Walmart Marketplace Seller Fees and Requirements for Foreign Brands

Who can sell, what each sale costs, and how the money gets back to Korea

Brands that already sell on Amazon often ask us:

"Can we sell on Walmart Marketplace from Korea?"

"Is Walmart cheaper than Amazon?"

"How do we get paid if we have no US bank account?"

The short answer: a Korean company can apply to sell on Walmart Marketplace with no sign-up or monthly fee, but it needs a US warehouse that handles returns, or Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), before it can sell. Fees per sale are close to Amazon's.

Walmart Marketplace is the part of Walmart.com where outside sellers list items and sell direct to shoppers. Selling to Walmart as a supplier, where a Walmart buyer orders your stock, is a different route; our post on sales reps, distributors and brokers covers it, and our wholesale pricing post works out what a retail buyer's price leaves you. This post covers the US Marketplace only.

1. Walmart Marketplace seller requirements

Walmart's onboarding page lists what every Walmart Marketplace seller must have:

A business tax ID and the business documents for your country (section 2).
A "History of Marketplace or eCommerce success." Walmart does not publish a threshold for this test.
Products with GS1 GTIN or UPC company prefix numbers. A GS1 Company Prefix is the company number GS1 issues to a brand.
"A B2C U.S. warehouse with returns capability and ability to adhere to our Seller Performance Standards, or use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)."

Walmart asks for a US warehouse, so shipping each order from Korea does not qualify. For a foreign brand, the real entry ticket to Walmart Marketplace is a US fulfillment setup, not a US company.

Do you need a US LLC first? No. Section 2 lists what Walmart asks a Korean company for, and our LLC post covers when a US entity makes sense.

How long does approval take? Walmart's registration guide says business verification takes "a few minutes to two business days." That covers the verification step only. The Walmart pages we read give no official time for the full approval.

2. Tax forms and documents for a Korean company

A Korean company with no US Employer Identification Number (EIN) files a W-8BEN-E. Walmart's tax classification page says: "If you don't have an EIN and your country of incorporation is not the United States, your tax classification is W-8BEN-E." South Korea is on its list of supported countries for this classification.

A Korean company that has an EIN files a W-8ECI instead. The same page notes that for some countries Walmart does not accept the foreign tax ID and asks for a US one. It does not list those countries, so confirm Korea's status before you choose the W-8ECI path.

For South Korea, the page lists these documents:

A Business Registration Certificate issued by the National Tax Service.
A utility bill or bank statement issued within the past three months, at the business address.
A personal ID of the applicant or legal representative.
A Letter of Authorization, where needed.

We found no separate Walmart program for Korean sellers. Korea is listed on the same tax page as China and other supported countries. Being on the supported list covers the tax step only, so ask Walmart Seller Support to confirm your case before you plan inventory.

3. Walmart Marketplace fees: a referral fee per sale, nothing monthly

Walmart charges no sign-up fee and no monthly fee. Its onboarding page says: "Signing up to become a Walmart Marketplace seller is completely free. You pay a Referral Fee on each item sold."

The referral fee is the share of the total sales price Walmart keeps on each sale. Rates from the referral fee schedule (updated March 8, 2026):

Beauty, Health & Personal Care: 8% at a total sales price of $10 or less, 15% above $10.
Grocery: 8% at $15 or less, 15% above $15.
Baby Products: 8% at $10 or less, 15% above $10.
Home, Kitchen, Decor & Garden: 15%.
Everything Else: 15%.

The total sales price includes "item price as well as shipping and handling, gift wrap and other charges," per the same schedule. For example, a $24.99 serum with free shipping pays a 15% referral fee of $3.75. Charge $5.99 for shipping on the same serum and the fee is 15% of $30.98, or $4.65.

The $3.75 on a $24.99 beauty item is the same as on Amazon, where Amazon's fee schedule also charges 8% at $10.00 or less and 15% above. Our price-by-channel post shows what is left from that $24.99 after ads, fulfillment and landed cost.

New sellers get a discount. Walmart's New-Seller Savings gives 20% off base referral fees on the first $50K in gross merchandise value (GMV), 30% off from $50K to $500K, and 40% off above $500K. The offer lasts until January 31, 2027, and conditions apply. WFS users also get 10% off fulfillment fees until they reach $2K in savings.

4. WFS fees: fulfillment, returns and the Q4 storage jump

Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is Walmart's own fulfillment program. A WFS fulfillment center picks, packs and ships each order and handles returns. Walmart's WFS fees page was updated May 26, 2026, but its fees are marked "effective as of April 2025 and are subject to change."

WFS base fees per unit for standard items:

1 lb or less: $3.45
2 lb: $4.95
3 lb: $5.45
4 to 20 lb: $5.75, plus $0.40 for each lb above 4

Surcharges per unit: apparel +$0.50, hazardous materials +$0.50, retail price under $10 +$1, and oversize +$3 or +$20.

WFS bills by the greater of unit weight and dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is length x width x height in inches, divided by 139. Walmart's own estimator gives two examples:

Earrings, 0.13 lb: $3.45.
A frying pan, 18.6 x 10.5 x 3.0 in, 3.7 lb. Its dimensional weight is 4.21 lb, which bills as 5 lb: $5.75 plus $0.40, or $6.15.

The fee page leaves the rounding step blank for 1 to 150 lb items; rounding up matches Walmart's example. Per the same page, the return fee is $4.70 per unit for items of 1 lb or less, waived when Walmart is at fault.

