One of the most exciting aspects of being a YouTuber is selling online merch, especially for those who have built a large following of loyal viewers who are eager to connect with your brand in real life. When the idea of selling merch on YouTube first started, creators, trying to sell merch faced some challenges, but over time, it has become a lot easier.
How to sell merchandise on YouTube
If you are a beginner that is interested in How to sell merchandise on YouTube channel, this guide will help you figure out the smartest and fastest methods to do so. We have learned a lot about the topic over the years, and are thrilled to share it with you.
The Benefits Of Merch Sales (For The Creators And Subscribers)
Perhaps you do not see the benefits of selling merch through your YouTube channel. We tend to agree that on its face there does not seem to be a good reason to bother, but we bet we can convince you with some compelling arguments.
First and foremost, it is an additional revenue stream that you earn from your published content. PewDiePie is one of the most prolific content creators on YouTube, and he earns a stunning 6 million dollars through merch sales in his online store, monthly! Aside from that, your subscribers who buy and wear your merch become walking billboards for your channel. Inevitably, someone will ask them about their gear, and they will share that it is one of their favorite YouTube channels.
Loyal subscribers also want to feel like they are part of the channel, and by purchasing merch they feel that they are more fully engaged with the channel and the creator. Beyond that, it is the union of community, allowing you and your subscribers to foster a sense of unity behind the common ground that is your channel.
If it sounds too crazy to be true, rest assured that it is very possible to do. In fact, 9-year-old Ryan Kaji from Ryan World’s toy reviewing channel began creating 5,000 branded merch pieces. In 2020 alone he earned an estimated $250 million from it.
Merch Design To Be Proud Of
When you first start thinking about merch design, you might feel overwhelmed. How do you get started and what type of merch should you begin with? The best way to approach your merch strategy is to take a look at what is already selling. Let’s touch upon 4 essential tips for picking your brand’s best merch choice.
- Best-selling items: According to the 2021 sales report the following items are the most popular pieces of merch sold: t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, hats, and mugs.
- Design mockups: Hire an artist who specializes in merch creation to generate terrific mockups.
- Brand-appropriate YouTube merch: Think about any slogans, catchphrases, or visual references that your audience will associate with your channel and brand, and connects to.
- Ask your subscribers: Your subscribers will be your prime purchasers of merch so ask them in a poll which type of merch they would be interested in buying if you were selling it.
If you are struggling to figure out a good design, start simple. Take a page from the Eh Bee Family’s merch shop where they sell dozens of items with only their brand’s logo. From there, you should navigate based on where demand takes you. The items that look to be the most requested or coveted are likely the ones you want.
Making Your Merch: Manufacturer vs. POD
Now comes the tricky part. Once you have the designs ready, you need to figure out how to print them and ship them. Primarily, you have two options. Either you work with a manufacturer or sign up for a POD (print-on-demand) service. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these entails and see which one would work better for you.
Manufacturers: Best For Orders Of High Volume And High Quality
When you partner with a manufacturer, who can be either local or remote (even internationally based), you provide them with the specific requirements for the merch, and they will make them. If you want more control over your merch design and more flexibility, working with a manufacturer directly might be your best path. For manufacturers, however, putting together small orders is often not financially viable, so they will typically require that the orders placed are of a high volume.
Therefore, working with a manufacturer is a great option if you have an idea of how many monthly orders you will have, if you require your merch to be of high quality and customized, and, most importantly, that you anticipate forming this merch development partnership as part of your long term plan for revenue streaming.
With all that said, the goal of this guide is to get you to launch a merch store in the most efficient and expedited manner, which is why we recommend starting with a print-on-demand service.
What Is A Print On Demand (POD) Service?
Unlike working with a manufacturer, a POD service prints your custom merch order only once it is placed. The process is 4 pronged. First, you upload your design to the printing service’s eCommerce site, they create mockups of what the final product will look like, you set the price for each merch item type, and when the customer places an order, the POD service prints the piece of merch and ships it to the customer.
While there may be a subscription fee involved with signing up for the service, printing shirts, and other merch is free. The POD service will keep a portion of the revenue to cover operational costs, while you get to keep the profit. So if a set the price of a shirt to print to $30, and it takes $24 to print it, you earned $6 for every sale.
This is the best way to test out selling merch because you don’t have to spend money only to find out the merch items are not selling. They are made when they are requested to be purchased.
The notable downside is that there is little customizability as you are parameterized by the options offered by the POD service. For instance, if you want to portray a preppy brand, and want to offer your subscribers collar shirts, but the POD service you utilize only has V-necks, you are confined to that style.
As far as choosing POD services, there is no shortage to be found. Teespring, Printful, CustomCat, Etsy, and SPOD are just some of the services you can choose from. When determining which is the best for you, here are a few tips:
- Order a couple of sample items, then wear them yourself to make sure that the service provides high-quality products.
- Don’t just settle for the first POD service you try, give a few of them a shot first. The quality of their products will also be representative of your brand.
- Think about the economic standpoint too. Look into how much services charge for making the merch and what you would clear based on your estimated pricing. You need to make sure that this meets your revenue goals and requirements.
