Amazon vs Walmart Marketplace: Which Is Better for New Sellers?
Most new sellers default to Amazon because it is the biggest. Bigger is not always better when you are starting with limited capital: Walmart Marketplace has a fraction of the sellers competing for a large share of US ecommerce demand.
Audience size vs seller competition
Amazon delivers the largest buyer pool and the highest purchase intent, but you are competing with millions of active sellers, many of whom have years of review history on the same ASINs.
Walmart has far fewer sellers per category. For a well-priced, well-photographed product, first-page visibility is realistically achievable in weeks rather than months — the single biggest advantage for a new brand.
Approval and onboarding difficulty
Amazon registration is open but increasingly strict on identity and video verification. Walmart is application-based: it reviews your business history, catalog quality and marketplace track record before approving you, so rejections are common without a properly prepared application.
The practical read: Amazon is easier to join and harder to win; Walmart is harder to join and easier to win.
Fees and margins
Both charge category referral fees in a similar range, but Amazon adds a monthly professional plan fee while Walmart charges no monthly subscription. Fulfillment costs are comparable between FBA and WFS, though FBA's network depth still wins on delivery speed in most zip codes.
Run the unit economics per channel before listing. A product that clears 18% net on Amazon can clear more on Walmart purely from lower advertising costs.
Advertising cost and maturity
Amazon Ads is the more mature platform with deeper targeting and reporting — and correspondingly higher CPCs. Walmart Connect is less sophisticated but materially cheaper, which suits sellers testing product-market fit on a small budget.
So which should you start with?
Start with Amazon if you have a differentiated product, budget for 3–6 months of PPC, and want maximum volume. Start with Walmart if you are price-competitive, have solid supplier documentation, and want visibility without an aggressive ad spend.
The strongest long-term position is both. Launch one, get it profitable, then port a proven catalog to the second channel with channel-specific listings rather than a copy-paste export.