How can I request a UPC exemption from Walmart?

Written by

Sabrina Barnes

UPC (or universal product code) is a type of barcode used in retail and e-commerce to identify a particular product or product variant.

While most products will have a UPC, it won’t apply to your Printify products, because they are printed on demand. You will need to request UPC exemption from Walmart to publish Printify products to Walmart.

Note

We recommend connecting your Printify store to Walmart before requesting the UPC/Lag Time exemptions, so that Walmart can see Printify as your Solution Provider and you can reference us as your POD provider. Please note that exemptions can take several business days to be processed.

Step 1: Access the exemption request form on Walmart

Click here and select “Items and Inventory” → “Request exemption” → “UPC exemptions”.

You will be directed to a help article. Select “No” under “Did this solve your issue?” to contact Walmart support about the exemption.

Next, select the chat or email option.

Step 2: Answer the questions in the exemption request form

As a part of the exemption request procedure, the Walmart team may ask you one or more of the following questions. You can copy and paste these answers.

Reason for requesting the exemption.
All products designed with Printify are custom and unique and hence do not contain any global product identifiers (GTIN, UPC, EAN or JAN).
Are you a brand/manufacturer, retailer/reseller, or both of the items without UPCs?
Both.
Which brand(s) will require UPC exemptions?
Please fill in the name(s) of your brand.
Do you expect to have UPCs/GTINs for these items in the future?
No.
What percentage of your catalog do these SKUs represent?
100% of all Printify products.
What percentage of your total sales on Walmart Marketplace do these SKUs account for?100% of all Printify products.
Please send links for your website(s) and 5-10 items (per subcategory) that you are proposing to list without UPCs.
If you don’t have any links to provide, you can add links to products from the Printify Catalog. Please note that only publicly accessible links should be provided (links to products in your Printify account can’t be accessed by others).
Where do the SKUs ship from?
From the United States.
If we reject your exemption, how will it impact your business on Walmart Marketplace?
I/We will not be able to sell any Print on Demand products fulfilled by Printify on Walmart.
If granted, what is the expected annual sales on Walmart that will be generated by the items with the UPC exemptions?
It is expected to be USD 50,000 or more.

Step 3: Select the product categories that apply to your products

We recommend starting with your most important/top seller categories and applying for 1-2 categories per case (but no more than 4), to make sure they’re processed by Walmart as quickly as possible.

Note

Keep in mind that you need both UPC exemption and Lag Time exemption for the same product categories. If you attempt to publish a product belonging to a category that does not have a UPC exemption yet, publishing will fail.

These are the categories that are applicable to Printify products:

- Animal accessories (Animal)
- Baby diapering, care & other (Baby)
- Baby toys (baby)
- Carriers & accessories (carriers & accessories)
- Cases & bags (carriers & accessories)
- Clothing (clothing)
- Electronics accessories (Electronics)
- Footwear (Footwear)
- Health & beauty (Health & Beauty)
- Bedding (Home)
- Home decor, kitchen, & other (Home)
- Jewelry (jewelry)
- Gift supply & awards (Occasion & Seasonal)
- Office (office)
- Puzzles (toys)
- Vehicle parts & accessories (vehicle)

Once done, submit the exemption request form.

Can I use my own product IDs when publishing products to Walmart?

Our current integration requires a UPC exemption for publishing products to Walmart, which means using your own product IDs isn’t possible. If you’d like Printify to support this capability in the future, please reach out to let us know.

References:

* https://sellerhelp.walmart.com/s/guide?article=000007879