How To Make and Sell Merch Your Fans Will adore (2024)

You’ve launched your brand. You’ve developed a faithful fanbase. Now, you desire to make and sell merchandise. But how do you do it?

Custom merch like t-shirts, plush toys, phone cases, socks, and sweatshirts can turn customers into brand ambassadors while creating a recent profits stream for your business. This is an industry that has grown significantly over the last decade.

Ahead, discover the why and how of making and selling merch. With insights and advice from Zack Honarvar, cofounder of Fan of a Fan, discover how to receive your fan engagement to the next level through the power of merchandise.

Why do people buy merch?

When done correct, merch helps fans feel connected to what your brand embodies and to others in your throng.

It can make opportunities to:

• Identify and construct more meaningful relationships with your factual fans 
• Delight (and develop) your spectators with free giveaways
• associate with other creators and brands for product drops
• inspire fans to post content featuring your own merch
• Generate free word-of-mouth advertising 

For example, fans of Yes hypothesis have shared stories about wearing merch from the creators’ sub-brand, Seek Discomfort, under their suit on their first day at a recent job. Others have even worn it for the birth of their first kid, because of the optimism and personal growth the brand represents.

“One of our fans wrote to us about how their flight got canceled and the next flight was hours away,” says Zack. “They saw someone at the gate wearing a Seek Discomfort hoodie. While stranded at the airport, the two strangers ended up becoming excellent friends, strictly over the truth that they were mutual fans of the channel.”

While diehard fans might get their wallets out for a t-shirt featuring your logo, Zack says the most meaningful merch has the potential to transcend your fanbase and reach recent audiences. Whether you’re making merch for your TikTok channel or your Twitch followers, there is undoubtedly large possibilities with branded merch.

Coming up with a merch schedule

Merch is as versatile as you desire it to be. It can be a source of sustained profits through your own store, the catalyst for a collaboration with another brand, or simply free swag you propose to faithful customers.

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make with your merch schedule is whether to sell under your existing brand or launch it under a sub-brand (like Yes hypothesis’s Seek Discomfort).

Selling merch under a sub-brand

A sub-brand typically features the parent brand’s attributes (color palette, messaging, and imagery), but usually has its own logo, products, and services.

“The advantage of this way is that it can develop an spectators beyond your existing customer base,” says Zack. A sub-brand may also facilitate collaboration or co-branding.

For example, Seek Discomfort pursued collaborations with brands including Bose, Lululemon, and Timbuk2 backpacks—opportunities Zack thinks they may have missed had the brand been portrayed as “Yes hypothesis merch.”

Selling merch under your existing brand

In the case of Atticus the poet, it made sense to debt the name he made as a writer with an ecommerce website where fans can discover his books, t-shirts, hats, jewelry, and own brand of wine.

“Atticus has a clothing line that’s a little bit more merch-based,” says Zack says. “But then he also has a line that he sells in-store and online called Lost Poet Wine. And that’s something outside of his ‘Atticus’ brand.”

Atticus also sells merch directly on Facebook and Instagram via his Shopify store. 

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A post shared by ATTICUS (@atticuspoetry)

Whatever way you decide to receive, making great merch ultimately comes down to trusting your gut.

“make a product you’re proud of, that you desire to stand behind, and that you also desire to use or wear,” adds Zack.

How to make merch in 4 steps

Creating merch can be as straightforward as putting your signature logo on a t-shirt or hat. But there’s a straightforward procedure to produce fresh merch concepts that resonate with your fans and even recent audiences:

1. Define your brand identity
2. Brainstorm and validate product ideas with your spectators
3. Design and mock up your products
4. Choose a print on demand associate or discover a manufacturer

1. Define your brand identity

Let’s use Shopify as an example to display you how to leave from concept to prototype.

Shopify is a platform that powers the businesses of millions of entrepreneurs, providing the tools they require to commence and develop their own ecommerce corporation.

Shopify’s brand is about independence, resilience, innovation, and, of course, getting down to business. 

ponder about what your brand identity and what makes it distinctive. This will assist you narrow down the aesthetic and even the type of merch you might desire to make. Use that as a starting place for the merch-making procedure.

2. Brainstorm and validate product ideas with your spectators

Over the years, you’ve established a brand that resonates with your customers. Why not inquire them what type of merch they’d desire to buy?

“We always recommend that the creator or the brand inquire their spectators what they desire, or even let them decide between several options. You can inquire through Instagram Stories or email or communities, or even texting. ‘Would you prefer a hat, a board game, a t-shirt, or a hoodie?’” says Zack.

Polling your spectators for feedback has the added advantage of making them feel like they’re a part of the procedure and the products you eventually make.

So, we did this with our own spectators on X (formerly known as Twitter) to view what they’d desire to view in potential Shopify merch.

