What Are 3rd Party Sellers?
Third-party sellers are individuals or companies that sell products on Amazon and Walmart. They can be both small businesses or large conglomerates or really can be anyone, that uses Walmart or Amazon’s marketplace to sell directly to customers.
Amazon and Walmart allow third-party sellers to list their products on their respective websites. Doing so gives these third-party sellers access to a wider customer base.
In order for a seller to list their product on Amazon, they need to provide information about the product, upload pictures of the product, and set the price for the item. The same process applies to Walmart as well.
Most of the buyers out their turn to Amazon when deciding to shop online, and Fulfillment by Amazon or FBA provided Amazon with an advantage. With free fast shipping for Prime members. But more recently Walmart has introduced Walmart Fulfillment Services or WFS, which is their adaptation of FBA.
Selling on Amazon or selling on Walmart? What are the differences?
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, and the most popular, but Walmart seems to be fast picking up steam.
At the moment Amazon’s customer base is way larger than Walmart’s, within 2021 65% of US Consumers shopping on Amazon compared to the 37% of consumers shopping on Walmart. This makes Amazon the largest online marketplace for 3rd party sellers. But with that being said Walmart’s customer base shows considerable growth every year, so you know there is no lack in shoppers.
In my opinion, it really comes down to preference of where people would rather shop from. As both Amazon and Walmart offer fast shipping through their fulfillment services. With Walmart offering the Walmart+ membership that is to compete with the Amazon Prime membership.
Selling on Amazon or Walmart? Or maybe Selling on Both.
You decide, and to help you I will give you a brief run-through of what you will need to do so.
How to become a 3rd party seller on Walmart or Amazon?
One of the differences you will notice is to sell on Walmart you need to request to sell on Walmart Marketplace. This consists of an application process that will take a few minutes and the following info:
- US Business Tax ID ( note that an SSN is not accepted)
- W9 or W8 and EIN Verification Letter from the Department of Treasury that verifies your US business address or place of physical operations
- Planned integration method for your product catalog (bulk upload, API, solution provider)
- Primary product categories, catalog size, and related information (e.g. total SKUs you will be selling on Walmart initially with verified UPC information and used vs. refurbished, etc.)
After you have been approved to sell you will start the registration process. First,
1 – You will need to create your account ( username and password)
2 – Review the Walmart retailer agreement.
3 – Register your company.
4 – Fill out a W-9 form for tax purposes
5 – Payment info
6 – Select Shipping Methods
Finally, list your products and start selling.
As per Amazon, the process is a bit easier. First, start by choosing a selling plan. (Individual plan or Professional plan).
After that create an Amazon seller account. For this you will need the following:
1 – Business email address or Amazon customer account
2 – Bank account number and bank routing number
3 – Chargeable credit card
4 – Government-issued national ID
5 – Tax information (you may use your SSN here)
6 – Phone number
Start adding your listings and you are ready to go.
Final Thoughts
While selling on Walmart you may deal with less competition compared to the high levels of competitors on Amazon, you will also need to take into account all the different seller fees ( account fees, sales fees, etc)
As we could see both Amazon and Walmart offer advantages, as well as their own routes to success.
Now it is up to you which one to choose to start or grow your business.