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LVK Receiving Overview

Updated

These receiving guidelines are in place so our warehouse teams can process your products quickly and start shipping for you. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us keep operations running smoothly.

General LVK Receiving Standards

  • We reserve the right to refuse inventory that violates our receiving guidelines.
  • Inventory that does not follow our guidelines will be subject to longer wait times.
  • Charges may apply per unit or per hour for products such as apparel, jewelry, and similar items that must be counted and verified.
  • If you don't have an LVK-approved Receiving Schedule, we reserve the right not to receive your inventory. LVK will not be liable for rejecting a delivery under these circumstances.
  • LVK can only accept inventory during business days and hours. LVK will incur no additional liability for inventory not received within these timeframes.

Scheduling LVK Freight Deliveries

All freight deliveries must be scheduled with LVK. You can either email or call to schedule freight deliveries.

Email

Phone

  • For the US and Canada: 646-847-0347

LVK Booking Requirements

  • LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.
  • FTL (full-truckload) shipments and containers must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance.
  • Small parcel shipments of 20 or more boxes/cartons must be scheduled 24 hours in advance.
  • We only receive inventory on weekdays (Monday-Friday), between 7 AM and 3 PM warehouse local time.
  • All unscheduled deliveries will incur a fee of up to $500 and may be turned away if no dock is available.

LVK Floor-Loaded Container Fees

Please alert LVK at least 48 hours before sending a floor-loaded container. There is no unloading charge for shipments that arrive on pallets or via a small parcel carrier such as DHL, UPS, or FedEx. View LVK's complete freight guidelines, services, and costs.

US floor-loaded container fees:

  • 20-foot container: $450*
  • 40-foot container: $725*
  • 45HC: $900*
  • Palletize: $27 / pallet (materials and labor included)

CA floor-loaded container fees:

  • 20-foot container: $375* CAD
  • 40-foot container: $550* CAD
  • 45HC: $1,245.08* CAD
  • Palletize: $36.98 CAD / pallet (materials and labor included)

These prices are subject to further charges due to dimensions and/or weight.

LVK Shipping Requirements for Small Parcel and Freight

  • Each box must have the LVK box label visibly placed on the outside, printed on a white background in black ink. Scanners may not read colored barcodes.
    • For boxes with mixed SKUs, units must be clearly separated within the box to remain compliant (e.g., separated by dividers or poly bags).
  • For pallets of a single SKU, each pallet must have the LVK pallet tag visible.
  • For mixed pallets (more than one SKU per pallet), this must be indicated on the pallet tag, including the box quantity per pallet.
    • Boxes with mixed SKUs on a pallet must be clearly separated within the box to remain compliant (e.g., separated by dividers or poly bags).
    • Inbound pallet height restriction: less than 63" in height; no double-stacked skids.
  • If a shipment arrives without a label, mark it clearly with the client's name and business to avoid rejected or lost inventory.
  • Remove old labels from a box before reusing it for a new shipment.

LVK Barcode and Label Requirements

Every product LVK receives must arrive barcoded. The barcode is how LVK's systems identify each SKU and track it accurately from receiving through shipping.

  • Each barcode must map to a single SKU. The same barcode cannot be used for more than one product.
  • A SKU can have more than one barcode, but none of its barcodes can be shared with another SKU.
  • On a master case, the case barcode represents the full case quantity. Inside the case, each unit carries its own barcode representing the individual quantity. Both barcodes must be visible and scannable.
Requirement Detail
Characters No emojis, asterisks, or other non-standard characters.
Digit length At least 5 digits, no more than 25 digits.
Spacing No spaces before the first digit or after the last digit.
Size Smaller than 2 in x 3 in; 52.5 mm x 29.7 mm is preferred for best scanning results.
System match The barcode on the label must match the barcode data in LVK's system.

For a full list of accepted barcode types, contact your CSM.

If units or cases arrive without barcodes, LVK barcodes them for you at $0.25 USD per unit in the US and $0.34 CAD per unit in Canada. Shipments with more than 50 unbarcoded units are handled as a Special Project; contact your CSM for a quote.

LVK Special Product Handling Requirements

Fragile, lot-tracked, and hazardous products need extra handling and may carry additional fees. Review the requirements below for the categories that apply to your inventory.