Based on the feedback we received, we prototyped the following merch ideas:

• Shopify bag logo t-shirt/crewneck/hoodie. The Shopify bag is our iconic logomark and an obvious design to serve up for fans.
• Minding My Business dad hat. A cheeky play on words about how entrepreneurs are often heads down working on their own businesses. Putting this slogan on a hat seemed to fit.
• Cha-ching hoodie. “Cha-ching” is the sound Shopify makes when you get a recent sale. What would that look like as a design on a hoodie?
• Independent crewneck. Independence defines many of the people who use Shopify to power their business. It’s a powerful word that connects with our brand.
• Shop tiny, ponder large tote bag. The perfect tote bag to receive with you while you’re shopping at the independent businesses in your throng.
• “inquire Me About My Business” t-shirt. A straightforward way for independent business owners to distribute their identity with others.
• Shoppy hoodie. Shoppy is the unofficial Shopify mascot, created during a corporation hacking occurrence many years ago.

3. Design and mock up your products

While most merch companies propose design services, Zack recommends trying to own as much of the design procedure as feasible.

“You’re probably better off sourcing your own designs, because you’ll comprehend your brand far better than someone who is just learning about your brand for the first period,” he says.

You can hire a merch designer on Upwork or tap your network for a designer, but keep the following tips in mind:

• Provide context. inform them what kinds of merch you’ve selected and who your spectators is, and distribute any brand guidelines you have.
• Clearly explain what you desire. Over-communicate what you’re looking for and be sure to provide concrete feedback during design reviews (you should get at least one or two review cycles).
• make a mood board. Curate encouragement, examples, and references to assist the designer recognize where to commence.

Many print-on-demand companies have mockup generators you can use to make your products. Mockup and design tool Placeit allows you to make lifestyle mockups of your design you can then distribute with your spectators for feedback.

Just like asking your spectators for product ideas, you can also get design feedback the same way. Your spectators will feel involved and you’ll be sure you’re going in the correct path.

4. Choose a print-on-demand associate or discover a manufacturer

Once you’ve received feedback on your product mockups, you can commence thinking about how to make merch.

There are two popular options:

1. Print on demand. You can automate production, shipping, and fulfillment with a print-on-demand associate.
2. Manufacture from scratch. You can discover a manufacturer for the specific product you desire to make, get it produced, and hold your own inventory to sell (or work with a third event for shipping and fulfillment).

Types of merch to consider

Apparel

Clothes are a top merch pick. T-shirts, hoodies, and hats let people rock your brand in style. leave for standard fabrics and eye-catching designs to make pieces fans will adore wearing.

Accessories

tiny items pack a large punch. Phone cases, bags, and pins are perfect for everyday use. They’re handy and look great, helping fans display off your brand wherever they leave.

Home goods

Bring your brand home with mugs, posters, and pillows. These items blend function and style. They provide fans a chilly way to surround themselves with your brand in their living space.

Digital products

Don’t skip on online merch. Wallpapers, emotes, and filters let fans use your brand on their phones and social media. They’re straightforward to distribute and can quickly reach tons of people.

Services for making merch

Print on demand is low-expense, low-hazard, and straightforward to set up and manage. However, your products and customization options are limited depending on the service you choose. Manufacturing from scratch, you’ll have more options and flexibility to make the exact product you envision, but it will be more expensive to produce.

Using a print-on-demand service

Most print-on-demand services are free to commence (you only pay for the products when a customer orders). Each one contains its own catalog of products, but you can generally discover basic apparel items and accessories, including t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, and phone cases.

Always order samples for standard assurance before you commence selling. Colors might look one way on your computer screen but display up differently in person. You can reach out to your print-on-demand service’s customer back if you’re ever unsure.

Finding a manufacturer

If you’re not interested in pursuing your own handmade items to make and sell, you can discover a manufacturer to make your products. With Shopify pool, you could be eligible for financing to cover the outgoings involved in manufacturing your own items. 

Compared to print on demand, you can ponder further outside the box as to how you desire to design your products. You can make uniquely designed hoodies or even your own board game.

Companies like Fan of a Fan that make merch for creators and brands; it’s a excellent concept to shop around before selecting a associate.

Here are some of the things to keep in mind before signing a agreement for merch:

• Ownership of intellectual property. Who owns your brand’s IP, the designs on the clothing, and anything recent that gets created as a part of this collaboration? You’ll desire to make sure you retain the rights in case you part ways with the associate.
• Compensation structure. Is it a fixed expense or is it variable based on profits profits distribute? profits distribute models are the most ordinary when working with merchandising companies and can be anywhere from 15% to 50% of your profits.
• Commitment. Zack suggests you never sign anything long term with one associate. arrive up with a trial period (e.g., three months or one product drop). Use that to determine if this associate meets deadlines, produces standard products, responds to emails in a timely manner, and is all-around reliable. After this trial, you can assess whether to continue working with them.
• Hidden costs. From beginning to complete of a product launch, leave through any costs that may arrive up, such as warehousing costs, picking and packing fees, shipping fees, design fees, website management, and customer service fees. You don’t desire to sign a rev distribute agreement and then have all hidden costs sneak up on you.

