How to Apply and Sell on Walmart Marketplace in 2026

Table of Contents

• The Walmart Marketplace Opportunity Has Changed
• What You Need Before You Apply
• The Application Process, Step by Step
• What Walmart Costs vs. Amazon
• After Approval: Onboarding in 10 Days
• Walmart Fulfillment Services: The Decision That Matters Most
• The Pro Seller Program: Your Growth Path
• Start With 20 SKUs, Not Your Full Catalog
• FAQ

The Walmart Marketplace Opportunity Has Changed

Most advice about selling on Walmart still treats the marketplace like it is 2018 - highly exclusive, nearly impossible to get into, reserved for established brands. That framing is outdated by several years and about 180,000 sellers.

Walmart’s third-party marketplace grew from fewer than 20,000 sellers in 2015 to over 200,000 by mid-2025, adding 44,000 in the first five months alone. 95% of 420 million-plus products on Walmart.com come from third-party sellers. The platform is recruiting - but on its own terms. The application requires a registered business, verifiable e-commerce history, and products with valid UPC codes.

Here is the question most sellers skip: does the incremental margin on your top 20 SKUs cover the operational overhead of a second channel? If you cannot answer that with numbers, do not apply yet.

What You Need Before You Apply

Skip the application if you do not have these. Reapplying after a rejection is harder than getting it right the first time.

You need a registered business entity - LLC, Corporation, or equivalent. Sole proprietors using SSNs are not accepted. A U.S. Business Tax ID (EIN) with an EIN Verification Letter from the Department of Treasury, or for international sellers, a W-8BEN-E and incorporation documents from an eligible country. Government-issued personal ID.

Operationally: a U.S.-based warehouse with returns capability or a plan to use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), ability to ship within 1-2 days, a U.S. return address (not Hawaii, Alaska, or territories), and a customer service phone number - toll-free if international.

Products need valid GTIN/UPC codes through GS1 and must comply with Walmart’s Prohibited Products Policy. A single prohibited item triggers automatic rejection. No dropshipping from other marketplaces.

Demonstrated e-commerce history on Amazon, eBay, Shopify, or your own site strengthens the application. Walmart does not publish a minimum revenue threshold, but one onboarding provider reports 85% approval for sellers who meet these requirements. That rate drops fast when documentation is incomplete.

The Application Process, Step by Step

Ten to fifteen minutes if your documents are ready. The approval wait is the bottleneck, not the form.

1. Select your market - Choose your market and country of incorporation at marketplace.walmart.com
2. Company registration - Legal business name, address, contact details, EIN, domain name, tax ID, and verification documents
3. Account creation - Sign up with a business email and password
4. Business verification - Submit business details and personal ID. This clears in minutes to two business days.
5. Wait for approval - Typically 1-4 weeks, with well-prepared applications often completing in about 10 days

Double-check every character. Walmart’s system is not forgiving about “LLC” versus “L.L.C.” - if your business name does not match your EIN letter, bank records, and other marketplace accounts exactly, expect a rejection. Other causes: tax ID mismatches, prohibited products, poor ratings on other platforms, inability to meet fulfillment speed standards.

What Walmart Costs vs. Amazon

$480 per year. That is what Amazon’s Professional plan costs ($39.99/month) before you sell a single unit. Walmart charges zero - no subscription, no setup fees, no listing fees.

Referral fees are where the comparison gets specific. Most categories are identical - 15% for Home & Kitchen, Toys, Baby Products (over $10). The real savings show up in a few places:

Category	Amazon	Walmart	Difference
Apparel (over $20)	17%	15%	Walmart saves 2pp
Consumer Electronics	8%	8%	Even
Home & Kitchen	15%	15%	Even
Toys & Games	15%	15%	Even
Video Game Consoles	8%	8%	Even
Watches (under $1,500)	16%	15%	Walmart saves 1pp

The honest math: a seller doing $10,000/month in apparel priced above $20 saves $200/month on the referral gap - $2,400/year. Add the $480 subscription savings: $2,880/year in lower base costs. Not transformative, but it compounds as you scale. Where fees are identical - most categories - the real Walmart advantage is the seller-to-visitor ratio. 200,000 sellers for 120 million monthly visitors versus Amazon’s 10 million sellers. You do not need a calculator to see which marketplace has more oxygen per listing.

Running the numbers on Walmart? Feedvisor can model your top SKUs across both marketplaces and show you exactly where the margin math works - before you file the application. See how.

The 2026 New Seller Savings program sweetens the ramp-up: 20% off referral fees on your first $50,000 in GMV, 30% off from $50,000 to $500,000, and 40% off above $500,000 - up to $72,000 in total savings. On a standard 15% category, the 40% tier drops your effective rate to 9%. The program also includes 10% off WFS fulfillment fees (up to $2,000 in savings), up to $1,000 in search engine marketing credits, and $500 in Walmart Connect ad credits. Sellers must go live after February 1, 2026.

After Approval: Onboarding in 10 Days

You receive an email with a unique signup URL. Average onboarding takes about 10 days, but here is the deadline nobody reads carefully enough: 30 days to complete payment setup after business verification. Miss it and your account is declined - full reapplication required.

Accept the Marketplace Retailer Agreement, then complete business verification with legal business information and personal ID (up to 5 business days).

