Key Takeaways
- Walmart Marketplace is an application, not a sign-up. Walmart asks for a business tax ID, business documents, a history of ecommerce sales, GS1-registered UPCs and US fulfillment with returns before you can sell in Walmart Seller Center.
- You pay only when you sell. Walmart charges no setup or monthly fee. The referral fee is set by category and price, mostly 6% to 15%.
- Walmart is not "Amazon lite." Price competitiveness, delivery speed, listing quality and reviews carry real weight in Walmart search, so copied Amazon listings underperform.
- Fast delivery is part of the product. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or a warehouse that hits two-day delivery earns the tags shoppers filter for.
- Expand when Amazon is stable. Walmart is a growth lever for a profitable Amazon business, not a fix for a struggling one.
To sell on Walmart, apply to Walmart Marketplace with a business tax ID, documents that verify your business name and address, a track record of ecommerce sales, products with GS1 UPCs, and US fulfillment with returns. Once approved in Walmart Seller Center, you list products, choose WFS or your own fulfillment, and pay a category referral fee on each sale, with no monthly fee.
Why should brands sell on Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart Marketplace is Walmart's third-party seller program. Approved sellers list products on Walmart.com and the Walmart app next to Walmart's own inventory. For product brands already on Amazon it is usually the clearest next step, for three reasons.
- Fewer competitors per shelf. Walmart reviews every seller before approval, so many categories have fewer serious competitors than Amazon. A brand buried deep in Amazon results can earn a better position on Walmart.
- A different shopper. Walmart says approximately 280 million customers and members visit its stores and ecommerce sites each week, across 19 countries. Many of them shop Walmart first and will never see you on Amazon.
- Platform risk. If all of your marketplace revenue sits on Amazon, one account problem, listing hijack or policy change can stall the business. A working Walmart channel keeps revenue coming while you fix it.
Walmart also has something Amazon does not: more than 4,600 US stores where shoppers can return Walmart.com orders, and an ad platform, Walmart Connect, that draws on both online and in-store purchase data.
A simple test for fit: would this product sell on a shelf in a Walmart store? If yes, it will likely do well on Walmart Marketplace.
What do you need to sell on Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart lists these minimum qualifications on its Marketplace site (checked September 25, 2026):
| Requirement | What Walmart asks for |
|---|---|
| Business identity | A business tax ID or business license number. A Social Security number is not accepted. |
| Proof of business | Supporting documents that verify your business name and address. |
| Track record | A history of marketplace or ecommerce success. |
| Product identifiers | Products with GTIN or UPC codes under a GS1 company prefix. |
| Compliant catalog | A catalog that complies with Walmart's Prohibited Products Policy. |
| Fulfillment | Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or another business-to-consumer US warehouse with returns capability. |
| Payments | An account with a compatible payment processor. |
An established Amazon or direct to consumer (DTC) business, Amazon Brand Registry and a registered trademark all make the application and the Walmart Brand Portal step easier.
How do you get started in Walmart Seller Center?
- Apply through Walmart Marketplace with your business and catalog details. Walmart reviews each application.
- Complete onboarding in Walmart Seller Center: business verification, tax information, payment details and two-step verification for every user on the account.
- Register your brand in Walmart Brand Portal with your trademark registration number, so you control content and can add Rich Media.
- Pick best-fit products. Start with the SKUs most likely to win on price, reviews and delivery speed, not the whole catalog.
- Build Walmart-specific listings with every attribute filled in.
- Set up fulfillment: send inventory to WFS for top sellers, or connect your warehouse or 3PL with two-day delivery settings.
- Launch Walmart Connect campaigns the same week the listings go live, and use Walmart's own review programs to build early reviews.
Walmart also runs new-seller offers. On September 25, 2026 its Marketplace site advertised up to $75,000 in new-seller savings, including referral fee discounts and up to $2,000 in WFS credits, subject to eligibility and terms, with the current offer ending January 31, 2027. Read the terms before you plan around it.
