Kitting Services in Chicago for Bundles and Subscription Boxes

Kitting services in Chicago, minus the living room assembly line

If you've ever built 400 gift sets on a folding table with a podcast running, you already know why kitting services in Chicago exist. It's slow. Somebody miscounts. A box of lids goes missing, and half the bundles ship with the wrong scent. We take that work off your plate at our warehouse at 5673 W Howard St in Niles, just outside the city, and run it the same way every time: one spec, one count, one finished unit.

Kitting is simply putting separate items together so they sell, ship or arrive as one thing. A three-pack of socks. A starter kit with a bottle, a brush and a card. A monthly box with six products and a thank-you note on top. The parts are easy. Doing it 2,000 times without a mistake is the actual job.

This page covers what we build, how a kitting run works from spec sheet to sealed unit, what it costs by bundle size, and where your finished kits head next. Kitting sits inside our marketplace prep services, so it plugs straight into labeling, inspection and outbound work in the same building.

Product kitting and product bundling, by how many pieces go in

We price by touches, because that's what drives the labor. More components, more chances to grab the wrong one. Here's how the work usually breaks down.

Multipacks and small bundles

The simplest product bundling job is two of the same item, or two related items, joined into one sellable unit. Think a twin pack of phone cases, or a candle with a matching snuffer. We bag them together, band them, tape them or shrink wrap them, depending on what your listing and the product call for. Three to five items in a standard repeated configuration is the next step up, and it's where a lot of private-label sellers land once they figure out bundles help them stand out on a crowded listing page.

6-10 item kits

Bigger kits take more care. A craft kit with paints, brushes, a canvas and instructions. A grooming set with eight parts that each have a specific slot in the insert tray. These get priced on the number of touches, and we'll usually build a few samples first so you can approve the layout before the full run starts.

Repackaging, shrink wrap and simple assembly

Sometimes the item is fine but the packaging isn't. We move products into new sellable packaging, shrink wrap small items, fold and tape boxes, and handle single-touch assembly like snapping a lid on or attaching a hang tag. Small stuff. It adds up fast when you're the one doing it.

Inserts, samples and promo packs

Client-supplied marketing inserts go in at a per-unit rate. Sample and promotional packs (trade show handouts, influencer seeding boxes, little try-me packs) are priced by pieces and packaging. And if your project doesn't fit any box above, custom or complex kitting runs on standard hourly labor, with materials billed separately as needed.

Subscription box fulfillment that doesn't eat your whole week

Subscription boxes are their own animal. The contents change every cycle, the ship window is tight, and customers notice instantly if the box looks different from the unboxing video. So the assembly part has to be boringly consistent.

Our subscription box assembly rate covers a typical box with 3 to 6 components, with materials separate. You send the boxes, tissue, fillers and products. We set up a build station, pack a sample, send you a photo, and then build the rest to match it. If a component runs short (a supplier shipped 940 instead of 1,000, it happens), we flag it before the run finishes instead of quietly short-packing boxes.

Once assembled, boxes can ship to subscribers as individual orders through our FBM and DTC fulfillment service, or sit in storage until your ship date. Honestly, most subscription brands do a bit of both. Build early, hold, then release on the date you promised customers.

One thing worth planning for: subscription runs are lumpy. You might need 1,500 boxes built in four days and then nothing for three weeks. Tell us your cycle during the quote, and the team will confirm what's realistic for your box count and component mix.

How a kitting run works on our floor

Every job follows the same four steps. The spec sheet is the part people want to skip, and it's the part that matters most.

1. 01

   Send your spec and components list

   What goes in each kit, how many of each part, the order things are placed, how it's sealed and what label goes on the outside. A photo of a finished sample helps more than a paragraph of description.

2. 02

   Confirm the work order

   We write down the bundle configuration, packaging, labels, materials and where finished units go. Pricing per bundle or per kit gets confirmed here, along with anything billed hourly.

3. 03

   Ship in the components

   Cartons or pallets arrive through receiving and get counted against your list. If you're short a component, you'll hear about it now, not halfway through the run.

4. 04

   Build, check and dispatch

   We build the kits, check counts, apply any labels and send finished units to Amazon, to customers, to a retailer or into storage, exactly as the work order says.

