Why Is Walmart Charging Me For Pickup

While introducing fees might seem inconvenient, it’s important to remember that Walmart still provides affordability and convenience to customers through its pickup service.

In most cases, Walmart charges you for pickup if you do not meet their $35 minimum threshold for free pickup.

Walmart introduced a fee for pickup on certain orders as the service’s popularity grows. The exact charge can vary depending on the items you are picking up and the store you are picking them up from, but it’s usually $6.99 per order.

Although Walmart introduced a fee for some pickup orders, they continue to offer free pickup options for certain items and promotions with or without that $35 order minimum. To take advantage of this, watch walmart.com for any deals or discounts that offer free pickup.

Extra Charges and Fees

As a customer, you might wonder why Walmart charges you extra fees for their pickup service. Here are a few common reasons, including handling fees, item substitutions, and more.

Substitution Charges

If you’re utilizing Walmart’s grocery curbside pickup service, extra charges may occur due to substitutions. These can arise when an item you ordered is out of stock and replaced with an alternative product, usually of a higher value.

Although it might be more expensive, Walmart tries to ensure the replacement item is as close to the original as possible. However, rest assured that you’ll only be charged for the item you receive.

When choosing a substitute for your order, Walmart does its best to consider product quality, size, and type. This means that you are charged more for the substituted items, even though your original order might have cost less.

You can always opt out of those substitutions if you want to avoid paying more for something; I do it all the time. In most cases, the person packing your order will try to keep items of similar quality and price. In my experience, most of the substitutions actually lower the costs of my bill, not increase it.

If you experience a price increase here, you can always keep tabs on it within the Walmart App to know what you’re about to pay for.

Handling Fees

As I mentioned, when using Walmart’s curbside pickup for orders under $35, a $6.99 service fee will be included. This fee covers the cost of employees preparing and handling your order, making it a necessary expense for smaller orders.

This price seems pretty steep as a customer, but thankfully you can avoid it by adding an extra item or two to your order. Simply place a larger order that meets or exceeds the $35 threshold.

Additionally, your state may have specific bag fees that contribute to the overall cost of your pickup order. However, these fees are not unique to Walmart and apply to other retailers as well.

Alternatives To Walmart Pickup

While avoiding extra pickup charges is easy, I understand that some don’t want to pay that minimum of $35 at all.

So, here are a few alternatives I can suggest to Walmart Pickup that may make more sense for your situation.

Use Walmarts Delivery Services

If you’re shopping for groceries, you can opt to have your items delivered. It’s easy to avoid any fees here if you’re a Walmart Plus member. In this case, your order doesn’t matter how small or large.

Shop In-Store

In general, the pickup option is only worth it if you’re going to be spending a good bit of money. If not, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to use it.

If you’ve got the time, I recommend shopping in the store on your own, especially if you were not already going to meet that $35 threshold. Chances are the items you need will be few, and you can locate all of them ahead of time by pulling up the Walmart App and searching the aisles there.