How much does it cost to sell on Walmart?
Walmart charges no setup, monthly or hidden fees. You pay a referral fee on each completed sale, set by category and, in some categories, by price. The total sales price used for the fee includes the item price plus shipping and handling, gift wrap and other charges. These are Walmart's published rates, checked September 25, 2026.
| Category | Walmart referral fee |
|---|---|
| Apparel and accessories | 5% for items $15 or less; 10% for items over $15 up to $20; 15% for items over $20 |
| Appliances, compact | 12% on the portion up to $300; 8% on any portion over $300 |
| Appliances, major | 8% |
| Automotive and powersports | 12% |
| Baby products | 8% for items $10 or less; 15% for items over $10 |
| Base power tools | 12% |
| Beauty, health and personal care | 8% for items $10 or less; 15% for items over $10 |
| Books | 15% |
| Camera and photo | 8% |
| Collectibles (approved sellers) | 8% |
| Consumer electronics | 8% |
| Electronics accessories | 15% on the portion up to $100; 8% on any portion over $100 |
| Grocery | 8% for items $15 or less; 15% for items over $15 |
| Home, kitchen, decor and garden | 15% |
| Indoor and outdoor furniture | 15% on the portion up to $200; 10% on any portion over $200 |
| Industrial and scientific supplies | 12% |
| Jewelry and precious metals | 20% on the portion up to $250; 5% on any portion over $250 |
| Luggage and travel accessories | 15% |
| Music | 15% |
| Musical instruments | 12% |
| Office products | 15%, except 12% for printer cartridges |
| Outdoor power tools | 15% for items up to $500; 8% for items over $500 |
| Outdoors products and sports | 15%, except 8% for hunting trail monitors, binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes and night vision goggles |
| Personal computers | 6% |
| Pet supplies | 15% |
| Plumbing, heating, cooling and ventilation | 10% |
| Shoes, handbags, backpacks and sunglasses | 15% |
| Software and computer video games | 15% |
| Tires and wheels | 10% |
| Tools and home improvement | 15% |
| Toys and games | 15% |
| Video and DVD | 15% |
| Video game consoles | 8% |
| Watches | 15% on the portion up to $1,500; 3% on any portion over $1,500 |
| Everything else | 15% |
The other costs are optional but usually needed: WFS fees if Walmart fulfills for you, Walmart Connect advertising, and content for Rich Media. Our WFS guide covers fulfillment fees, and the Walmart Connect guide covers advertising.
Sources, checked September 25, 2026: Walmart Marketplace, Pricing, Marketplace home and minimum qualifications, and New-Seller Savings.
How is Walmart Marketplace different from Amazon?
Both are product search engines, but they reward different things.
| Factor | Walmart Marketplace | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Seller access | Application and approval required | Open registration |
| Monthly fee | None | $39.99 a month for the Professional plan, or $0.99 per item on the Individual plan |
| Referral fees | By category and price, mostly 6% to 15% | By category, a percentage or a per-item minimum, whichever is greater |
| Fulfillment program | Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) | Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) |
| Membership badge | Walmart+ free shipping and fast delivery tags | Prime |
| What search weighs heavily | Price competitiveness, delivery speed, listing quality, reviews | Relevance, sales velocity, conversion, advertising |
| Advertising | Walmart Connect: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Videos, Onsite Display | Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Amazon demand-side platform (DSP) |
| Enhanced content | Rich Media through Walmart Brand Portal | A+ Content through Amazon Brand Registry |
Search and ranking
Walmart's algorithm leans hard on value. Walmart's own success formula for sellers is catalog, content, competitive pricing, fast and free shipping, and advertising. A well-reviewed product at a fair price with a fast delivery tag will usually outrank a keyword-stuffed listing with slow shipping.
Seller fulfillment
Walmart accepts seller-fulfilled listings as long as you meet its delivery promises. If you have a reliable warehouse that can hit two-day delivery, you can compete without WFS. On Amazon, competing without FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime is hard in most categories.
