age grade and choking hazard warnings

Your brand, printed on the retail packaging

The retail box ships inside a shipping carton without being opened, so the warning reaches the parent intact.

Battery details for toys with cells inside

Your brand, from the manufacturer's spec sheet

Each battery SKU is set up before its first order, so it ships by ground as non-hazmat.

Test report reference

The third-party lab that tested the product

You and your lab keep it. The certificate we hold names the lab, so a buyer's request goes to the right report.

Testing and certification stay with the manufacturer or importer. Our job is the warehouse side: the batch on every unit recorded at the dock and tied to each order it ships on.

Small Parts, Built-In Batteries and Bulky Boxes on the Pack Line

Toys bring packing problems a T-shirt never does: warnings that have to survive the trip, cells inside the product, and big boxes full of air.

  • Warnings That Arrive Intact

    Toys with small parts, small balls or balloons carry a choking hazard warning on the package. We don't open or repack your retail box for a marketplace order, so the warning a parent needs is still on it at the door.

  • Batteries Built In

    Toys and games with small lithium cells installed are in. They ship by ground as non-hazmat, set up SKU by SKU at onboarding. Standalone batteries, power banks and anything classed hazmat stay out, so spare battery packs need a different warehouse.

  • Big, Light Boxes

    Large plush, playsets and play tents ship mostly air, and carriers bill a large, light carton by its size. Every packed carton crosses a certified scale and dimensioner before its label prints, so the billable weight shows up at pack-out instead of on a carrier adjustment in January.

Q4 Starts in July: Toy Peak Planned by the Calendar

Most of a toy brand's fourth quarter is decided before October. We put your season on one calendar with you, month by month, and lock the dates that move your stock.

  1. July and August

    Send your forecast, retail commitments and production dates. Together we set the inbound plan: which containers land when, and which retailer windows each one feeds. A brand moving warehouses should start here, so the switch is finished before the holiday stock arrives.

  2. September and October

    Containers land. We book the inbound trucking from the port and handle customs, and each container gets a dock appointment at one of our 29 doors. Cartons are counted against your packing list, and damaged cases are held and reported instead of put away.

  3. November

    Black Friday and Cyber Monday bring the biggest order waves of the year. Our 135+ Locus robots carry order totes through picking, so associates spend their time picking and scanning instead of walking aisles. Orders in by 2 PM CST ship the same day.

  4. December

    Carrier holiday cutoffs set the last order date for each shipping service. Check this year's carrier holiday cutoffs, and we'll set the last-order dates on your site with you.

  5. January

    Gift returns and exchanges come back. Returned toys are inspected, then restocked or set aside under the rules you choose, and your count is right for the spring reorder.

Target, Walmart and Amazon Orders From the Same Toy Inventory

Retail POs and web orders pull from one inventory here, so a holiday PO from a big-box buyer never strands the stock your site needs.

  • Big-Box Retail

    Purchase orders arrive over EDI through SPS Commerce. Cartons and pallets are built to each retailer's routing guide, and freight leaves on LTL or truckload with the delivery appointment booked. More on retail and wholesale order fulfillment.

  • Amazon

    FBA prep and multi-pack bundles are built on our kitting floor. Seller-fulfilled Amazon orders ship from the same stock as your store.

  • Specialty Toy Stores and Faire

    Independent toy shops ordering through Faire or direct get full cases, inner packs or single units from the same inventory.

Baby Products Fulfillment: Gear, Nursery Items and Baby Care

Baby products fulfillment covers parcel-sized baby gear, nursery and feeding items, and baby care consumables like wipes, lotions and balms. We store all three in climate-controlled, FDA-registered space, record lot and expiry dates on consumables at receiving, and ship the oldest-dated stock first.

Bottles, bibs, swaddles and nursery decor are stored by SKU and picked like any toy order. Kids' clothing and shoes go in by size, each size with its own barcode, so a 2T never ships in place of a 3T.

Wipes and creams carry dates, so they get first-expiring-first-out allocation, the same rule our supplement fulfillment program follows. Every shipment keeps the lot it came from.

Products for children under 3 face the strictest small-parts rule, and durable nursery products carry extra CPSC marking and a product registration card. That paperwork stays with the manufacturer. We receive the stock, record the batch and ship it.

Picking the Right Colorway in a Wide Toy Catalog

How every toy pick is verified

  1. Every Character Its Own SKU

    Each character, colorway and edition gets its own SKU and barcode at onboarding, even when the box art is nearly identical.

  2. Two Barcodes Before the Tote

    The location barcode and the item barcode both have to match before a pick counts. A lookalike from the next slot doesn't register.

