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I used to sell on Amazon, and Walmart Marketplace reached out to me to convince me they could offer me a better seller experience than Amazon. I was excited be

by mtlynch 9mo ago

I used to sell on Amazon, and Walmart Marketplace reached out to me to convince me they could offer me a better seller experience than Amazon. I was excited because I hated dealing with Amazon, but I had the call with the Walmart rep and he couldn't cite any benefit over Amazon. Would Walmart take a lower fee? No, it would be the same as Amazon. Would Walmart give back its fee if the customer sent the product back for a refund? No, Walmart would keep my fees and have the same perverse incentives that pushed costs onto the vendor. It was surprising how much hubris Walmart brought to the discussion. The constant tone was, "We're Walmart, so obviously you want to work with us."

TMWNN 9mo ago
I sell on both platforms. >Would Walmart take a lower fee? No, it would be the same as Amazon. Walmart charges less in two ways: * No monthly membership fee. * Seemingly random fee discounts, up to and including 0%. More than once I've sold an item early in a day, then sold it again later that day with a different fee percentage. >Would Walmart give back its fee if the customer sent the product back for a refund? When Walmart refunds a customer, it takes from the seller's reserves exactly what was paid for the sale in the first place. No more, no less. It is Amazon that charges sellers a "refund processing fee". While Walmart definitely has its issues, there are also many virtues vis-a-vis Amazon. It is worthwhile selling on both. My 2025 Amazon and Walmart sales are equal.
- mtlynch 9mo ago
  This was 3-4 years ago, so it's possible that they've improved since then or that the rep I was speaking to was misinformed, but at the time, he told me there was no fee advantage on Walmart Marketplace, and I tried to be polite in my reaction of, "Then, why would you be an attractive alternative?"
  - TMWNN 9mo ago
    The refund structure has always been in place in the going on five years I've sold on Walmart. The random discounted fees have started in the past year.
  - mmooss 9mo ago
    Some reasons for switching are in the OP and in other comments in this subthread. What about those?
mmooss 9mo ago
The OP talks about being locked out by Amazon, and the comment I responded to above talks about being overtaken by scams. Edit: you say it too: > I hated dealing with Amazon Yet the comments in this subthread all talk only about costs - they say the costs are the same so why switch to Walmart? Aren't the reasons already given?

by mtlynch 9mo ago

TMWNN 9mo ago

I sell on both platforms. >Would Walmart take a lower fee? No, it would be the same as Amazon. Walmart charges less in two ways: * No monthly membership fee. * Seemingly random fee discounts, up to and including 0%. More than once I've sold an item early in a day, then sold it again later that day with a different fee percentage. >Would Walmart give back its fee if the customer sent the product back for a refund? When Walmart refunds a customer, it takes from the seller's reserves exactly what was paid for the sale in the first place. No more, no less. It is Amazon that charges sellers a "refund processing fee". While Walmart definitely has its issues, there are also many virtues vis-a-vis Amazon. It is worthwhile selling on both. My 2025 Amazon and Walmart sales are equal.

mtlynch 9mo ago
This was 3-4 years ago, so it's possible that they've improved since then or that the rep I was speaking to was misinformed, but at the time, he told me there was no fee advantage on Walmart Marketplace, and I tried to be polite in my reaction of, "Then, why would you be an attractive alternative?"
- TMWNN 9mo ago
  The refund structure has always been in place in the going on five years I've sold on Walmart. The random discounted fees have started in the past year.
- mmooss 9mo ago
  Some reasons for switching are in the OP and in other comments in this subthread. What about those?

mmooss 9mo ago

The OP talks about being locked out by Amazon, and the comment I responded to above talks about being overtaken by scams. Edit: you say it too: > I hated dealing with Amazon Yet the comments in this subthread all talk only about costs - they say the costs are the same so why switch to Walmart? Aren't the reasons already given?