Breakdown of Fees for Walmart Fulfillment Services

With more and more sellers trying to get into Walmart Fulfillment Services, many are also curious about how much money they really need to spend to use the service. This blog will show you the breakdown of the fees.

Walmart Fulfillment Service (WFS) is a fulfillment network owned and operated by Walmart. WFS is a cost-effective solution that offers a seamless end-to-end fulfillment experience. Just like Amazon FBA, it allows their merchants to ship their inventory directly to their fulfillment centers for storage and order fulfillment. This new service also helps sellers get 2-day shipping and a priority on buy box placement that can result in more sales.

When it comes to choosing who is allowed to sell on Walmart Marketplace, they are highly selective, and even more selective about who gets to become a WFS seller. In order to be qualified for WFS, your products must meet the following requirements:

• Products must ship to Walmart fulfillment centers from within the US

• No perishable or regulated products

• Maximum product weight of 30 lbs

• Maximum product dimensions: 25″ x 20″ x 14″

Walmart Fulfillment Services Fees

The fees collected on WFS are based on a fixed monthly storage fee and a fulfillment fee based on package weight (apparel and hazmat items are exempted). That's it, no signup or monthly subscription fees! Walmart offers one simple rate card. Here is a breakdown of Walmart's WFS fees:

WFS FULFILLMENT FEES

Walmart Fulfillment centers charge by weight alone for their fulfillment fee and accept a maximum size limit of 25″ x 20″ x 14″ for products. This pricing structure can be advantageous for some sellers but limiting for others.

Keep these in mind:

• For units more than 1lb, use the greater unit weight or dimensional weight.

• Here’s how you can get the dimensional weight - length x width x height, all divided by 139.

• Just make sure to add 0.25 lbs (4 oz) to the shipping weight of your product for the extra weight of packaging materials that Walmart will add during fulfillment.

• Add a $0.50 additional fulfillment charge for apparel and HAZMAT items.

Sample Computation:

Unit weight: 24.0lbs

Dimensions: 15 x 12 x 7

Dimensional weight: (15 x 12 x 7)/139 = 9.1lbs

Shipment weight: 24.0lbs + 0.25lbs = 24.25lbs (Round it up to 25.00 lbs)

Fulfillment fee: $5.75 + 21($0.45) + $3.00

*$5.75 for the first 4 lbs, then +$0.40/lb above 4 lbs; in this case, 21 additional lbs, +$3.00 surcharge for shipment weights above 20 lbs

Total fulfillment fee: $18.20

WFS STORAGE FEES

Fewer Than 365 Days

More Than 365 Days

Sample Computation:

Mary stores a product with unit dimensions of 5.0 x 6.3 x 3.2 Mary begins storing her inventory in March

Unit Cubic Feet: (15.0 x 6.3 x 3.2)/1728 = 0.175

Storage Period: 90 days

Daily Storage Cost: $0.75/30=$0.025

Storage Cost per Unit: 0.175 x 90 x $0.025= $0.393

Fulfillment Fee Comparisons: WFS vs FBA

Amazon FBA fees are much more complicated compared to Walmart’s WFS fees. Amazon sellers who joined FBA will understand how easy and simple it is to understand the fees.

FBA FULFILLMENT FEES

Amazon FBA costs are dynamic, varying based on different factors such as seasonality, the type and size of the items being stored and shipped, and a variety of other factors. There are different costs for “non-apparels”, “special oversize,” “small and light categories,” and “apparel” categories.

FBA STORAGE FEES

Amazon FBA has long-term storage fees (LTS) unlike WFS. Amazon has their monthly storage fees increasing in Q4 and they have LTS being applied every month for products being stored more than a year. Walmart charges significantly lower storage fees during Q4 compared to Amazon.

Another difference between WFS and FBA is the shipment to their fulfillment centers. Right now, Walmart has only one fulfillment center which makes it much easier for sellers to ship their inventories. While Amazon requires their brands to ship to multiple fulfillment centers which take more time and effort from merchants.

SUMMARY

Walmart has built its reputation on excellent customer service and affordable products, and Amazon stays on top of the competition with millions of active sellers. So how do you really know if you are getting the best deal for your fulfillment service? You have to compare your own product stats against each platform because the rules are unique.

If you need experts in eCommerce that can help, you can contact us here.