How to sell merch

Marketing merch is a little different than marketing a traditional product—you’re selling to existing fans first and recent customers second. That also means you have a guaranteed spectators of potential customers.

Here are just some of the marketing opportunities you can use to sell your merch.

Word of mouth

Great merch is its own marketing. If a fan buys your product and wears it often, chances are people will inquire them about it.

But it has to be a high-standard product. “If you’re selling custom merchandise, that’s real-estate that you now have on your fans, who are walking around and promoting your brand,” Zack says. “But if you make something low standard, then they’re only going to wear it once or twice.”

The more someone wears your merch or pulls out your product to display others how amazing it is, the more exposure you get. Make merch worth showing off to generate more word-of-mouth buzz.

Seek Discomfort is known as high-standard merch, so much so that celebs and athletes, like top tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas, are seen wearing it in person and on social media.

Integrate your products into your content

The content you make is another natural place to plug your merch. Whether that means wearing it in your videos, promoting it directly in social media posts, or building it into the creative concept of your next piece of content (such as a contest prize). 

If you construct your merch store on Shopify, you can sell your products more easily in your content by integrating your store wherever your spectators lives. Here are some of the channels you can explore and approaches you can receive:

• TikTok: associate with other TIkTok creators to get them to make content with your merch.
• Instagram: Tag your merch in your posts and stories and curate your own Instagram Shop on your profile.
• YouTube: distribute links to your products in your video description or cards, with a call-to-action at the complete of your video itself.
• Buy Button: If you have a divide website or blog outside of your merch store, you can embed your products or collections there as well.

You can also use a “link in bio” tool like Linkpop to make a landing page that connects your social media followers to the products you sell online, as well as other content.

The best way to connect your merch to your content is up to you—it is your spectators, after all. For Seek Discomfort, that meant hosting a fashion display in its backyard.

Remarket to your existing spectators

Retargeting lets you promote ads to your existing spectators based on specific criteria, such as whether they pursue you on Instagram or have already made a purchase.

Many ad platforms (Google, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat) allow you to run retargeting ads, as long as you installed their advertising pixel on your website. If you’ve been building your email list, that’s definitely a channel you’ll desire to use to promote your merch.

“That’s where you’re going to have really high engagement and [return on investment] ROI,” says Zack. “Whereas with prospecting, most of the period people aren’t going to buy merchandise from someone they’ve never heard of before. So that’s where the bulk of your vigor from paid media spend should leave.”

Run a presale

Nothing builds hype for a recent product like a presale campaign. A presale gives your spectators the chance to purchase your product before it launches so they can be the first to get it when it drops.

The advantage? You can gauge demand before investing in distribute and even make a sense of scarcity or urgency to inspire fans to buy early.

“Yes hypothesis has done this a lot, especially earlier on when they first started,” Zack says. “We would make a couple items of clothing that were our samples. We would do photo shoots in them and hold no inventory. Then we would put the site up for 72 hours, sell for 72 hours, and shut the site down. From there we would commence communicating through email with our spectators, so that they knew where we were in the production procedure.”

There are a variety of preorder apps in the Shopify App Store to assist you run your own presale. You can run your presale using a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter.

Pricing your merch

Don’t just slap a number on your products and aspiration for the best. discover the correct worth that makes customers feel they’re getting worth, but provide you enough profits to keep the business running.

Consider the following factors:

• recognize your costs: This is your starting point. Add up everything it takes to make your product – materials, labor, and don’t overlook about those sneaky overhead costs.
• Research the competition: receive a look at what similar products are selling for. This gives you a ballpark figure to work with.

Your brand’s reputation plays a large role too. If you’re known for top-notch standard, you can often fee more. But if you’re just starting out, you might require to worth lower to get people to provide your merch a shot.

Use pricing psychology to your advantage. Ever notice how many prices complete in .99? It’s not by accident. $19.99 feels a lot cheaper than $20.00, even though it’s just a penny’s difference.

Aim for at least a 50% profits spread. This gives you room to propose discounts and deal with unexpected costs.

commence selling custom merch today on Shopify

There are many reasons to get into the merch game beyond the additional profits stream it can make. Merch connects your fans to your brand, gives them a chance to display off their thrill for you, and makes them feel like a part of something bigger.

It’s a business concept where you can apply your innovation in fresh ways beyond the content or products that brought your fans to you in the first place. Again, inquire your spectators and hold polls about feasible designs.

If selling merch is your first step into ecommerce, Shopify is one of the fastest and simplest ways to get started. Turn your followers into customers by setting up your shop on social.

Ready to commence making and selling your merch? At Shopify, we have loads of resources—from financing to guides on sourcing a product—to assist you on your way. commence with a free trial and explore all the tools and services available.