Walmart Just Added a New Membership Fee: Here’s Who Has to Pay It
Walmart has introduced a new $120 annual membership, but there is an important catch to that headline: you do not have to pay it just because you shop at Walmart. The new offer is an optional combination of Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, letting customers hold both memberships under one annual plan.
The offer launched October 20, and the price comparison is aimed at shoppers who want access to both services. Customers who only want Walmart+ or only want a standalone Sam’s Club membership can still keep those options.
What the $120 membership includes
The new combined membership brings Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus together for $120 a year. Walmart says the two memberships would cost $218 annually if purchased separately at their standard annual prices, making the combined membership $98 less on the membership fees themselves.
That does not mean shoppers are automatically saving $98 on groceries, fuel, or other purchases. It is simply the difference between the two membership prices.
One more detail to know before doing the math. Walmart describes the $120 price as equivalent to $10 a month, but it bills the combined membership annually and doesn’t offer a monthly payment option.
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Who actually pays the extra money?
The answer depends on which membership you already have.
New customers: Someone starting with the combined membership pays $120 annually.
Annual Walmart+ members: Existing annual Walmart+ customers can add Sam’s Club Plus for an additional $22 per year.
Basic Sam’s Club members: Members with the standard Sam’s Club membership can upgrade to Plus for an additional $60 annually and receive Walmart+ as part of the upgrade.
Sam’s Club Plus members: Existing Plus members can activate Walmart+ without paying another membership fee.
Customers already paying for both: These customers can link their accounts, and Walmart says most will be eligible for a prorated Walmart+ refund.
Shoppers who want only one service: Standalone memberships remain available, so there is no requirement to move to the combined plan.
That makes the $120 price much less complicated once you know where you currently stand. For some shoppers, it is a new membership choice. For others, adding the second service can be considerably cheaper.
Existing members need to link their accounts
Customers who already have one of the memberships may need to take action rather than simply waiting for the benefits to appear.
Walmart directs customers to join, upgrade, or link memberships through its apps or combined-membership options. For example, existing Sam’s Club Plus members should not assume Walmart+ is automatically activated without linking their accounts.
For customers who already pay for both services, Walmart says most are eligible for a prorated Walmart+ refund after linking. The exact refund depends on the individual membership situation.
The delivery benefits still have rules
The combined membership doesn’t mean every delivery order suddenly comes without conditions.
Walmart lists a $35 minimum for its scheduled Walmart delivery benefit. Sam’s Club Plus delivery has a $50 pretax minimum for eligible orders, while an $8 Sam’s Club delivery fee applies to orders below that threshold, subject to the applicable terms.
Location, service area, and product restrictions can also apply. So the membership can combine two sets of benefits, but shoppers still need to pay attention to the rules attached to individual services.
You also get a choice of streaming benefit
The combined membership includes a choice between Peacock Premium and Paramount+ Essential. Both are ad-supported, and members receive one or the other, not both at the same time.
There is some flexibility, though. Members can switch their selection once every 90 days, and additional registration is required.
Sam’s Club Plus members can also earn 2% Sam’s Cash on qualifying purchases, subject to exclusions and a $750 maximum per membership year. That is not the same as receiving 2% back on every purchase, so the qualifying-purchase rules matter.
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So who should pay the $120?
The biggest difference comes down to whether you already use both services.
For someone who wants Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, the combined membership creates a single $120 annual option instead of purchasing the two standard annual memberships separately. An annual Walmart+ member has another calculation, since adding Sam’s Club Plus costs an additional $22 per year under the announced offer.
A Sam’s Club Plus member has a different situation again because Walmart says Walmart+ can be activated without another membership charge.
And if you only shop at Walmart and have no interest in Sam’s Club Plus, the new offer does not change anything about your need for a standalone membership.
This is not a new Walmart shopping fee
The most important thing for ordinary Walmart shoppers is that the $120 is not a compulsory fee attached to Walmart shopping.
It applies to customers who choose the combined Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus membership. Existing Sam’s Club Plus members can activate Walmart+ without another membership charge, while customers can continue using standalone membership options.
In other words, the new price matters most when you are deciding whether to combine the two services. If you are happy with your existing standalone membership, there is no requirement to move to the new plan.
For shoppers who already use both Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, however, the new membership could change how they calculate their annual membership costs.
