Walmart Marketplace Sellers Get Walmart Rates Inside ShipStation

What happened

Walmart has moved its negotiated carrier rates into a tool that third-party sellers already use. On October 6, ShipStation launched Ship with Walmart, an integration that lets Walmart Marketplace sellers buy shipping labels at Walmart-negotiated rates without leaving the ShipStation platform.12 Sellers can also use the integration to claim seller protections and manage their Walmart orders inside the ShipStation workflows they already run.16 Walmart says many of its Marketplace sellers already use ShipStation to handle orders across several sales channels.11

The main features are consistent across the coverage. Eligible orders that ship on time can get up to $100 of protection on lost-item claims, which covers packages lost in transit as well as claims filed after delivery. Sellers can also ask Walmart to review negative feedback tied to an approved lost-item claim.13 A Simplified Shipping Settings feature shows the carrier and service level Walmart recommends for the delivery promise a seller has set.13 The service is limited to U.S. domestic shipments for now.15 To draw in new customers, ShipStation is giving Walmart sellers who are new to the platform 20% off a year's subscription when they activate Ship with Walmart.15

The rates matter less than the plumbing

The discount is the headline, but the more important change is where the discount now sits. One account of the launch says sellers previously had to go through Walmart's own shipping path to get its negotiated rates, which meant working outside their usual operations software.14 Walmart lets any shipping software provider connect to the program through its API, and multichannel tools such as Goflow already had. ShipStation is the largest platform to join so far.18

The direction is clear. Bryce Caswell, director of Ship with Walmart, recently described an upcoming integration with SellerCloud that will put the same rates and protections inside that system as well.17 One logistics analyst called this a move toward "embedded logistics," where shipping and fulfillment become features inside the software sellers already use rather than separate destinations.17 The likely result is that Walmart's carrier contracts show up wherever multichannel sellers work, including on the same screen where they process Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopify and eBay orders.13

The savings numbers do not line up. ShipStation's own blog says rates through the program may come in as much as 60% below market rates.14 Caswell put the average at about 50% below retail carrier rates and added that results vary by carrier and service.17 One analysis points out that neither figure is measured against what a given seller already pays. Sellers that hold their own negotiated contracts may find the Walmart rate cheaper on some zones and weights and more expensive on others.14 The fairest reading is that the program helps newer, smaller sellers with no carrier leverage of their own the most, and helps established shippers only on some lanes.

The protection also comes with conditions. The $100 coverage applies only to orders shipped on time, so a warehouse that falls behind during the holiday rush could lose coverage just as lost-package claims rise.14 Walmart is offering protection in return for operational discipline, and the deal also nudges sellers toward the carrier choices Walmart recommends.

The Amazon comparison

The launch looks more pointed next to Amazon's year. Amazon raised Fulfillment by Amazon fees by an average of eight cents per unit on January 15, and raised Multi-Channel Fulfillment fees by about 30 cents per unit on average.21 Amazon described the FBA increase as under 0.5% per item and well below inflation.21 On April 17, it added a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to every U.S. fulfillment fee.24 Peak-season fulfillment rates run from October 15, 2026, to January 14, 2027.24 Amazon also stopped offering its own FBA prep and labeling services at the start of 2026.23

The changes were not all increases. Amazon kept referral fees flat for 2025 and 202628, and it created a new Small Bulky tier that cut fees for some mid-size products.28 Still, seller-side analysts say the many smaller charges add up to more than the headline figure suggests.23 One consultancy summed up the contrast this way: Amazon is monetizing its seller base while Walmart is buying one.35 Ship with Walmart fits that description. It is a subsidy for sellers who fulfill their own orders, paid for with Walmart's carrier leverage.

It also fills a gap in Walmart's own offering. Walmart Fulfillment Services, the fee-based program launched in 2020, handles storage, picking, packing, shipping and returns for sellers who send inventory into Walmart's network.16 Caswell says WFS rates average about 15% below competing options and carry no fuel surcharges or peak-season storage fees.17 Ship with Walmart covers sellers who keep inventory in their own warehouses.17 Between the two programs, Walmart now offers logistics to sellers whichever way they fulfill.

