Walmart Returns Charges Explained: COGS, Fees, and Deductions

If you've opened a Walmart remittance and found unexpected deductions, charges for items you thought were being returned, handling fees that don't match your contract, or freight billed on liquidated items, you're not alone.

Return charges are among the most misunderstood aspects of the Walmart supplier relationship.

This guide explains how Walmart's return charges work.

How Walmart's Standard Return Policy Works

When a product is returned, it follows one of two paths:

1. Items that are defective, do not meet customer expectations, or cannot be resold at the store level are sent to a Walmart Return Center for processing. From there, Walmart determines the outcome: the item is either liquidated through a third-party channel, donated to charity, or recycled and destroyed. These returns are tracked under Codes 1, 2, 7, and 8.
   

2. Items that are damaged beyond transport, contain broken glass, or are perishable are dispositioned at the store level and never physically shipped back. These result in a virtual claim, deducted directly without the item being returned to the supplier. These are tracked under Code 3.

Here's what surprises most suppliers: you are charged regardless of which path or outcome applies. Even when Walmart recovers value through liquidation or donation, the supplier still gets billed.

How Walmart's Return Code and Charge System Works

Walmart uses a single AP deduction code system that covers both return activity tracking and the charges generated on your remittance. These are not separate systems.

Step 1: The return is identified

When a return is processed, it is assigned a return type code. This is what you see in Retail Link and Supplier One when tracking return activity:

Step 2: The charge is generated

Once a return is processed, the corresponding charge appears on your remittance under one or more of the following codes:

Code 94 and Code 60 are the two charges you will most commonly see together on a return. Code 120 applies only where Walmart Discretion terms are in place, which includes CVP virtual claims.

These charges are defined in Section 6 of your Supplier Agreement, and the handling fee percentage can vary by contract, so always verify your own terms before accepting or disputing a charge.

How Walmart Calculates Return Charges

The standard billing structure is 100% of Cost of Goods (COGS) plus a 10% handling fee.

If your item costs Walmart $100, you are invoiced $110. Destroyed items may carry additional disposal fees under Code 98.

What You Can and Cannot Dispute

Before filing, it is important to understand what is actually disputable. This is where many suppliers lose money, either by disputing things that are not disputable or by not disputing things that are.

Not disputable:

• The fact that you were charged for returns (this is contractual)

• Handling fees charged at the correct percentage per your agreement

• COGS charges at the correct cost

Disputable:

• Handling fees are charged at the wrong percentage relative to your contract.

• Items Walmart liquidated but still billed as RTV

• Freight fees are charged on items that were liquidated

• Items you don't own or sell

• Duplicate charges for the same item

• Cost credits applied at an incorrect percentage

Types of Walmart Returns Disputes

If you have confirmed the charge is disputable, the next step is identifying which type of dispute to file.

If you believe Code 94, Code 60, or Code 120 has been applied incorrectly, the dispute type depends on how your returns are managed under your supplier agreement.

Walmart separates returns disputes into two categories, and the type determines where and how to file.

Dotcom Returns Billing Claims

Dotcom Returns Billing Claims apply to suppliers on RTV terms whose returns flow through Walmart.com.

File this type when Walmart liquidated RTV returns instead of sending them back, charged incorrect handling fees, billed freight on liquidated items, or charged for items the supplier does not sell.

Valid dispute reasons include:

Key filing rules:

• Claims must be submitted within 90 days of the invoice post date

• Claims under $50 will not be reviewed

• Claims must be submitted in monthly batches, not individually

• Cost and pricing disputes must go through the Category Specialist and are not handled here

RTV Pallet Claims

RTV Pallet Claims apply when customer-returned items are physically shipped back to the supplier from a Walmart Return Center on pallets, and there is a discrepancy between what was received and what the manifest shows.

This applies to both owned suppliers and DSVs.

Discrepancies that qualify include shortage, overage, fraud, and concealed fraudulent returns where concealment was involved.

Recognized claim reasons:

Key filing rules:

• Claims must be submitted within 6 months of the claim date

• Claims under $1,000 will not be reviewed. Multiple claims can be combined within the 6-month window to reach this threshold.

• Claims must cover at least 3 months, and all BOLs within the timeframe must be included, even if the disputed amount is $0

• Photo documentation is required for all fraud and carrier claims

• Files must be submitted as .xlsx only

Walmart Returns Dispute Deadlines at a Glance

Missing dispute windows is one of the most common reasons valid Walmart return claims are denied. Suppliers need to monitor deductions regularly, not just at the month's end, to stay within these timeframes.

How to Read Your Returns Invoice and PO Details

The PO number format on returns invoices is not intuitive. Here is how to decode it:

The PO number follows the format: Return Type + Department Number

• 799 = Dotcom, DSV

• 705 = Dotcom, Department 05

• 174 = Store, Department 74

The Return Type field tells you which division the return belongs to:

• 1 = Stores

• 7 = Dotcom

• 13 = Return Centers (facilities 8092, 9153, 9193, 9195, 9196)

Automate Walmart Returns Dispute Management with iNymbus

Managing Walmart returns deductions manually means pulling backup from portals, building claim forms in the correct format, and filing within tight dispute windows. For AR teams handling high deduction volumes, this process is slow, error-prone, and expensive.

iNymbus uses Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate the entire returns dispute workflow. The platform automatically identifies disputable charges, retrieves supporting documentation, builds compliant claim files, and submits disputes directly through Walmart's portals, without manual intervention.

With iNymbus, suppliers can:

• Process disputes faster than manual methods

• Reduce per-claim processing costs

• Clear deduction backlogs in weeks rather than months

• Ensure claims are filed accurately and within Walmart's dispute windows

iNymbus handles the dispute process end-to-end so your AR team can focus on higher-value work. To learn more, book a demo.