What is Merch by Amazon? | Why It’s so Popular
Merch By Amazon – The First Step in Amazon’s On-Demand Product Offerings?
Merch by Amazon is one of the newest platforms offered on Amazon. Before we get into it, let’s first review what Merch means.
What is Merch by Amazon?
Merch by Amazon allows anyone to upload a design printed and sold on Amazon. The person who uploaded the design receives royalties.
Royalties are based on the price of a shirt, what type it is (currently, there are two variations), and if the design only appears on one side or both.
A $19.99 shirt will earn a designer $7.68 for example because designers get paid once every month. Click To Tweet
While many people are familiar with the Amazon Merch program, it’s called “Merchandise by Amazon” and not just “Shirts.” There are currently only t-shirts available for sale on this platform but expect to see many other clothing items down the line. This means that there will be more options coming soon.
When Amazon opened up Merch By Amazon to the public in September of 2015, it became a popular way for game developers to monetize their games by selling branded merchandise. Before that time, this service was only available on an invite-only basis.
There are still promotional and ad options available for game developers using the Amazon Appstore, but in general, it has shifted to what is commonly called ‘novelty’ designs. This means that anyone with an idea can upload their design to be printed by Amazon. It’s become so popular that they had no choice but to go invite-only, limiting new designers from uploading too many products at once while waiting on approval which could take 2-3 weeks or more depending on demand before being allowed access into Merch By Amazon platform. If you want a waitlist account sign up now because if not, there will be lengthy delays of months rather than days weeks – Go back to merch.amazon.com. “This sounds like a great opportunity,” you might think, “but I’m not good enough with Photoshop.”
If you are looking for a designer, I have good news! There is an abundance of designers who can help make your merch. You could look on Facebook and Twitter or contract hire websites such as UpWork and Fiverr to find the perfect match. Merch Life has over 6,000 members with many professional graphic designers ready to design something that suits your needs. All you need to do is tell them what product category it will be in (T-shirt), how big it should be (~4×5 ft.), which colors would work best, what DPI setting they want (.300), etc., so they know precisely where their design belongs once uploaded.
Amazon has the ability to make and ship your shirts without you having to do anything. Click To Tweet
You can use their links or Facebook, Twitter, Instagram posts for promotion.
- They are also making the books available for sale on Amazon.com and they will be Prime eligible.
- They will ship them.
- They will take care of customer service and returns
The future is looking bright, with more opportunities coming soon. When you first sign up for Amazon’s Merch By Amazon program, they will let you design Amazon merch and your t-shirts and offer to fulfill orders. They want designers’ designs so that customers can have a more excellent selection of products on the site and are willing to pay royalties for this privilege.