Etsy vs Walmart Marketplace: Which Is Better for Sellers?

If you make, customise or source one-of-a-kind items, Etsy is the better fit. If you sell new, branded products with a barcode in the United States, Walmart Marketplace is worth adding. Etsy lets almost anyone open a shop and write their own listing. Walmart wants a US business with selling history, and lists your item against a product page in its catalogue. Below are the fees on each, who gets in, where handmade goods fit on Walmart, and how FLUF Connect handles stock on both.

Is this for you?

Choose Etsy if your stock is handmade, vintage, personalised or craft supplies, and you want to start this week. Choose Walmart if you are a US-registered business with new products that carry a GTIN, usually a UPC barcode, and you already sell on another marketplace. A seller of handmade jewellery with no barcodes belongs on Etsy. A brand selling the same candles on Etsy and in shops may be able to do both, if it can get barcodes or a barcode exemption from Walmart.

Who can sell and how you get in

Etsy is open sign-up. You create a shop, add a payment method and list. Etsy’s fees and payments policy, last updated on 5 October 2026, says some new shops may be asked for a one-time, non-refundable set-up fee during onboarding, shown before you confirm it.

Walmart vets every seller. Its seller page asks for a business tax ID or business licence (a Social Security number is not accepted), documents for your business name and address, a history of selling on a marketplace or online, products with GS1 GTINs or UPCs, and fulfilment either through Walmart Fulfillment Services or from a US warehouse that can handle returns. A hobby seller without a registered business will not get through.

What each one charges

Etsy charges in three layers. Each listing costs $0.20 and lasts four months, and a listing with several units renews at $0.20 each time one sells. When an item sells, the transaction fee is 6.5% of the item price plus what you charge for shipping and gift wrapping. Payment processing comes on top, and its rate depends on the country where your bank account is. Offsite Ads add 15% on orders that Etsy’s advertising brings in, falling to 12% once your shop has made $10,000 in the past year. Shops under that threshold can opt out; shops above it cannot.

Walmart charges no set-up, listing or monthly fee, and takes a referral fee when something sells. The referral fee schedule, last updated on 9 March 2026, sets 15% for Home, Kitchen, Decor and Garden, for Toys and Games, and for everything not otherwise listed. Apparel and Accessories is tiered by price: 5% up to $15, 10% from $15 to $20, and 15% above $20. Jewelry takes 20% on the first $250 of the total sale price and 5% above that. The total sale price includes shipping.

Take a $40 home décor item that sells with free shipping. On Etsy, the listing fee is $0.20 and the transaction fee is $2.60, which makes $2.80 before payment processing, and before an Offsite Ads fee if the sale came through one. On Walmart, the 15% referral fee is $6.00. Without an Offsite Ads fee, Etsy comes out cheaper on a sale like this. With one, the Etsy fees pass Walmart’s. Either way, the reason to add Walmart is reaching a different set of shoppers, not a lower fee.

Handmade goods on Walmart

Walmart lists products against its catalogue, and the catalogue runs on product IDs. A product without one can still be listed if Walmart grants an exemption. Its GTIN exemption guide, last updated on 2 September 2026, names private-label and handmade products as examples that may be eligible. Walmart reviews each request, which takes up to three business days, and an approval takes about four hours to take effect.

That route matters for Walmart’s own listing tools. Through FLUF Connect, the Walmart connection matches items to products that already exist in Walmart’s catalogue by barcode, and does not create new catalogue products. A truly one-off handmade piece will not have a matching page, so it stays off Walmart when you list through FLUF.

Buyers and reach

Etsy’s second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter reported about 87 million active buyers over the previous twelve months, roughly flat on a year earlier, and marketplace gross sales of $2.58 billion for the quarter, up 7.5%.

Walmart does not publish a marketplace buyer figure. In its second-quarter fiscal 2027 results, it reported global e-commerce growth of 23%, led by store pickup, delivery and marketplace. Without a marketplace figure, the fairest test is your own: list a small batch of barcoded stock and compare sell-through with Etsy over a month.

Effort and day-to-day work

Etsy puts the work into the listing. Every item needs photos, a title buyers will search for, a description, and shipping profiles. Once that is done, keeping the shop going is mostly answering messages and posting orders.

Walmart puts the work into getting approved and getting your product data right. After that, listing is quicker, because Walmart’s product page supplies the title, images and category. The ongoing job is keeping barcodes accurate and stock correct, and meeting Walmart’s shipping and returns standards from your own warehouse or through its fulfilment service.

What FLUF Connect does on each marketplace

Connecting Etsy in FLUF Connect

Sign in with Etsy from the Channels screen. Items you list go up on Etsy, and stock stays in step both ways: an Etsy sale is picked up and your other channels update, and a sale elsewhere ends or reduces the Etsy listing.

Connecting Walmart in FLUF Connect

Open the Walmart card on the Channels screen once your seller account is approved. FLUF lists your barcoded items against Walmart’s existing product pages. Walmart orders do not reach FLUF, so after a Walmart sale you lower the stock yourself, and FLUF sets Walmart stock to zero when the item sells somewhere else.

Start with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month.

Automatic relisting, offer management, smart pricing and listing boosts are included from Pro upwards. Starter covers unlimited crosslisting, inventory sync, order sync and Instagram posting without them. Accounting integrations are included from Pro upwards. Yearly billing is charged once a year. New accounts get 7 days for £1, then move onto a plan.

Running both

A maker who also sells a barcoded product line can run both from one inventory: Etsy for the full range, Walmart for the lines that match its catalogue. Build the Walmart sale into your routine, because until you update stock after it, your Etsy listing will still show the item as available. If everything you sell is one-off or handmade without barcodes, keep your effort on Etsy and look at a second marketplace that takes your own listings, such as eBay.

If you would rather run a shop under your own name, Shopify is the usual next step, compared in Etsy vs Shopify. For Walmart against an open marketplace, see Walmart vs eBay.

Sources

• Etsy fees and payments policy, last updated 5 October 2026 (checked October 2026)
• Etsy Q2 2026 shareholder letter (SEC) (checked October 2026)
• Walmart Marketplace seller page (checked October 2026)
• Walmart referral fee schedule, last updated 9 March 2026 (checked October 2026)
• Walmart: request a GTIN exemption, last updated 2 September 2026 (checked October 2026)
• Walmart Q2 FY27 earnings release, 20 August 2026 (checked October 2026)