Should you use WFS or fulfill Walmart orders yourself?
Delivery speed feeds directly into ranking and conversion on Walmart.
| Option | How it works | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) | Walmart stores, picks, packs, ships and handles returns and customer questions | Top-selling SKUs where two-day tags and Walmart+ eligibility matter most |
| Seller fulfilled with two-day delivery | You or your 3PL ship and meet Walmart's two-day promise | Brands with strong fulfillment already in place |
| Standard seller fulfilled | You ship on standard timelines | Slow movers, oversized items, special handling |
For most brands the answer is a mix: WFS for the best sellers and seller fulfillment for slower or awkward items. Walmart tracks on-time shipping, cancellations and response times closely, and weak metrics lead to restrictions, so fix fulfillment before you scale. Our guide to WFS covers fees, requirements and when to use it.
We run our own 3PL warehouse in Kansas City that handles WFS prep, FBA prep and direct orders from one inventory pool. If you use FBA and WFS together, allocate stock by sales velocity on each platform and sync inventory so you never oversell.
How do you optimize listings for Walmart search?
The fundamentals of good listing optimization carry over. The details do not.
Titles
Walmart favors short, clean titles: brand, product type, key attribute, then size, count or color. Keyword stuffing hurts. "Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, 32 oz, Blue" beats a long string of every keyword you rank for on Amazon.
Key features and description
Walmart uses key features in place of Amazon bullets. Keep them short, benefit-led and written in the words customers use in reviews. The description covers the rest in plain language.
Attributes and listing quality
Walmart scores every listing in its Listing Quality dashboard, and item attributes carry heavy weight. Fill in every field that applies: size, color, material, count, age group and every category-specific attribute. Complete attributes help ranking and filter visibility, and missing ones hold listings back before you spend a dollar on ads.
Images, video and Rich Media
Adapt your Amazon images for a mobile-first, lifestyle-heavy layout and add video where you have it. Brand owners in Walmart Brand Portal can add Rich Media, Walmart's version of A+ Content. Build it for your top SKUs first. Our content team builds image stacks that work across both marketplaces.
Reviews
New listings with no reviews struggle on Walmart. Use Walmart's own review programs and review request tools, give fast customer service, and consider a launch promotion to build early sales. Never buy or incentivize reviews.
Not sure which of your products fit Walmart, or what launch should cost? Our Growth Diagnostic is a full audit across Amazon, your own site, TikTok Shop and other marketplaces, plus a 90-day roadmap. If you go on to work with us, it is credited to your first month.
How does advertising work on Walmart?
Walmart Connect is Walmart's advertising business. Marketplace sellers sign in to its Ad Center with their Seller Center account. Sponsored Products is the core campaign, paid per click and shown in search, browse and item pages. Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos are open to brand owners and authorized brand representatives, and Onsite Display adds banner placements with behavioral and contextual targeting. Walmart added negative keywords for Sponsored Products in July 2026, which makes spend control much closer to Amazon.
The most common failure we see is underfunding: a brand spends heavily on Amazon advertising and a token amount on Walmart, then decides Walmart does not work. Fund the launch properly to build sales velocity and reviews, then shift toward profitability once organic rank takes hold. Our Walmart Connect guide covers ad types, setup and measurement.
How should you price on Walmart?
- Stay competitive. Walmart compares your price with other retailers and marketplaces, including your own site. If your Walmart price is well above what shoppers can find elsewhere, Walmart can suppress or unpublish the item.
- Price affects rank. Competitive prices rank higher and convert better. With no monthly fee, you may be able to pass some savings into price.
- Value, not cheapest. Walmart shoppers pay for trusted brands, fast delivery and strong reviews. You do not need the lowest price, but you do need a clear value case.
- Protect your channel. Keep Walmart, Amazon and your own site aligned, especially if you also sell to retailers. A minimum advertised price (MAP) policy helps keep resellers from undercutting you.
