Walmart Marketplace vs Facebook Marketplace: Where US Sellers Should List
Walmart takes approved businesses with barcoded stock for a category referral fee; Facebook takes anyone and charges nothing for local pickup. Fees, returns, payouts and how FLUF Connect runs both.
If you are a registered US business with new, barcoded products, Walmart Marketplace gives you shoppers who are ready to buy and pay a referral fee of 3% to 20% per sale, but you must be approved, meet delivery standards and accept 30-day returns. If you are clearing used items, one-offs or bulky goods buyers will collect, Facebook Marketplace costs nothing for a local sale and accepts anyone with a Facebook account. They serve different sellers, and plenty of small businesses use both: Walmart for new stock that matches its catalogue, Facebook for returns, open-box items and local pickup.
Is this for you?
This comparison is for a US small business or reseller deciding where its stock should go. If you are a private person with no business entity, the choice is already made: Walmart needs a business and Facebook does not. If you sell vintage clothing or collectibles, eBay is the stronger alternative, and eBay vs Facebook Marketplace is the more useful comparison.
Who can sell
Walmart reviews every application. Its onboarding guide asks for business tax information (a Social Security number is not accepted as the business tax ID), documents that verify your business name and address, a history of marketplace or ecommerce sales, and products carrying GS1 GTIN or UPC codes. You also need either a US warehouse that handles returns or Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). If your stock has no barcode, it cannot be matched to a Walmart product page.
Facebook Marketplace has no application. Anyone with an account in good standing can list, whether they are clearing a garage or running a store, and businesses sell alongside private people. The trade-off is that nobody vets the buyer either.
What each one charges
Walmart’s pricing page sets a referral fee by category, deducted only when a sale completes, with no monthly or set-up fee. A few examples from the current schedule:
- Personal computers: 6%
- Consumer electronics and video game consoles: 8%
- Toys and games, tools and home improvement, pet supplies: 15%
- Indoor and outdoor furniture: 15% up to $200 of the sale price, then 10% above that
- Apparel: 5% at $15 or less, 10% between $15 and $20, 15% above $20
The fee is worked out on the total sale price, which includes shipping. WFS, if you use it, adds fulfilment and storage fees on top.
Facebook Marketplace charges nothing for a local sale where the buyer collects and pays you directly. For items sold with shipping through Marketplace checkout, the selling fee has been 10% per shipment, or a minimum of $0.80, since 15 April 2024, Value Added Resource reported. On a $60 shipped toy, that is $6, the same as Walmart’s 15% would be on the same price.
So on shipped sales the fees are close. The real cost difference is local pickup, which costs nothing on Facebook and has no equivalent in Walmart’s fee schedule.
What you owe the buyer
Walmart’s seller-fulfilled returns policy, last updated on 31 August 2026, requires a return window of at least 30 days, starting seven days after the ship date. Certain electronics, major appliances and luxury items can have shorter windows. Walmart also measures sellers on performance standards such as cancellation rate and on-time delivery, and a seller who falls below them risks the account.
A local Facebook sale carries no marketplace return obligation. The buyer looks at the item, pays and leaves. What you gain in freedom you pay for in time: messages asking “is this available?”, lowball offers and buyers who do not turn up.
When you get paid
New Walmart sellers face a payment hold. For a US-incorporated business, part of each payment is delayed by up to 14 days, until 90 days have passed since your first order and you have received $7,500 in payments. Businesses incorporated outside the US face a delay of up to 21 days. Plan your cash flow for that first quarter.
A local Facebook sale pays you on the spot, in cash or by payment app. That is a real advantage for a reseller who needs this week’s sales to fund next week’s sourcing.
Buyers and reach
Walmart’s shoppers arrive searching for a product and comparing offers on its page. Your item appears on the existing Walmart.com product page alongside other sellers, so price and delivery speed decide who wins the sale. Facebook Marketplace’s audience is enormous and local: Meta said in 2021 that more than a billion people use Marketplace each month, as Sherwood News noted in 2024. Buyers there are browsing near home, which suits furniture, appliances and anything too big to ship.
What FLUF Connect does on each marketplace
| Capability | Walmart Marketplace | Facebook Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| How you connect | Your approved Walmart seller account, from the Channels screen | FLUF browser extension or mobile app, with your Facebook login |
| Crosslisting and inventory sync | Included on every plan | Included on every plan |
| What gets listed | Offers on products already in Walmart’s catalogue, matched by barcode | A Marketplace listing built from your FLUF product |
| Item sells on another channel | The Walmart stock is set to zero | The Marketplace listing is marked sold |
| Item sells on this marketplace | Not detected. Mark it sold in FLUF to clear your other channels | Not detected either; record the sale in FLUF the same way |
| Relisting and offer management | Not available | Not available |
Connecting Walmart in FLUF Connect
FLUF has no part in getting you approved by Walmart. Once you are accepted, connect your seller account from the Walmart card on the Channels screen, then add products with their barcodes. Items that match a Walmart product page can be listed; anything without a match stays on your other channels.
Connecting Facebook Marketplace in FLUF Connect
Facebook Marketplace connects through the FLUF browser extension or the FLUF mobile app, using the Facebook account you already sell from. Listings are built from your FLUF products, so the same item can go to Facebook without retyping it.
Neither marketplace reports its sales back to FLUF, so the habit to build is simple: when something sells on Walmart or Facebook, mark it sold in FLUF straight away, and FLUF takes it off the other one and everywhere else. Start with 7 days for £1, then from £9/month.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | You save | Crosslisted products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | £9/month | £59/year | 45% | Unlimited |
| Pro | £29/month | £199/year | 42% | Unlimited |
| Super Seller | Custom pricing — tell us what you need | Unlimited | ||
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
Split by condition and size. New, boxed products with a UPC go to Walmart, where buyers pay full price and expect fast delivery. Customer returns, open-box items, odd lots and anything too heavy to ship economically go to Facebook for local pickup. If you also sell on eBay, it fills the gap between them for used items that are worth shipping.
Sources
- Walmart Marketplace Learn: Before you start selling (checked October 2026)
- Walmart Marketplace: Pricing and referral fees (checked October 2026)
- Walmart Marketplace Learn: Seller-fulfilled returns policy, updated 31 August 2026 (checked October 2026)
- Walmart Marketplace Learn: New seller payment hold policy, updated 24 September 2026 (checked October 2026)
- Walmart Marketplace Learn: Seller performance standards (checked October 2026)
- Value Added Resource: Facebook Marketplace doubling selling fees, April 2024 (checked October 2026)
- Sherwood News: Marketplace is a bright spot for Facebook, April 2024 (checked October 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Walmart's onboarding asks for business tax information and does not accept a Social Security number as the business tax ID, so you need a business. Facebook Marketplace has no such requirement.
For local pickup, Facebook, which charges nothing. For shipped sales the fees are close: Walmart charges a referral fee by category, often 15%, and Facebook charges 10% per shipped sale with a $0.80 minimum.
No. Walmart charges no monthly or set-up fee. You pay a referral fee by category when a sale completes, plus fulfilment and storage fees if you use WFS.
At least 30 days, starting seven days after the ship date, with shorter windows allowed for certain electronics, major appliances and luxury items.
Walmart delays part of a new seller's payments. A US-incorporated business waits up to 14 days per payment, and the hold lifts once 90 days have passed since the first order and $7,500 has been paid out. Businesses incorporated elsewhere wait up to 21 days.
No. When an item sells on another channel, FLUF sets the Walmart stock to zero and marks the Facebook listing sold. Sales made on Walmart or Facebook are not detected, so record each one in FLUF yourself.
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