Merch by Amazon: How It Can Help You Make Money Online [2021]
Merch by Amazon is probably the easiest and most risk-averse way to make money with Amazon. Seriously. Amazon has made print-on-demand T-shirts easier and cheaper than ever.
In this post, you’ll discover how you can reach millions of customers all over the globe with no upfront costs selling your designs as Amazon products.
CHAPTER I What Is Merch By Amazon?
Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand service that allows designers to list and sell their artworks on Amazon without any upfront investments. All you have to do is to submit your design, choose colors, and set a price. Amazon will do the rest.
No inventory carrying costs. No manufacturing investments. You don’t even have to request an invitation to get started — the service is available for everyone who is willing to sell on Amazon.
CHAPTER II Quick Introduction to the History of Merch by Amazon
This Amazon’s on-demand printing program isn’t a new thing — Amazon released it back in 2015.
It was originally designed as a platform for video game developers. They’d offer T-shirts with their logo to fans while playing games. The platform has expanded beyond developers, and everyone can now join Amazon’s community of content creators.
CHAPTER III Signing Up For Merch by Amazon
Every Merch by Amazon account is separate from Seller Central. To sign up for a Merch by Amazon account, you have to provide the following information:
- Business contact information
- Bank account and routing numbers
- Social Security number or other tax identification number
Upon filling out the basic information about your business, you’ll have to provide payment and tax information to successfully be able to withdraw the earnings from your Merch account.
The worst thing about March by Amazon is that you will have to wait somewhere between three weeks and three months to get started.
CHAPTER IV How Does Merch by Amazon Work?
Once your request has been accepted, you can upload your designs like so:
1. Upload your original artwork into the system as a PNG file
The PNG file dimensions need to be 15 x 18 inches at 300 dpi (dots per inch) with RGB colors and no greater than 25MB in size. To begin with, you can upload as many as 25 graphic designs.
Once you sell your first 25 items, you’ll be upgraded to Tier 2 that will open up an opportunity to upload up to 100 designs.
View artwork guidelines and make sure your designs adhere to Amazon’s content policies.
Need Help Creating Designs?
If you don’t possess the skills to design artwork, Fiverr is a great place to find a designer. Before doing this, make sure those design-related fees are factored into your budget before hiring a freelancer.
2. Choose what colors you want to print as well as the product type
As of now, several types of products are available for sale including:
- Standard & long-sleeve T-Shirts
- Pullover & zip hoodies
- Sweatshirt, tank top, V-neck & reglan T-shirts
- PopSockets grips
- Phone cases
- Tote bags
- 16 X 18 inch throw pillows.
3. Write a simple, descriptive title
Add a description for added keyword density.
When all is set, Amazon will create a product listing to let your potential customers buy your products. Got your first order? Amazon will print it, pack it, and ship it so you can sit back and relax.
4. Set a price
This is important because Amazon takes a fixed commission fee from each product printed. The fee includes materials, manufacturing, fulfillment, customer service, returns, exchanges, and fraud prevention measures.
5. Promote your products
Amazon advertising has recently become available for select Merch by Amazon accounts in US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. You have to receive an email invitation, though, to start driving traffic to your Merch product page through sponsored ads.
Note:
You will need to create a new Amazon account with a different email address to successfully register for Amazon Advertising.
Amazon Associates is another great way to promote your merch products. It’s free to join and it will bring you an additional 7% for each purchase.
CHAPTER V Benefits of Merch by Amazon
What makes Merch by Amazon the best option for on-demand printing is the access to the Prime shopper base. Once your product is live, it will appear in search results. Amazon will print, package, and ship the item with Prime benefits to members.
To start a merch company would typically cost you thousands of dollars in overhead. Merch by Amazon saves you the headache and hassle so you can focus on business development and promotion.
You don’t have to worry about inventory, shipping, customer service or returns, which makes Merch by Amazon a great opportunity for passive income.
CHAPTER VI Tips On Getting Started
- Check your titles as well as your product descriptions for typos.
- Make sure that the content you create aligns with Amazon’s guidelines.
