Walmart has a lot less-complex fee system compared to other seller platforms. They do not require any annual fees, product listing fees, set-up fees, subscription fees, or even monthly fees to sell on their platform. This cannot be said for their competitor, Amazon, which charges you for almost every seller activity on their site. This is, perhaps, why Walmart is fast becoming a go-to marketplace for sellers.
Though Walmart has a simple fee system, there are some Walmart seller fees you have to pay to sell on their platform. Moreover, fees vary depending on the kind of selling you are doing on the Walmart marketplace (i.e. Seller Fulfilled or WFS).
In this post, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide to understanding the various types of Walmart seller fees, including referral fees, shipping fees, fulfillment fees, and other associated fees. We will also provide insights on how to manage and optimize these fees to help you maximize your profits on the Walmart marketplace.
Whether you are a new seller on Walmart or an experienced one, this blog post will provide you with all the essential information you need to know about Walmart seller fees.
How Much Does it Cost to Sell on Walmart?
The answer to this question depends on what type of selling plan you are using at Walmart. If you use the Seller Fulfilled option to sell on Walmart, you are only liable to pay referral fees on the Walmart marketplace.
If you are a WFS seller, however, you will have to pay a number of Walmart seller fees such as referral fees, fulfillment fees, and even storage fees.
Walmart Referral Fees
Walmart charges you only when you sell one of your products, which they call “a referral fee.” Walmart referral fees are a percentage of the total item price, excluding taxes and shipping charges.
The referral fee is charged for the privilege of selling on the Walmart marketplace and accessing their vast customer base. This Walmart seller fee varies depending on the category of the item and ranges from 6% to 15% of your product’s selling price.
Following is a list of the product categories on the Walmart marketplace and their respective referral seller fees:
| Product Category | Referral Fee Percentage |
| Apparel & Accessories | 15% |
| Automotive & Powersports | 12% |
| Baby |
8% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10 |
| Beauty |
8% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10 |
| Books | 15% |
| Camera & Photo | 8% |
| Cell Phones | 8% |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% |
| Electronics Accessories |
15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $100 8% for the portion of the total sales price greater than $100 |
| Furniture & Decor | 15% |
| Gourmet Food | 15% |
| Grocery |
8% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10 |
| Health & Personal Care |
8% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10 |
| Home & Garden | 15% |
| Indoor & Outdoor Furniture: | 15% on the first $200, 10% on amounts > $200 |
| Industrial & Scientific | 12% |
| Jewelry |
20% for the portion of the total sales price up to $250 5% for the portion of the total sales price greater than $250 |
| Kitchen | 15% |
| Luggage & Travel Accessories | 15% |
| Major Appliances | 8% |
| Music | 15% |
| Musical Instruments | 12% |
| Office Products | 15% |
| Outdoor Power Tools |
15% for items with a total sales price ≤ $500 8% for items with a total sales price > $500 |
| Outdoors | 15% |
| Personal Computers | 6% |
| Pet Supplies | 15% |
| Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Ventilation | 10% |
| Shoes, Handbags & Sunglasses | 15% |
| Software & Computer Video Games | 15% |
| Sporting Goods | 15% |
| Tires & Wheels | 10% |
| Tools & Home Improvement | 15% (except 12% for Base Power Tools) |
| Toys & Games | 15% |
| Video & DVD | 15% |
| Video Game Consoles | 8% |
| Video Games | 15% |
| Watches |
15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $1,500 3% for the portion of the total sales price greater than $1,500 |
| Everything Else | 15% |
It is important for you, as a Walmart seller, to understand these referral fees and factor them into your pricing strategies. This ensures you are making a profit on the Walmart marketplace and not operating at a loss.
You might be thinking:
How is a referral fee any different from an annual fee or a product listing fee?
Well, these Walmart marketplace seller fees are only applied when and if your items get sold; not bad for getting to use Walmart’s large platform and customer base to sell your items!
Walmart Fulfilment Fees
Walmart fulfillment fees apply to Walmart sellers that use the Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) option. This fee covers the costs of storage, picking, packing, and shipping of the products to their customers.
Note: Once you pay the fulfillment fees, you do not have to pay shipping fees as a WFS seller.
Walmart sellers that use the Seller Fulfilled option are not liable to pay Fulfilment fees. The seller is responsible for the storage, picking, packing, and shipping of their products to customers.
Walmart fulfillment fees vary based on the product category, dimensions, and weight of the products. The table below details Walmart fulfillment fees according to the weight of the item:
| Shipping weight |
Fee |
| 1 lb. |
$3.45 |
| 2 lb. |
$4.95 |
| 3 lb. |
$5.45 |
| 4 lb. – 20 lb. |
$5.75 plus $0.40 for each lb. > 4 lb. |
| 21–30 lb. |
$15.55 plus $0.40 for each lb. > 21 lb. |
| 31–50 lb.* |
$14.55 plus $0.40 for each lb. > 31 lb. |
| 51–150 lb.* |
$17.55 plus $0.40 for each lb. > 51 lb. |
Walmart Storage Fee
Walmart charges storage fees to sellers for storing their inventory in fulfillment centers. These fees are only applicable to WFS Walmart Sellers. Those who use the Seller Fulfilled option are tasked with storing their own inventory.
Walmart’s storage fees are based on the volume of inventory that a seller stores in Walmart’s fulfillment centers. The storage fees are charged monthly and vary based on the time of the year and the type of product.
For example, storage fees are typically higher during the holiday season and fees for oversized products are higher than for standard-sized products.
| Length of time |
Fee |
| January–September |
$0.75 per cubic foot per month |
| October–December |
$0.75 per cubic foot per month for items stored for fewer than or up to 30 days. Add $1.50 per cubic foot per month for items stored for more than 30 days. |
| >12 months |
$7.50 per cubic foot per month |
Walmart’s storage fees are designed to incentivize sellers to maintain an optimal level of inventory in the fulfillment centers, rather than storing excess inventory that takes up valuable warehouse space.