Time To Promote Your Merch And Make Sales
The most effective method of selling your merch is to link to your shop in the YouTube description of all of your posted videos. You can scale up by using YouTube’s Merch Shelf as well.
YouTube Merch Shelf
If you have ever seen a YouTube video whose creator is promoting their merch, you might have seen what looks like a digital carousel that you can scroll through to see the product offerings at the brand’s store. On a website accessed from a browser, you can see up to 12 products scroll through, though only three if you are going to the mobile route. This is the YouTube Merch Shelf, and it’s a great way to allow your viewers to see the offered merch, but there is one catch: you have to be qualified to use the feature.
Based on the YouTube support page, the following are the necessary requirements to take advantage of the YouTube Merch Shelf tool:
- Your YouTube channel must be eligible for monetization (you have over 1,000 subs and get at least 4,000 monthly watching hours of your content).
- The YouTube Partner Program is available in your country
- Your channel is a music channel that is certified as an “Official Artist Channel”
- Your channel’s audience makes primarily adult content
As long as you meet all of the above requirements, assuming they apply to you, you can use Merch Shelf to display and sell your merch. There is a wait on the approval process, but while you wait, there are some other ways that you can get started with promoting your merch.
Choosing The Right Affiliate Partners
If you are partnering with YouTube, you are likely already an affiliate or a promoter of products that you use yourself. But now, you are the one with the merch to sell, so now you need to find some affiliates to promote your stuff. If they sell your product, the affiliates earn a small commission for every sale.
Affiliate programs can be found on various eCommerce platforms like Shopify. Even some POD services have built-in affiliates. If you are interested in leveraging that from a POD service, you need to make sure that you choose a POD service that features affiliate partnerships. Before you launch the affiliate program there are a few actions you should consider.
- Figure out how you will recruit your affiliates
- Make sure the merch your affiliates will sell is readily available when they start promoting it
- Make sure your commission’s strategy is solid and fair to your affiliates to keep them happy
Expertly Promoting Your Merch
Some creators are uncomfortable with what they feel like as shamelessly peddling their merch, fearing coming off too salesy. But there is a classy way to go about it. Starting with something that feels organic and natural is a great way to get going. As your popularity grows, so will your confidence, eventually moving you to a place where you are comfortable promoting your merch in your videos. So what are some ways to market your merch?
- BYOM (Be Your Own Model): The easiest and most natural approach is to simply wear your gear (hoodies, shirts, hats, etc.) while you record your video. Multiple YouTube personalities, including Guy from Coin Bureau, wears his brand’s hoodie in his videos, then leave a link to it in his description. If you don’t like the idea of wearing your merch, just display them in the background. You can also briefly mention your merch in the video’s outro so your viewers know where they can get it if they want it.
- SVOD Engagement: YouTube is an Advertising Video On Demand program (or AVOD), and that means that your revenue comes from the ads played during your video. SVOD is a bit of a different approach. That is when subscribers pay a monthly or annual subscription fee for access to your content. This way you have full control of the content and the revenue that it generates. This gives you the ability not just to sell merch, but also to build a platform where fans can get exclusive videos for a fee, and create a shoppable video (if you use Unseen as your platform).
- Keep All The Profits: Best of all, it’s your platform, so you get to keep all the profits.
Promoting Your Merch With Unscreen’s Shoppable Video
The shoppable video is a great idea as it is an interactive component to show your merch giving users the ability to click on it to purchase it, all while viewing your video. The click will direct them right to your eCommerce shop, closing the gap between the point of discovery and the merch purchase.
Since most PODs already qualify as eCommerce stores, this is an easy step. You simply upload the designs for your merch there, then make videos focused on this merch, and add links for each item. You can even add photos with a short description of the product. Then you get 2 monetization levels for your SVODs.
- You receive your revenue from a recurring subscription to your video content
- You will earn from your merch sales should users decide to purchase your product from watching your videos.
Final Thought
And here you thought starting your merch empire would be challenging! Basically, the actions you need consist of 3 stages, so let’s recap them in brief form:
- Select a design that is appropriate for the merch of your brand
- Select the POD that best suits your design and what you are looking for in terms of revenue
- Promote your merch in your videos
Not only are merchandise sales on YouTube simple, but they are also thrilling. If you utilize all of the available tools, like shoppable videos at Unscreen, the potential to sell is limitless.
Don’t miss out on our latest article on writing a video script for your faceless YouTube channel! Learn how to use our four templates to create engaging and effective content.
Frequently asked questions:
How to sell merchandise on YouTube?
1- Create a YouTube channel and build an audience through consistent, high-quality content.
2- Utilize YouTube’s built-in features such as end screens and annotations to promote your merchandise.
3- Collaborate with other popular YouTubers to reach a wider audience and drive sales.
I’m Idammah, founder of Vid Gators, a platform dedicated to helping people earn money through Video Content . With experience in channel monetization, brand collaborations, and video-driven traffic, I share strategies and insights to guide others toward success on the platform.
