To be approved on Walmart Marketplace as a US seller, you need a business tax ID or business licence (a Social Security number isn’t accepted), documents that prove your business name and address, a personal ID, a US warehouse that handles returns or a plan to use Walmart Fulfillment Services, GS1 barcodes for your products, and a track record of selling online. Most failed applications are missing one of these.

Walmart doesn’t let you start selling straight away. You apply first, and your application is checked against a list of requirements set out in Walmart’s seller onboarding guide.

Walmart Marketplace requirements for US sellers

  • Business tax ID: an EIN or business licence number. Walmart doesn’t accept a Social Security number.
  • Business documents: papers that confirm your legal business name and address. Use exactly the name and address on your tax documents.
  • Personal ID: a copy of a government-issued ID.
  • Business type: your entity classification, such as LLC or corporation.
  • Fulfilment: a US warehouse that ships to customers and handles returns, and can meet Walmart’s Seller Performance Standards. Or use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS).
  • Product barcodes: GS1 GTINs or UPCs with a company prefix.
  • Product catalogue: items that follow Walmart’s Prohibited Products Policy.
  • Track record: what Walmart calls a “history of Marketplace or eCommerce success.” It doesn’t say what counts, so show the sales history you have.

Signing up is free. Walmart takes a referral fee on each sale, which varies by category. Check the current rates on Walmart’s pricing page.

Where Walmart applications usually fall short

Walmart doesn’t publish a list of rejection reasons. Based on its requirements, these are the gaps to check before you apply:

  1. No business tax ID. Applying with a Social Security number instead of an EIN or business licence won’t work.
  2. Details that don’t match. If your business name or address differs from your tax documents, validation can fail. Walmart’s guide says to enter details exactly as they appear on your documents.
  3. No selling history. Walmart asks for a history of ecommerce success, which is hard to show with no store, sales or reviews.
  4. No fulfilment plan. You need a US warehouse that handles returns, or WFS.
  5. Barcodes not from GS1. Walmart asks for GS1 GTINs or UPCs, so buy them from GS1 in your company’s name.
  6. Prohibited products. A catalogue that includes items on Walmart’s prohibited list.

How to improve your chances of approval

  1. Register the business first. Set up your LLC or corporation, get an EIN, and open a business bank account in the same name.
  2. Build a track record. Sales history on Amazon, eBay, Shopify or another channel helps show you can run a store. Have your numbers and store links ready.
  3. Choose your fulfilment before you apply. Show your US warehouse and returns process, or plan to use WFS.
  4. Buy GS1 barcodes registered to your company.
  5. Check every detail twice. Your name, address and tax ID should match exactly across every document.
  6. If you’re rejected, fix the gap and reapply. Work out which requirement was weak and strengthen it.

Is Walmart worth it after approval?

For many sellers it’s a useful second channel, and it has no monthly fee. Whether it suits your products depends on your category, margins and fulfilment. We compare the two marketplaces side by side in Walmart Marketplace vs Amazon, and our Amazon automation cost guide explains the Amazon fees.

Get help with your Walmart application

We help sellers prepare their Walmart application, set up WFS and run the store once it’s approved. We can’t promise approval, because only Walmart decides, but we’ll tell you honestly where your application is weak before you submit it. See our Walmart automation services

Book a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Walmart doesn't publish a set review time. Have every document ready before you apply so missing paperwork doesn't slow things down.

You need a business tax ID or a business license number. A Social Security number on its own isn't accepted.

It's harder. Walmart asks for a history of marketplace or ecommerce success, so building a track record first helps.

No. Signing up is free, and Walmart takes a referral fee on each sale.

No. You can use Walmart Fulfillment Services instead of your own US warehouse.

Work out which requirement was weak, such as your tax ID, documents, track record or fulfilment. Fix it, then apply again.