Evidence photos are available on request (the first three are free, then $1 per photo), which is handy for approving a sample build when you can't come by in person.

Where finished bundles go after we build them

A kit on a shelf doesn't make you money. So here's how bundles connect to the rest of what we do.

Into Amazon FBA. A bundle sold on Amazon usually needs its own FNSKU label, and many sellers add a "sold as set, do not separate" sticker so the units don't get split at the fulfillment center. Follow Amazon's current bundling requirements for your listing. We assemble the set, apply the labels you supply, and move the units through Amazon FBA prep for carton builds and shipment. Same idea applies to sellers sending bundles through Walmart WFS prep.

Into direct-to-consumer orders. Kits stored with us can ship one at a time as orders come in. That works for Shopify stores, TikTok Shop sellers and anyone running Shopify fulfillment out of our building.

Into wholesale cartons. Retailers buying your gift set by the case need it in master cartons with the right labels. Our B2B and wholesale fulfillment team handles case picks and mixed pallets once the kits are built.

And if a component arrives looking rough, run it through inspection and quality control first. Better to pull a dented tin before it goes into 300 gift boxes.

Who uses our box assembly services

Nine times out of ten, it's someone who started kitting themselves and hit a wall.

Private-label brands creating multipacks to raise their average order value. Subscription box companies that outgrew a rented storage unit. Beauty and wellness sellers building holiday gift sets with five or six pieces. Toy and craft sellers with kits that have a lot of tiny parts. Marketing teams that need 500 promo packs for an event and have nowhere to assemble them. Wholesalers who want a retail-ready display pack instead of loose units.

Different products, same need: a reliable count and a finished kit that looks like the sample. That's really all box assembly services come down to.

If your products are on our prohibited list (hazardous materials, chemicals, canned soda, anything counterfeit or unsafe), we can't kit them. Liquids over 2 lb need prior written approval, so ask before you plan a lotion gift set around big bottles.

Why build kits in Niles instead of your spare room

Short answer: space, people and pickups. Longer answer below.

• The building processes approximately 1,000+ parcels a day, so a kitting run doesn't stall the rest of the warehouse.
• Scheduled carrier pickups run Monday through Saturday for GOFO, UPS, USPS and FedEx, so built kits don't wait around for a ride.
• Same-day fulfillment is available for qualifying orders once kits are built and in stock.
• We maintain up to $5 million in insurance coverage for qualifying warehouse operations, subject to policy terms. Confirm coverage for your project before you ship.
• Rates are posted publicly, and anything hourly is agreed before work starts.

There's also the stuff you don't see. Components get counted in, kits get counted out, and leftovers get reported back. When you build at home, the leftover pile is usually a mystery box in the garage.

Ecommerce kitting services for Chicago and beyond

Our warehouse is in Niles, on Howard Street, right at the northwest edge of the city. For sellers in the Chicago area, that means you can drop off components or a sample kit in person during business hours (Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM Central). Read more about working with us locally on our Chicago 3PL page or the Niles, IL page.

Plenty of kitting clients aren't local, though. Components ship in from manufacturers overseas or across the U.S., we build here, and finished kits go out to Amazon, customers or retailers. You never have to see the building if you don't want to.

Either way, onboarding comes first. You'll be asked for verifiable U.S. company information before inventory is accepted, so please wait for approval and inbound instructions before your supplier ships anything.

Kitting and bundling rates at a glance

Here are the posted starting rates. Labels and materials are separate unless your quote says otherwise. The complete table is on our pricing page.

2-item bundle / multipack

$0.60-$1.00/bundle

3-5 item bundle

$1.00-$1.25/bundle

6-10 item kit

$1.50-$2.50/kit

Subscription box assembly

$1.75-$3.00/box

Shrink wrap

$0.40/unit

Taping / folding / simple assembly

$0.25/unit

Repackaging

$0.75-$1.50/unit + materials

Marketing insert

$0.20/unit

Sample / promotional pack

$0.75-$1.50/pack

Custom / complex kitting

Standard labor, $40/hour

Ready to price your kit? Send the component list and a photo of the finished unit through our quote form, and the team will come back with a per-bundle number.