Walmart Waives Peak Season Storage Fees for 2025—Giving Sellers a Holiday Edge

Retail giant eases Q4 pressure with automatic storage fee discounts across its fulfillment network
In a move poised to reshape how third-party sellers approach holiday logistics, Walmart has announced a strategic cost relief for merchants leveraging Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) and Multichannel Solutions (MCS) this Q4. From October 1 through December 31, 2025, Walmart is waiving its peak season storage fees, effectively halving the cost of storing inventory during the most critical retail period of the year.

Under normal circumstances, sellers would be charged a peak season storage fee of $1.50 per cubic foot per month for any inventory stored longer than 30 days. But with this temporary waiver in place, sellers will instead pay the standard off-peak rate of $0.75 per cubic foot, enabling significant cost savings just as order volumes spike.

“This is a smart, seller-first move that reinforces Walmart’s positioning as a partner—not just a platform—during the year’s most demanding retail cycle. By reducing logistical friction and giving sellers room to breathe, Walmart is effectively helping brands focus on what matters most this holiday season: sales velocity, operational readiness, and customer experience,” cited Utkarsh Sachan, Partnerships Manager, CedCommerce.

What This Means for Sellers 

Walmart’s Q4 fee relief could have major implications for seller planning and operational flexibility:

• Inventory Optimization Without the Penalty: The waived fees allow sellers to stock up early and mitigate potential stockouts without the usual cost burden of long-staying inventory during Q4.
• Increased Margins During the Peak: With storage costs slashed by 50%, sellers stand to preserve more of their holiday profits, especially on slower-moving SKUs or larger items.
• Cross-Channel Advantage via MCS: Since the fee waiver applies to both WFS and MCS, sellers using Walmart’s multichannel logistics infrastructure (including DTC orders outside Walmart.com) will also benefit.

Key Details at a Glance

Notably, this discount is automatically applied—sellers won’t need to opt in or file requests. However, it’s important to remember that long-term storage fees still apply, so overstocking with no sales velocity strategy could still incur penalties beyond the promotional window.

Why This Matters 

As inflationary pressure continues to shape consumer behavior and margin sensitivity remains high across the eCommerce landscape, Walmart’s move signals a deliberate effort to support marketplace resilience and seller profitability during peak trading.

Moreover, it strengthens Walmart’s fulfillment ecosystem at a time when sellers are weighing the costs of alternative solutions like Amazon FBA and third-party logistics partners. For many brands, the waived fees could be the tipping point in adopting, or expanding into, WFS and MCS.

For sellers not yet on Walmart Fulfillment Services, the message is clear: now is the time to onboard.
With WFS offering end-to-end logistics, 2-day delivery eligibility, and Walmart-backed customer service, the waived fees sweeten the proposition just in time for the high-volume season.

Meanwhile, MCS—Walmart’s lesser-known but powerful multichannel fulfillment arm—makes it possible to tap the same fulfillment benefits across non-Walmart channels, including DTC websites and other marketplaces.

Walmart’s 2025 holiday fee waiver isn’t just a seasonal perk—it’s a strategic lever designed to attract and enable sellers, reinforce platform loyalty, and reduce operational strain at a time when every dollar and delivery window counts.

With the Q4 clock ticking, this is one opportunity sellers would do well to act on early, before the carts start filling and the warehouses get tight.