- When writing descriptions for the products you sell, try to avoid any misleading information. For example, a ‘glow-in-the dark’ T-shirt should literally glow in the dark.
- Avoid designs related to sensitive events like disasters or shootings.
- Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or any other design software. Doing so will save you time and avoid hiring a designer.
- Tap into Amazon’s sponsored ads as well as Facebook and Google ads to drive traffic to your listings. Figure out what your profit margins are and don’t spend more than that.
- Get creative and market your designs on social media. This should bring additional traffic to the T-shirts you designed.
CHAPTER VII Is Merch by Amazon The Best Money-Making Option?
With a great number of business models available on Amazon, you have to clearly distinguish the pros and cons of each of the models.
- Should you sell on Amazon Seller Central or Brands by Amazon?
- Would you prefer to sell a private label on Amazon FBA or use Merch by Amazon?
- Would Retail Arbitrage be a better alternative?
Since all of them are similar concepts, I’d like to touch upon the difference between the three of them.
| Retail Arbitrage | Amazon FBA | Merch by Amazon |
| Retail arbitrage is about buying products directly from a retail store or market at a discount and reselling them for a profit. You have to be responsible for the inventory sourcing, label printing, shipping, customer service, and all the rest. | With Amazon FBA, you have more time for yourself as Amazon takes care of customer service and shipping, but you still have to source or manufacture your products. All the services are available for a fee. | Merch by Amazon takes the burden of shipping, manufacturing, and selling off your shoulders. All you have to do is to upload your design. That’s it. You may need to promote your products a bit, but it’s the easiest part compared to the amount of work you have to do with both retail arbitrage and fulfillment by Amazon. |
FAQs:
Simple. Merch by Amazon members are paid based off of artwork royalties for each product printed. US residents get paid monthly via electronic funds transfer (EFT) when their balance is more than $0.00. The payment is transferred 30 days after the end of the calendar month in which the product was sold.
The royalty is based on your product’s purchase price excluding tax and Amazon’s costs. For example, for a standard T-shirt sold at $25.99, you would make a royalty of $9.77 per shirt. Not too bad considering it only cost you the time to create the artwork for the shirt. Check out this resource to find out more on how the royalties are calculated, including those for the European and Japanese marketplaces.
Prime members get products shipped for free. The other shoppers will be able to purchase ground shipping or pay more for faster shipping.
Merch products bought on Amazon.com will be shipped within the United States. The same goes for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan marketplaces.
Yes. Currently Amazon is offering a multi-product creation beta allowing you to create multiple products with a single submission.
Use services like Seller Labs PRO to find the keywords that fit your target audience. Note that keyword stuffing is not allowed.
These are two different services, to be honest. With Merch by Amazon, you upload your design and Amazon takes care of the rest, including customer service, shipping, you name it. When the product is sold, you get royalties as a bonus. Printful is a print-on-demand service that will just print your design on various merchandise and ship the products your way. Then, you’ll have to find buyers for your products yourself.
Port and Company and Bella + Canvas are Amazon’s T-shirt manufacturers.
You can use multiple accounts (and even the same WiFi!) but they should belong to different people and be on different PC or mobile. This way you can secure your account from suspension.
It’s impossible. Merch by Amazon is more of a side hobby rather than a serious business. Considering that the highest royalty for a standard T-Shirt is a little more than $9, you’ll have to sell around 10,000 T-shirts to earn $100,000 a year, which is next to impossible.
There are many reasons. You may want to improve product descriptions or run a promotion campaign to get more eyeballs on your products.
You don’t have to be an amazing graphic designer to sell things on Amazon. You would be surprised but many of the best-selling designs are text-based.
To Sum Up
Merch by Amazon is a great way to start selling on Amazon. All you have to do is to upload your design and wait for the royalty fee to arrive to your bank account. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to bother with customer support, shipping, and all the rest.
But is Merch by Amazon your only viable option as a seller? It’s not. This is a platform for designers and content creators, not for those looking to sell products. Is it a good side hustle idea to make an extra $1,000 a month? I would say ‘yes’. It’s not a “get rich quick tactic” but it could be a great source of passive income.