How big Walmart's marketplace is depends on who you ask

The reporting agrees that Walmart's marketplace is growing quickly. It disagrees on how big it is. One analysis cited remarks from Walmart CFO John David Rainey in April: marketplace growth of about 20%, more than 30% growth in home, hardlines and fashion, and three times as many sellers at the holidays as a year earlier.14 A seller-economics report described third-party GMV growth of a record 50% in the quarter ending April 30.35 Seller counts range from roughly 100,00034 to 150,00040 to more than 200,000.32 At least one analysis says about 60% of new sellers are coming from China.38

The disagreement says something in itself. Walmart's base is new and growing faster than outside trackers can measure it reliably. That supports the reasoning behind Ship with Walmart, since a seller base this new is mostly made up of companies without their own carrier contracts.

The reporting is also not uniformly positive. One industry outlet describes ongoing gaps in fulfillment and a lingering lack of seller trust. It also cites sellers who report Amazon converting at 2.5 to 3.5 times Walmart's rate on comparable listings, and Walmart Connect ad costs up an estimated 38% year over year in some competitive categories.33 A seller survey found 61% of merchants on both platforms earned higher net margins on Walmart, while 78% made more revenue on Amazon.40 Cheaper shipping helps the margin side of that equation but does little for the volume side.

TikTok Shop is going the other way

TikTok Shop is a useful contrast. Since February 25, 2026, U.S. TikTok Shop sellers have been required to use TikTok's logistics services or an approved provider. Self-fulfillment with a seller's own carrier labels is no longer allowed.4 Fulfilled by TikTok costs roughly $2.86 to $4.28 per unit.4

TikTok's fees are also unclear. Several guides list a flat 6% U.S. referral fee that includes payment processing.68 Others report an increase to 8% for most non-food categories as of August 4.10 At least one analysis says TikTok's public fee table does not confirm the higher rate.4 Either way, creator affiliate commissions of roughly 5% to 25% are often the larger cost.4

Walmart and TikTok are both pulling shipping into their platforms, but in opposite ways. TikTok requires its logistics. Walmart offers discounts through the software sellers already use. For multichannel merchants, that contrast may be a selling point for Walmart.

The regulatory backdrop

The launch comes as lawmakers look more closely at how platforms treat sellers. In July, Representatives Becca Balint and Nydia Velázquez introduced the Online Sellers' Bill of Rights Act of 2026. The bill would direct the FTC to write rules covering account suspensions, frozen funds, inventory holds and sudden policy changes, and a summary from Balint's office focuses almost entirely on Amazon and Walmart.49 Among other provisions, it would bar platforms from holding seller funds longer than 30 days without evidence of unlawful transactions, and would require them to name the specific policy behind any suspension.49 The National Taxpayers Union opposes the bill, now H.R. 9799, because it would give the FTC broad rulemaking power and create a private right of action with mandatory treble damages.42

Existing law already puts duties on marketplaces. The INFORM Consumers Act requires them to collect and verify bank, contact and tax ID information from high-volume third-party sellers.46 The first enforcement case ended with Temu paying $2 million in 2025.43

The regulatory debate helps explain Ship with Walmart's design. Feedback review after an approved lost-package claim, and protection for sellers whose carrier fails after an on-time shipment, address the same issue as the proposed bill: a seller's account health being damaged by events the seller did not control. Whether or not Walmart intended it, offering performance protections voluntarily strengthens its argument that platforms can handle fairness to sellers themselves, and it sets Walmart apart from Amazon on the issue lawmakers are focused on.

Bottom line

Ship with Walmart is a small product launch with a larger purpose. Walmart is using its carrier leverage to lower costs for sellers who are new to the channel. It is putting those savings inside the software where sellers compare marketplaces, and it is presenting seller protection as a benefit just as Congress weighs making it a requirement. The savings claims need testing on real shipments. But as Amazon adds surcharges and TikTok mandates its own logistics, Walmart is making the case for its marketplace on cheaper shipping and lower operating friction.