Today we
are talking about Amazon Merch, a website similar to Spreadshirt and Teespring were you can
design and sell your own T-Shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts.
There are
also ways to design other promotional products such as coffee mugs, calendars,
and tote bags. However, most of the emphasis is on the wearable items, thus the
T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts.
While you
are welcome to launch your own line of products, big name companies such as
Disney and Universal have also used Merch. Rightfully so, because many
consumers enjoy receiving T-shirts from companies to show their brand loyalty
as well as to chill out, relax and dress casually.
How Is Amazon Merch Different?
What sets
Merch apart from most POD (Print On Demand) T-shirt design companies is that
Merch is actually a design and selling platform created by Amazon
making it so you can sell through Amazon. We will discuss
more of that later on in the article.
Amazon
even offers a complete guideline
for selling using Merch.
You can certainly read it for yourself and decide if you still want to sell
using Merch by Amazon.
How Do You Get Your Designs On Products?
If you
have Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and/or GIMP, you can go ahead and
create your designs and then upload them into Merch. If not, then you can
certainly use the templates provided by Merch to get going faster.
Keep in
mind Merch recommends that you practice uploading your own designs into the
designated templates to be sure that the logo alignment, text color,
background, and other elements will work with their design platform. Their
guidelines and their troubleshooting tools can also help you with that.
How Do You Start Selling On Merch?
Once you
get the hang of designing your own merchandise, you may sell directly from your
own Amazon store as well as link your online store to your own website or blog.
There is no limit to the number of websites and blogs that you can sell your
merchandise on.
Once you
begin selling, Amazon will pay you royalties.
Amazon has
basically broken the selling process down into these steps:
·
Upload
your artwork into Merch.
·
Set
your list price for your merchandise.
·
Allow
Amazon to handle the printing.
·
Sell
your merchandise in your own Amazon store.
·
Ship
out your products with Amazon Prime.
·
Use
online tracking tool for revenue.
Amazon will
take care of the billing, packaging, shipping, refunds, and cancellations for
you. There are no upfront fees. You will be responsible for your own taxes at
the end of the year.
While
Amazon will collect any localized taxes for merchandise for you, you will still
need to claim your royalties as income at the end of the tax year, and
royalties are taxed a little differently.
Money-Making Potential With Merch
You will
be earning between 14 to 30% royalties on your merchandise’s purchase price.
Amazon will be paying you once a month, and you will be one month “behind” in
royalties.
In other
words, your payment for your August royalties will be paid the end of
September, and so on.
Payment is
made via direct deposit.
If you
choose to also sell on Amazon Associates, one of Amazon’s affiliate programs,
you can also earn an additional 7% on each item.
Pricing Your Items On Merch
When
pricing your items, you have to be careful. There is the list price and the
purchase price. Your royalties will come from the purchase price, which is set
by Amazon. You will be setting your list price of how much you think someone
will pay for the T-shirt.
While the
list price doesn’t have to be the lowest possible price, it needs to be low
enough for Amazon to determine the purchase price, which will be between $3 to
$10 more. In other words, this will be their markup price.
Keep in
mind that Amazon is supplying the materials, printing, supplies, shipping, and
handing.
If you
want to raise your prices, you will have to do it from the list price, which
you control. So, you will need to do a little research to see what other
vendors are charging once the markup is added.
Is setting up your store free?
Yes and
no. As mentioned earlier, there are no upfront fees to get started. But, Amazon
does have its markup.
The good
news again is that you will be earning royalties from the purchase price, which
is higher than the list price.
Unfortunately,
Amazon only ships to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, so
that may limit you a bit with sales.
Do you have to be an artist to create the
logos and designs?
While it
was previously mentioned that you can use Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
and/or GIMP, you can use the templates already provided by Merch.
If you
really are insistent on having your own unique designs without the artistic
ability to design it yourself, you may turn to Fiverr or Upwork and find a freelancer
there willing to help you out.
There are
also cartoonists as well as humorists and writers there.
How can you be sure your stuff will sell?
You really
can’t predict what will sell and what will not. The best you can do is use the
online tracking tools provided to evaluate your sales and revenue.
If a
design does not sell within 180 days from its initial launch, then it will be
removed from your account. You will then need to focus more strategically on
which of your designs are selling.
Can you sell on Merch if you are not a US
resident?
You don’t
have to be a US resident to sell on Merch, but you will need to request an
invitation to sell. Signups for Merch are done on an invitation only request,
as of now. It could take up to three weeks to get your invitation to sell.
Why is
this? According to Merch by Amazon, this is due to an overwhelming response
from vendors and a way to streamline reputable vendors.
Want to get started making money with
Merch?
Go on
their website and
click the Request invitation button. Wait approximately
three weeks and in the interim, start thinking about your designs or recruiting
those who can do the designs! Read the guidelines for selling.
Best of
luck to those who pursue this.
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