When should an Amazon brand expand to Walmart?
- Your Amazon business is stable and profitable. Walmart spreads a struggling brand thinner.
- Your Amazon category is crowded. If ad costs are eating your margin, Walmart offers the same shopper intent with fewer bidders in many categories.
- You have fulfillment that can hit two-day delivery, through WFS, your own warehouse or a 3PL.
- Your products have broad, everyday appeal: baby, household essentials, kitchen, outdoor, pet, fitness and home organization tend to fit.
- You want to reduce single-platform risk. Diversified revenue protects the business and makes it more attractive to buyers and lenders.
How should manufacturers and retail-first brands approach Walmart Marketplace?
If you already sell to Walmart stores as a supplier, Marketplace is a separate channel with separate rules. Coordinate with your buyer relationship before launching, keep pricing consistent with what Walmart carries in store, and decide which items are Marketplace-only so you do not compete with your own wholesale listings. For manufacturers going direct for the first time, Walmart's vetting and value-focused shopper often suit established, everyday products better than a crowded Amazon category.
What mistakes do brands make on Walmart Marketplace?
- Copying Amazon listings. Different title rules, attributes and shopper expectations. Rewrite for Walmart.
- Ignoring listing quality. Missing attributes and weak images hold listings back before ads can help.
- Underfunding launch advertising. Without early velocity, organic ranking is very hard to build.
- Pricing well above other channels. This leads to suppressed or unpublished listings.
- Skipping WFS on top sellers. Losing two-day tags costs visibility and conversion.
- Treating Walmart as an afterthought. Walmart rewards active sellers: fast responses, regular bid and price reviews, and steady listing updates.
- Letting seller metrics slip. Late shipments and cancellations lead to restrictions.
How do you run Walmart and Amazon together?
Coordination beats duplication. Keep brand messaging consistent but write listings and run ads for each platform. Sync inventory across FBA, WFS and your warehouse. Build one report that shows total revenue, total ad spend and total advertising cost of sales (TACoS) across channels, plus each channel's own metrics, so budget moves to where it earns the most. We manage it this way through our Walmart Marketplace agency service and our wider multi-marketplace work.
For more, compare Amazon, Walmart and Target Plus, or see how Walmart fits a multi-marketplace strategy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to sell on Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart charges no setup or monthly fee. You pay a referral fee on each sale, set by category and sometimes by price, mostly 6% to 15%, plus Walmart Fulfillment Services fees if Walmart ships for you. Walmart Connect advertising is optional but usually needed for a strong launch.
What do I need to sell on Walmart?
Walmart asks for a business tax ID or business license number (a Social Security number is not accepted), documents that verify your business name and address, a history of ecommerce sales, products with GS1 UPCs, a compliant catalog, US fulfillment with returns, and a compatible payment processor account.
What is Walmart Seller Center?
Walmart Seller Center is the dashboard approved Marketplace sellers use to complete onboarding, list and manage items, set prices and shipping, handle orders and returns, and see performance. Walmart Connect advertising is managed in its Ad Center, which you sign in to with the same Seller Center account.
Can I sell on Amazon and Walmart at the same time?
Yes. There is no exclusivity on either platform, and most brands on Walmart also sell on Amazon. The work is in keeping inventory synced across FBA, WFS and your warehouse, and keeping prices competitive on both.
Is Walmart Fulfillment Services worth it?
For top sellers, usually yes. WFS earns fast delivery tags and Walmart+ eligibility, and Walmart handles shipping, customer questions and returns, including in-store returns. Slow movers and awkward items often fit better with seller fulfillment.
Is Walmart Marketplace worth it for smaller brands?
It can be, because fewer competitors give smaller brands visibility that would cost more on Amazon. The catch is that you need approval, competitive pricing and fulfillment that meets Walmart's standards. Most brands do best adding Walmart once Amazon is stable and profitable.