  3. Counts Right Before November

    Scheduled cycle counts are included at no charge, so your on-hand count is right going into the holiday waves and your site doesn't sell a toy you don't have.

  4. Live Stock by SKU

    The client portal shows stock by SKU in real time, so you see which characters are selling through before you place the reorder.

Holiday Bundles, Gift Sets and Retail Multipacks

Gift sets and multipacks are built on our 50,000 sq ft kitting floor, which has built 20.9M kits.

Each bundle becomes its own SKU, so your website, Amazon and your retail buyer all sell from one count. Every kit is checked against its bill of materials before it closes.

Build the holiday sets in October, ahead of the November waves. A finished set then ships in December as a single pick instead of four, which keeps your busiest weeks moving. See how gift sets and multipacks built on our kitting floor go from loose components to finished SKUs, and how retail display kits reach the store floor.

A KSP associate scanning a packed carton at the pack bench

KSP has been instrumental in enabling us to seamlessly launch and scale both our direct-to-consumer and retail businesses. They successfully navigated the complexities of our product's regulatory requirements, and their commitment to excellence has been a key factor in our success!

CPG brandKSP client

What Sets the Price of a Toy Program

Toy stock builds from August to November and drains in December, so storage swings harder than in most catalogs. We walk you through the quote and every invoice line by line, built on your season and your channels.

A long aisle of pallet racking in KSP's warehouse
Container Receiving

Unloading containers or pallets and counting master cartons against your packing list.

Seasonal Storage

Space from the day the first holiday container lands until the last holiday order ships.

Bundles and Multipacks

Gift sets and multipacks built ahead on the kitting floor.

Retail Prep

Carton and pallet labels, packing and freight booking to each retailer's routing guide.

Pick, Pack and Postage

Each order picked and packed, then priced on measured weight, carton size and destination, rate-shopped across carriers. Bulky plush and playsets move this line most.

January Returns

Gift returns inspected and restocked or set aside.

What we'll talk through

  • Monthly orders now, and orders per day at your December peak
  • Container arrival months and ports
  • Retailers and marketplaces you sell through
  • Which SKUs have batteries built in
  • Holiday gift sets or multipacks you plan to sell

Toy Fulfillment FAQ

Do you keep Children's Product Certificates on file for toy SKUs?

Yes. You issue the certificate from your third-party test results, and we keep it on file against each SKU. We also check each tracking label at receiving and record its batch.

How does a toy recall get traced to customer orders?

The batch number from the tracking label is recorded when the stock arrives, and every shipment keeps the batch it came from. You get the list of orders and the on-hand count for that batch, then decide what happens to the stock, and we carry it out.

Can you ship toys with lithium batteries inside?

Yes, when small lithium cells are built into the toy. They ship by ground as non-hazmat, set up SKU by SKU at onboarding. We don't take standalone batteries, power banks or anything classed hazmat.

When should a toy brand start planning Q4 with a 3PL?

By July if you're moving warehouses, so the containers landing in September and October arrive on booked dock appointments at a warehouse already set up for your catalog.

Can you ship toy orders to Target and Walmart and prep for Amazon?

Yes. Retail POs come in over EDI through SPS Commerce and ship to each retailer's routing guide by LTL or truckload. FBA prep and multi-pack bundles are built on our kitting floor.

Do you fulfill baby products like wipes, bottles and swaddles?

Yes. Wipes and creams get lot and expiry recorded at receiving and ship oldest-dated first. Everything sits in climate-controlled, FDA-registered storage.

Do you build holiday gift sets and toy multipacks?

Yes, on our 50,000 sq ft kitting floor, which has built 20.9M kits. Each set becomes its own SKU, so every channel sells from one count.

Does our store connect to your warehouse?

Yes. Any platform connects, through Logiwa or our custom API, and we build a new connection in as little as a week.

Is KSP a fit for a small toy brand?

We're built for brands shipping 500+ orders a month. We're not the cheapest 3PL, and we show you why, line by line, on a quote built on your business.

Is Your Holiday Stock Ready to Ship by Black Friday?

Tell us what you sell and when your containers land. We'll plan your fourth quarter with you, date by date, and show you what fulfillment would cost.

  1. Answer five quick questions about what you ship and where you sell, with rough numbers.
  2. A KSP rep gets in touch within 1 business day to set up a short call and hear what you need.
  3. We build a fulfillment plan and a quote around your operation, then walk you through both line by line.

99.999% order accuracy across 32.1M orders, with every toy batch recorded at our dock.

No obligation, and nothing to send or prepare.

Not ready to talk yet? Get the Fulfillment Fee Checklist: the 14 lines a 3PL can bill you for, with the question to ask about each one.

Step 1 of 5

Who do you ship to?

Pick one or both.