Payment is no longer Payoneer-only. Hyperwallet (PayPal) is now the most popular option - more than half of new sellers choose it. Payoneer remains available, and Walmart offers its own Marketplace Wallet within Seller Center. International sellers can also use PingPong, Airwallex, or WorldFirst.

Configure fulfillment - self-fulfillment (requires your own U.S. warehouse) or WFS. Set shipping methods, regions, and return policy (minimum 30-day window). Then upload products via Seller Center - single items, bulk upload, or API. Items stay in draft until setup is complete.

Walmart Fulfillment Services: The Decision That Matters Most

66% of active Walmart sellers use WFS, and the reason is not convenience - it is the algorithm. WFS items see an average 50% GMV lift. Walmart tags them “Fulfilled by Walmart” and “2-Day Shipping,” which directly affects search ranking and Buy Box placement. No U.S. warehouse? WFS eliminates the need to build one.

WFS fulfillment fees (effective April 2025):

Shipping Weight	Fee
Up to 1 lb	$3.45
Up to 2 lb	$4.95
Up to 3 lb	$5.45
4-20 lb	$5.75 + $0.40/lb over 4 lb

For a typical 2 lb product, WFS costs $4.95 per unit - roughly in line with Amazon FBA at similar weights.

Storage is where Walmart pulls ahead. Off-peak, $0.75 per cubic foot versus Amazon’s $0.78 - negligible. During Q4, Walmart charges $0.75-$1.50 versus Amazon’s $2.40. Long-term (365+ days): $2.25 versus $6.90. If your inventory turns slowly, that gap shifts profitability - though if you are sitting past 365 days on either platform, the bigger problem is demand forecasting, not which warehouse is cheaper.

If your landed cost plus carrier fees beat WFS by $1.00+ per unit across your top 80% of SKUs, skip it. If more than 15% of your catalog triggers oversize surcharges ($3-$20 per item), WFS kills margin on those. For everyone else, the 50% GMV lift makes it the obvious call.

The Pro Seller Program: Your Growth Path

You will not qualify immediately - 100 orders in 90 days and 90 active selling days minimum. But knowing the metrics early shapes how you set up operations from day one.

Metric	Rising Seller	Advanced Seller	Pro Seller
On-time delivery	>= 90%	>= 92.5%	>= 95%
Cancellation rate	<= 2.5%	<= 2.0%	<= 1.5%
Response rate	>= 90%	>= 92.5%	>= 95%
Free expedited shipping	>= 5% of items	>= 25% of items	>= 50% of items
Content quality score	>= 65%	>= 70%	>= 75%
Price competitiveness score	>= 65%	>= 70%	>= 75%

Pro Sellers earn a badge on all listings, a 10% referral fee discount on qualifying items, and convert at 1.7x the rate of average sellers. The shipping speed requirement trips up most new sellers - 50% free expedited coverage is far easier with WFS than your own logistics. That single metric is why the fulfillment decision during onboarding determines how fast you reach the tier where Walmart rewards you.

Target Rising Seller in your first 90 days. Content quality and price competitiveness scores are the metrics nobody talks about - quietly disqualifying sellers who meet every other threshold. Set up performance standards tracking from day one.

Start With 20 SKUs, Not Your Full Catalog

The sellers who struggle on Walmart are not the ones who get rejected. They are the ones who get approved, list 500 SKUs on day one, spread inventory across two fulfillment networks, and six months later wonder why their per-unit economics are worse than running a single channel.

Pick your top 20 SKUs by margin - where referral fee math works, inventory turns in under 90 days, and you can maintain the shipping speed Walmart rewards. Prove the economics on those 20 before you expand. If the numbers work, scale. If they do not, you learned that cheaply.

FAQ

How long does it take to get approved to sell on Walmart Marketplace?

Typically 1-4 weeks, with well-prepared applications often completing in about 10 days. Make sure your business name matches exactly across all documents before submitting.

Is there a monthly fee to sell on Walmart Marketplace?

No. Walmart charges zero monthly subscription, setup, or listing fees. You pay referral fees (6-20% depending on category) only when items sell. Amazon charges $39.99/month.

Can international sellers apply to Walmart Marketplace?

Yes. As of 2025, 34% of active sellers are China-based and 60% of new sellers joining are from China. You need incorporation documents from an eligible country, a U.S. return address, and a toll-free U.S. customer service number. No U.S. tax ID required - a W-8BEN-E form works for tax reporting.

Should new Walmart sellers use WFS?

For most, yes. WFS items see a 50% average GMV lift, the 2026 New Seller Savings program includes 10% off WFS fees (up to $2,000 in savings), and it eliminates the need for your own U.S. warehouse. The exception: sellers with fulfillment networks that beat WFS rates by $1.00+ per unit and still meet Walmart’s 1-2 day shipping standard.

Is Walmart Marketplace worth it for Amazon sellers in 2026?

Depends on your category. Apparel sellers save $2,880/year on fees alone. In categories where fees match (Home, Toys, Baby), the case rests on 120 million monthly visitors with roughly 50x fewer competing sellers than Amazon. New Seller Savings makes year one favorable - but the operational effort is real. Start with 20 SKUs, prove the math, then scale.