LVK Fragile Item Requirements

  • LVK Fulfillment only stores, packs, and ships fragile items that arrive pre-packed in a sealed, barcoded protective box.
  • Items that arrive loose or outside a sealed container are returned to the manufacturer or merchant at the merchant's expense.

Orders that need bubble wrap or similar protection during packing incur a $0.50 USD (US) or $0.67 CAD (Canada) fee per unit, per order. Geami paper, when requested, costs $1.85 per order.

LVK Lot and Expiration Date Requirements

  • Lot codes and expiration dates must be marked on the individual product or the case.
  • LVK may refuse products with inappropriate expiration dates at its discretion.
  • LVK does not change lot codes or expiration dates on any product once it's received at our warehouses.

If your inventory requires lot tracking, LVK charges an additional monthly fee outlined in your fulfillment service agreement.

LVK Hazardous Material Requirements

  • If any units contain hazardous material, submit MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) documentation before shipping to any LVK warehouse location. Send it to fulfillment@lvk.com or your LVK Sales/CSM point of contact.
  • When your product qualifies for hazmat shipping, LVK's support team sets up your account and maps your carriers to the correct zones.

Depending on hazmat shipping regulations, orders containing these products may have a customized hazmat shipping rate card.

LVK Receiving Timeline for Compliant Shipments

  • Shipping plans are received within 5 business days.
  • The day the shipping plan arrives is considered day 0.

LVK Receiving Timeline for Non-Compliant Shipments

If a shipping plan is non-compliant, it is moved to a "Non-Compliant (NC)" shipping plan status.

  • Non-compliance due to partial arrivals:
    • FTL/LTL partial arrival: the shipping plan remains in NC status for 24 hours. If the remaining inventory does not arrive within 24 hours, the shipping plan moves to Closed. A new shipping plan is required if the remaining units arrive late.
    • Small parcel partial arrival: the shipping plan remains in NC status for 5 days (the day the plan is marked NC is day 0). If the remaining units do not arrive within 5 days, the shipping plan moves to Closed. A new shipping plan is required if the remaining units arrive late.

LVK Receiving Exceptions

If your shipping plan is non-compliant, it will not be subject to the receiving timelines outlined above and will incur additional fees.

Read our Receiving Guidelines to learn how to avoid delays and non-compliance fees.

If you know in advance that your shipping plan will arrive at any of our fulfillment centers in a non-compliant state, such as requiring barcodes, bagging, missing SKUs, or lacking required shipping plan labels, notify our support team at least 48 hours before the expected delivery by submitting a ticket.

LVK Receiving Fees and Spot-Check Process

LVK verifies incoming shipments with a spot-check process and applies fees when a shipment doesn't meet packaging or labeling requirements.

LVK Spot-Check Process

LVK checks at least one carton per shipping plan (SP). When that carton is accurate, LVK does not count the remaining cartons individually and assumes the rest of the SP arrived as recorded. There's no charge when a spot check passes, and LVK is not liable for underages or overages within 1.5% on SPs that pass this check.

When a spot check finds a discrepancy, LVK counts the entire SP to confirm accurate inventory. You're responsible for the cost of that full count, billed hourly at $45/hr USD (US) or $45/hr CAD (Canada). LVK also requires, and bills for, a full count on any shipping plans or vendors found to be consistently inaccurate.

LVK Non-Compliance Fines

Shipping plans that don't meet LVK's receiving guidelines are charged a non-compliance fine in addition to the cost of making the delivery compliant.

Offense Fine
First offense $35, plus the cost of labor and supplies to make the delivery compliant.
Second offense $75, plus the cost of labor and supplies to make the delivery compliant.
Third offense $125, plus the cost of labor and supplies to make the delivery compliant.

LVK Peak Season Receiving Deadlines

During peak season, same-day shipping is not guaranteed and non-compliant inventory can face longer wait times. Ship your inventory ahead of LVK's posted cutoff dates to make sure it arrives in time.

Check Peak Season for current peak season receiving deadlines.

LVK Receiving Support

Questions about receiving? Submit a ticket with LVK's support team or email your CSM directly.

Additional Resources