WFS storage costs $0.75 per cubic foot per month from January to September. From October to December, Walmart adds $1.50 for stock held more than 30 days, for $2.25 in total. Stock held 366 to 450 days costs $2.25, and stock held over 450 days costs $7.50 from June 30, 2026. For example, 25 cubic feet of stock costs $18.75 a month in spring and $56.25 a month in November, once it is past 30 days.

On WFS, stock that sits past 30 days in Q4 costs three times the normal storage rate. Send Q4 stock in smaller waves through the season.

One more limit for foreign sellers:

Walmart's Cross Border: Imports ocean program takes only goods sourced or made in China, Cambodia, India or Vietnam. Goods from Korea need your own forwarder to a WFS inbound center.

5. Shipping yourself: the performance standards

Sellers who ship from their own US warehouse must meet Walmart's Seller Performance Standards, measured over 30 or 60 days:

Valid Tracking Rate (orders with valid tracking): 99% or above
On-Time Delivery Rate (orders delivered by the Expected Delivery Date): 90% or above
Seller response within 48 hours: 95% or above
Cancellation rate: 2% or below
Late shipment rate: 5% or below
Return rate: 6% or below
Negative feedback rate: 2% or below

Per Walmart's performance notifications page, Walmart cancels an order when valid tracking is not provided by the fourth calendar day after the Expected Ship Date, the date by which you must ship.

With WFS, the same standards page says "most performance metrics will be met for you, with the exception of the Negative Feedback Rate." The choice between WFS and your own warehouse is also a choice about who carries the 99% tracking target.

6. Payouts: how the money reaches a Korean company

Walmart does not pay into a bank account by ACH direct deposit. Its payout page says payouts go to the Marketplace Wallet or to "an approved third-party payout service provider."

Marketplace Wallet, Walmart's own payout account, is available only in the United States, China and Hong Kong.
Payoneer and PingPong both list South Korea as a supported country.

Per the same page, payouts generally run biweekly, every 14 days. New sellers start with a payment hold. Walmart's page says that in most cases payment arrives about 28 days after the order ships or is delivered. Plan cash flow for the first month of sales on Walmart with no payout in it.

Walmart Marketplace vs Amazon for a foreign seller

Amazon figures are as of October 2026.

	Walmart Marketplace	Amazon.com
Monthly fee	$0 (Walmart)	$39.99 on the Professional plan (Amazon)
Beauty referral fee	8% at $10 or less, 15% above (Walmart)	8% at $10.00 or less, 15% above (Amazon)
Platform fulfillment per unit	WFS from $3.45 at 1 lb or less (Walmart)	See our FBA vs 3PL post
Storage, Jan to Sep	$0.75 per cubic foot per month (Walmart)	$0.78 per cubic foot per month (Amazon)
Storage, Oct to Dec	$0.75 for 30 days, then $2.25 (Walmart)	$2.40 per cubic foot per month (Amazon)
Payout to a Korean company	Payoneer or PingPong (Walmart)	Amazon Currency Converter to a home-country bank (Amazon)

For example, 25 cubic feet held past 30 days in Q4 costs $56.25 a month on WFS and $60.00 at Amazon's base rate (25 x $2.40). Amazon's storage surcharges are in the FBA post.

At $24.99, the beauty referral fee is $3.75 on both sites, and Q4 storage past 30 days costs a little less on WFS.

Four checks before you apply

1. Do we have a US warehouse that handles returns, or will we use WFS?

2. Do our products carry GTINs under our own GS1 Company Prefix?

3. W-8BEN-E or W-8ECI, and do we have the Korean documents dated within three months?

4. Is a Payoneer or PingPong account open, and can we carry the first month of sales with no payout?

Wrap-up

To sell on Walmart Marketplace, a foreign brand needs a US fulfillment setup, the right tax form and a payout provider that serves Korea. This post summarizes Walmart's published rules and is not tax advice. Confirm your case with Walmart Seller Support before you ship stock.

LinkONE supports store setup and listing optimization for Walmart, Amazon and TikTok Shop, and its warehouse in Fullerton, California syncs orders from Walmart.

In the end, Walmart Marketplace costs about what Amazon does per sale; the difference is what you must have in place before the first order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Korean company sell on Walmart Marketplace?

Yes, Korea is a supported country for the tax step. Walmart's tax classification page lists South Korea for the W-8BEN-E and names the Korean documents: a Business Registration Certificate and a utility bill or bank statement from the past three months. The seller also needs a US warehouse with returns or WFS (Walmart). Confirm your case with Walmart Seller Support before you plan inventory.

Does Walmart charge a monthly fee to sell on Walmart Marketplace?

No. Sign-up is free and there is no monthly fee; you pay a referral fee on each item sold (Walmart). Amazon's Professional plan costs $39.99 a month plus selling fees, as of October 2026 (Amazon).

What is the Walmart referral fee for beauty products?

8% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less, and 15% above $10 (Walmart referral fee schedule). The total sales price includes shipping and handling. New sellers get 20% off base referral fees on their first $50K in GMV until January 31, 2027, with conditions (Walmart).

Which payout service works for a Korean Walmart seller?

Payoneer or PingPong. Walmart's payout page lists South Korea for both, and does not pay into bank accounts by ACH direct deposit. Marketplace Wallet is open only to businesses in the United States, China and Hong Kong.

How long does Walmart Marketplace approval take?

Walmart publishes a time for business verification only: "a few minutes to two business days" (Walmart registration guide). The Walmart pages we read give no official time for full approval. Industry blogs give estimates that disagree with each other.

Sources

Fees and rules in this post are as of October 2026.

-LinkONE-