By managing their inventory efficiently and keeping only what is necessary in the fulfillment centers, sellers can avoid high storage fees and maximize their profits.
Walmart Marketplace Tax Fees
Products sold on the Walmart marketplace are subjected to sales tax in all of the United States and territories.
Two ways to do this:
- You can accumulate and remit on each sale.
- Another practice is to incorporate sales tax in the product price.
It is up to the sellers if they choose to include sales tax in the product price or they can also display it separately. They can leave it all up to Walmart to handle the taxes to save them time and also to avoid risks of incorrect calculations as tax laws vary in each state.
| State | State Rate |
| Alabama | 4% |
| Alaska | 0% |
| Arizona | 5.6% |
| Arkansas | 6.5% |
| California | 7.25% |
| Colorado | 2.9% |
| Connecticut | 6.35% |
| Delaware | 0% |
| District of Columbia | 6% |
| Florida | 6% |
| Georgia | 4% |
| Hawaii | 4% |
| Idaho | 6% |
| Illinois | 6.25% |
| Indiana | 7% |
| Iowa | 6% |
| Kansas | 6.5% |
| Kentucky | 6% |
| Louisiana | 4.45% |
| Maine | 5.5% |
| Maryland | 6% |
| Massachusetts | 6.25% |
| Michigan | 6% |
| Minnesota | 6.875% |
| Mississippi | 7% |
| Missouri | 4.225% |
| Montana | 0% |
| Nebraska | 5.5% |
| Nevada | 6.85% |
| New Hampshire | 0% |
| New Jersey | 6.625% |
| New Mexico | 5% |
| New York | 4% |
| North Carolina | 4.75% |
| North Dakota | 5% |
| Ohio | 5.75% |
| Oklahoma | 4.5% |
| Oregon | 0% |
| Pennsylvania | 6% |
| Puerto Rico | 11.5% |
| Rhode Island | 7% |
| South Carolina | 6% |
| South Dakota | 4.5% |
| Tennessee | 7% |
| Texas | 6.25% |
| Utah | 4.85% |
| Vermont | 6% |
| Virginia | 4.3% |
| Washington | 6.5% |
| West Virginia | 6% |
| Wisconsin | 5% |
| Wyoming | 4% |
Whether you choose to handle sales tax on your own or use the Walmart algorithm, a sales tax policy must be incorporated during the initial account setup.
In either case, it is advised the supplier consult with a legal or financial expert to stay in compliance with tax laws. You can check out our article on eCommerce sales tax remittance to better understand how to remit your sales tax.
However, if you decide to do it yourself, Walmart does provide sellers with a detailed tax code sheet in its Seller Help Central but doesn’t offer advice about which tax codes should be in use. We advise you to contact your tax advisors if you are not sure.
Tips to Reduce Walmart Seller Fees
Reducing seller fees is a crucial part of maximizing profits for Walmart sellers. Here are some tips to help reduce Walmart seller fees:
1. Optimize your product listings and pricing
You should optimize your product listings for a better consumer experience, better visibility, and increased conversion rates. You should also keep your prices competitive. By doing so, you can increase your sales volume and reduce the percentage of referral fees you pay. A great way to optimize your pricing is to employ Walmart repricing strategies.
2. Minimize Returns
Walmart charges return fees for products returned by customers. To minimize returns, ensure that your product descriptions are accurate and provide high-quality images of your products to help customers make informed buying decisions.
3. Use Efficient Inventory Management
Walmart charges storage fees for products stored in their fulfillment centers. To reduce storage fees, it is important to manage your inventory efficiently and avoid storing excess inventory in Walmart’s fulfillment centers.
There are tools that can help you manage your dropshipping inventory. One such tool is the Ecom Circles Automated dropshipping software for Walmart and Amazon sellers.
4. Use Walmart Seller Tools
Use effective tools like Walmart fees calculator to determine your Walmart fees. This will help you determine profitability and give you the necessary information to best set your price. Walmart provides a free tool to calculate your fulfillment fees but it does not help calculate profit margins or ROI.
A tool that can help with that is Ecom Circles WFS Calculator. This can help you calculate referral fees, fulfillment fees, and storage fees. It also calculates ROI and total profit by using a selling price that you set.
Walmart Seller FAQs
How much does it cost to become a Walmart seller?
Becoming a Walmart seller requires no setup, monthly, or hidden fees for any sellers, instead, you pay for what you sell. Walmart deducts a referral fee from each purchase you complete. Walmart’s commission rates vary by category and total sales price but range from 6% to 15%.
Are there monthly subscription fees for selling on Walmart?
No, there are no monthly subscription fees for selling on Walmart. The only Walmart seller fee you’ll be required to pay is a referral (aka “commission”) fee.
Do Sellers need to pay for shipping fee?
WFS sellers do not need to pay separately for shipping because this cost is included in the fulfillment fees. For sellers that use the Seller Fulfilled Walmart selling option, they will need to employ a third-party carrier to ship their products to their customers.
Are there any storage fees for Walmart sellers?
The storage fee is another type of Walmart seller fee, defined as the cost that Walmart charges their customer for storing all of their inventory at a Walmart fulfillment center. The storage fee is dependent on the volume of the product being stored and the length of time:
- $0.75 per cubic foot per month for items stored for fewer than or up to 30 days.
- Add $1.50 per cubic foot per month for items stored for more than 30 days.
- Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) fulfillment fees: $5.75 for the first 4 lbs, then +$0.40/lb above 4 lbs; in this case 5 additional lbs.
