Merch by Amazon provides a great way to earn passive income. It’s an on-demand T-shirt printing platform which allows you to offer POD services without the need to mass-produce, or ship T-shirt.
It’s no surprise that a large number of people are joining the platform and earning extra money on it. If you are interested in earning on Merch by Amazon, then keep reading as I walk you through the process.
How it Works
Merch is similar to Amazon FBA. As a seller, you only need to create and upload various designs, set the colors and prices. Amazon handles every other thing, from printing to delivering designs purchased. Basically you are outsourcing everything except the creation of the design. You can, however, drive clients to your designs to improve sales. This is best if you do not like to have direct contact with the clients.
Getting started
Below are the processes to get started on Merch
1. Request an invitation
2. Research on shirt design
3. Choose a niche and build a portfolio
4. Create beautiful designs or get someone to do it for you.
5. Perform keyword research
6. Upload your products
Request an invitation
The Merch by Amazon approval process takes within a few days to a month. So it’s best to apply as immediately. To register, head over to Merch by Amazon, and click on the “Request Invitation” button. You will need to sign in to your Amazon account or create a new account. Read through and click “Agree” on the terms and conditions.
Then fill-out the page carefully, providing all the required details.
To improve your chances of getting approved, include your website and portfolio on Redbubble. You can create an account on Redbubble and upload some designs before starting the Amazon Merch application process.
Also, write out a good message showing your experience, and how excited you are about working on Merch.
Upon approval, Amazon will send you a confirmation email. You will be required to provide some necessary information before you can start uploading designs.
There is no upfront cost for listing your designs once you are approved.
Please note that your application can be denied and you cannot apply anymore. But I will tell you a secret, if this happens, I recommend you to try again after a few weeks with a different e-mail and from a different IP. It feels like it’s not only about the quality of your application, it’s about luck too.
Creating Your First T-Shirt Design
You need a basic knowledge of any graphic design software to create incredible designs. There are various tools you can use from Photoshop to Pixel and CorelDraw. It’s essential to check out Amazon Merch’s best practices to ensure your designs are created accordingly.
There are endless possibilities to earn money with Merch by Amazon, so don’t be discouraged if your first t-shirt design is not extraordinary. Also sometimes a shirt with smart text will sell better than a really artistic graphic.
If you can’t design, there’s the option of hiring a freelancer to create eye-catching designs for you. Alternatively, you can buy already made designs from companies like MerchReadyDesigns or hire an artist from Fiverr.
Uploading your T-shirt Designs
After getting amazing designs, then its time to upload them on Amazon Merch. The number of shirts you are able to upload is dependent on the tier you are on. The higher your tier, the more designs you will be able to upload. For instance, if you are in Tier 10, you can only upload ten shirts, Tier 25 – 25 shirts, Tier 100 – 100 shirts, and so on.
You need to make sales to get up the tiers. New creators start from tier one and after ten sales move up to tier 25. You will also move up to tier 100 after selling 25 shirts.
Amazon Merch Earning
Creators earn royalties for every of their design that’s sold. The royalty you receive is dependent on the purchase price. Here are the price and royalty range for the US.
Purchase price/ Royalties
- $15.99 – $2.21
- $17.99- $3.72
- $19.99 – $5.23
- $21.99 – $6.74
- $23.99 – $8.25
- $25.99 – $9.77
Types of T-shirt Designs
There are three basic T-shirt design types including;
Holidays: You can create designs targeted for the holidays. There’s always a spike in sales during the holiday season from Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Year. People look to buy gifts for themselves and their loved ones. Holiday designs, however, sell periodically.
Trends: these are designs created based on specific trends. For instance, a design for a trending slang or popular personality. These designs are perfect for making money on the shot run. It, however, fizzles out very quickly when the trend dies down.
Evergreen: Unlike holidays and trends, evergreen designs guarantee a steady flow of sales for years. You may not experience an instant boom, but sales will keep coming.
How To Choose a niche
There’s a wide variety of niches to choose from in order to earn money with Merch by Amazon. You can decide to either focus on multiple niches or produce more specialized designs. Narrowing down, however, has proven profitable, especially when starting out. Focusing on a less crowded niche increases your conversion rate. After having good designs for a niche, you can then diversify.
How to do Product/Keyword Research
Product research is a critical factor for success with Merch. It’s not ideal to create any random design that comes to mind. While you shouldn’t just discard such ideas, its best to search the conversion rate for that niche and how saturated it is.
The keyword tool for Amazon allows you research design ideas to know if they would sell. For instance, if you intend to create a design for Rastafarians, you have first to research to see the number of people buying on that niche. To carry out research, type in the keyword you are seeking to target. For instance, “Rastafarians T-shirts.”
Scroll down, looking out for similar designs, font types, color usage, and others. Check the best seller in the niche, and read reviews. Study similar designs and check for copyright infringement.
You can find creative design ideas on mugs, memes, Pinterest, Instagram, websites, etc.
Merch by Amazon Alternatives
If you are having a hard time getting approved for Merch, then you can try these Merch by Amazon Alternatives.
Teespring: It allows you to create a variety of T-shirts designs and sell on the platform. You will be able to upload designs, add elements like text and pictures. TeeSpring will then produce and ship the T-shirts when anyone orders your design.
CafePress: Cafepress allows you to create designs and sell them on your own Cafepress online store. It’s a great place to earn, especially if you are a beginner.
Printful: Printful allows you to create stores on platforms like Shopify. When you get an order in your store, Printful will handle the production and shipping to customers.
Threadless: Threadless is quite different from Merch. It conducts challenges for designers to create and submit their work. Every design is now put up and voted for by customers. The winning designs get printed and sold. It also allows creators to have their own stores to sell their designs.
CustomInk: CustomInk is ideal for beginners, especially those with no graphic design experience. The platform allows you to create basic designs using various elements. You can then market your product to customers.
Conclusively, this provides a fantastic way to earn passive income. A lot of creators are earning huge on the platform, and you can follow the steps above to get started and earn money with Merch by Amazon.
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