Walmart 1P vs 3P: supplier, drop ship vendor or Marketplace seller

Walmart 1P vs 3P is about who sells to the shopper. As a 1P supplier, you sell to Walmart: Walmart buys your products and sells them in its stores, at Sam's Club or on Walmart.com. As a 3P Marketplace seller, you sell to the shopper yourself on Walmart.com, set your own price and pay Walmart a referral fee when an item sells. A drop ship vendor (DSV) sits in between: Walmart.com sells the item, but you ship it straight to the customer. "1P" and "3P" are industry shorthand; Walmart's own pages say "supplier" and "Marketplace seller."

Margenos is a Walmart reseller tool (Chrome extension and Android app) that shows whether a product is worth selling on Walmart Marketplace: fees, profit, ROI, sales estimates, every competing seller with stock, the Buy Box winner and the product's price and Buy Box history. If you buy products to resell, you're a 3P seller, and that's who Margenos is built for. It isn't affiliated with Walmart and can't help with supplier deals.

Walmart supplier vs marketplace seller vs DSV

1P: selling to Walmart as a supplier

This is the "get my product on Walmart's shelves" path. Walmart's supplier page describes it as becoming a supplier for Walmart stores, Walmart.com and Sam's Clubs. Its apply page says U.S. businesses should complete the application to be considered, starting with the Supplier Checklist and then creating an account in Retail Link. It also warns that registering "does not guarantee you will be extended an agreement to do business with Walmart." A Walmart merchant still has to want your product.

Walmart vendor requirements

Walmart's supplier requirements page lists, among other things:

• Federal tax ID for U.S. suppliers, or a current W-8 for non-U.S. suppliers.
• A GS1 Company Prefix, so your items carry their own GTINs/UPCs.
• Insurance of the types Walmart requires, kept in force at all times.
• Audits, inspections and tests of products, facilities and records, depending on the product, such as food safety or product safety audits.
• Packaging that meets Walmart's supply chain packaging guide.

Walmart supplier portal: Retail Link and Supplier One

New suppliers start qualification by creating a Retail Link account. Walmart says existing suppliers get "exclusive tools and resources through Supplier One," its platform for managing the supplier relationship. Neither is the place to sell as a Marketplace seller; that's Seller Center. Our guide on how to get your product into Walmart covers the supplier route and Open Call in more detail.

Walmart DSV (drop ship vendor)

A Walmart DSV supplies Walmart.com but keeps the inventory and ships orders directly to customers. Walmart's Supplier One help docs say the DSV program is focused on high-volume suppliers and that you must be invited by a Walmart.com category specialist (buyer). You can't just sign up.

The DSV policy guide describes the vendor as "an agent acting on behalf of Walmart.com" and sets strict standards, including:

• Acknowledge every purchase order line within 4 business hours.
• Hand at least 99% of orders to the carrier by the expected ship date, with tracking.
• Ship with the carrier and method Walmart assigns, from the contiguous 48 states.
• Use plain, unbranded boxes with no packing slips or marketing inserts.
• Send at least one inventory feed every business day and keep backorders at or below 0.1% a month.

Late shipments and rejected units above the allowances carry $5 chargebacks, and repeated problems can lead to suspension. Don't confuse DSV with "dropshipping" as a Marketplace seller, which has its own rules; see Walmart dropshipping.

3P: the Walmart marketplace

As a 3P seller you list your own offers on Walmart.com, often on the same listing as other sellers and sometimes Walmart itself. Walmart's supplier page says Marketplace is for "select third party retailers," and that Walmart.com has more than 90 million monthly visitors. Walmart's Marketplace site says there are no setup, monthly or hidden fees; you pay a referral fee when an item sells, 15% in many categories and lower or tiered in others. Details are on Walmart seller fees.

To apply, Walmart asks for:

• A business tax ID or business license number (an SSN isn't accepted) and documents verifying your business name and address.
• A history of marketplace or ecommerce success.
• Products with GTINs/UPCs from GS1 company prefixes, and a catalog that follows Walmart's prohibited products policy.
• Fulfillment through WFS or another U.S. warehouse that handles returns.
• An account with a compatible payment processor.

Walmart's registration guide says business verification can take from a few minutes to two business days, and new sellers face a payment hold after they start selling. For the full process, see how to open a Walmart seller account.

Which one fits you?

• You make a product and want store shelves: 1P supplier registration, knowing it can take a long time and isn't guaranteed.
• You're already a high-volume supplier and a Walmart.com buyer is interested: DSV.
• You want to sell on Walmart.com soon, or you resell other brands: 3P Marketplace, with or without WFS.

The routes aren't exclusive. Walmart's supplier page notes that many suppliers use Marketplace to complement their broader Walmart business.

Resellers are 3P sellers

If you buy products from stores, clearance, online retailers or wholesalers and resell them, the 1P and DSV routes don't apply to you. You're a third-party seller, and your results depend on picking the right products. On each Walmart listing, Margenos shows your profit and ROI after referral and WFS fees, a sales estimate, every competing seller and their stock, whether Walmart itself sells it, and who wins the Buy Box. That's how you decide what to buy before you spend money; see Walmart reselling to get started.

Sources: Walmart: Suppliers · Walmart: Apply to be a supplier · Walmart: Supplier requirements · Walmart Supplier One help: becoming a DSV or warehouse supplier · Walmart Supplier One help: Drop Ship Vendor policy central · Walmart Marketplace · Walmart Marketplace referral fees · Walmart seller registration guide. Walmart changes its rules; confirm with Walmart before you apply.