My goal in writing this article is to help anyone that's new to Merch by Amazon understand the ecosystem in an actionable way.
Here's a summary of what will be covered:
- Introduction
- Merch By Amazon Tiers Explained
- Merch By Amazon Royalties Explained
- Merch by Amazon Niche Research Tips
- Merch by Amazon Design Tips
- Merch by Amazon Submission Tips
- Recommended Apps
Introduction
When I first found out about Merch by Amazon, I couldn't believe it - it almost sounded too good to be true.
Years later, I'm still pinching myself that it's real.
Merch by Amazon changed my life by adding a reliable passive income stream where I'm paid dividends for work I did in the past.
My goal is this article is to cover the core-competencies that are important to understand if you're going to excel at starting & scaling your business.
Here are some important foundational concepts that every Merch by Amazon seller should know, split up into a Top-5 list (who doesn't love a good list?)
- How the tier system works
- How royalties work
- How niche research should be approached
- Design best practices
- Product submissions & the content policy
My plan is to use my years of experience on the Merch by Amazon platform to help cover the "need to know" by sending you a lesson on each of the aforementioned points.
Merch By Amazon Tiers Explained
Confused by Merch by Amazon's tier system?
No worries, you're not the only one... but we've got you covered.
In summary:
Merch by Amazon gamifies the selling experience by placing limitations on how many designs we're able to list for sale on their platform.
All new seller accounts start in tier 10.
In tier 10, you are capped at having a maximum 10 designs available for sale at any given time - I call this the designs limit.
now, for the confusing part...
You're able to upload a single design to multiple products, and enabling a new product for sale with your designs will not count against your tier limit.
This means that you can upload a single design & make it available on standard & premium t-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, long sleeve shirts, v-neck shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, phone cases, & Popsockets... and it will only count as 1 submission against the 10 total available submissions.
Next, allow us to explain the submission limits:
Every Merch by Amazon account has a restriction on how many products can submit on a day-to-day basis.
In tier 10, you are typically either able to submit 1 to 2 new products per day (this number has varied over time. Currently, as of writing this, the limit is 2 products per day).
This means you can either edit an existing product listing & make it available for sale on a new product type using a previously uploaded design (by clicking your PrettyMerch Product Tab, followed by the edit button on the design you'd like to use) or, you can submit a brand-new design and make it available for sale on new products.
By making sales & filling your upload slots, Merch by Amazon will reward you with a tier-up, where your limits for both daily uploads & total live designs are increased.
The date & time that tier-ups take place is unknown, and typically happens for all eligible Merch by Amazon sellers at the same time.
While it's not set in stone, typically in order to be eligible you must have made roughly ~70% of your tier in sales (so in Tier 10, you probably need at least 7 sales) and you need to have roughly ~70% of your tier's upload slots filled (so in Tier 10, again you'd need to have uploaded at least 7 designs). It's not a perfect science & it's changed over time, but 70% is a good rule of thumb generally speaking.
The tier system can be variable, but generally speaking looks it looks like this:
- Tier 10
- Tier 25
- Tier 100
- Tier 500
- Tier 1,000
- Tier 2,000
- Tier 4,000
- Tier 6,000
- Tier 8,000
- Tier 10,000
- Tier 20,000
- Tier 40,000
- Tier 100,000
- Tier 200,000
- Tier 300,000
And yes, there are sellers in the hundred-thousand & above tiers!
Here is what one of my team's PrettyMerch dashboard looks like:
If you put in the work & follow the best-practices, you too will be able to join the elite ranks among Merch by Amazon sellers!
Merch By Amazon Royalties Explained
This email is all about getting paid!
Merch by Amazon covers all of the costs associated with running a global print on demand business on my behalf, and pays us a royalty on each of my sales that take place through their program.
Not too shabby...
When it comes to getting paid, Merch by Amazon will typically deposit the royalties owed to us into my bank account on the last business day of the Month. The payments I receive are from the previous month's earnings.
As far as royalty calculations go, the royalty I receive per-sale depends on:
- The market where the sale took place
- The product type
- The sale price
Marketplace matters because Merch by Amazon supports multiple international marketplaces, in addition to the biggest overall market in the US.
Product type matters because each product in the catalog has a differing base-cost, and the base-cost of each product varies by international market as well.
Sale price is the last variable. You are not able to list a product for sale under the "floor" price point, where you make $0.00 royalties per sale, and typically you will want to price your products and aim to capture anywhere from $1-$5 profit per sale.
On the product creation screen you're able to change pricing and see how it will affect your royalty in real-time.
Additional pricing & royalty information can be found on Merch by Amazon's official resource page.
Quick tip: If you're unsure how to price your products, there's no shame in using the default price suggestions that Amazon sets for us (pictured above).
The last thing I wanted to cover relates to accepting international payments.
For simplicity's sake, foreign currencies will be automatically converted into your country's native currency before being deposited into your bank account.
Merch by Amazon Niche Research Tips
We're going to ask for your forgiveness in advance, because I will probably state the obvious in this email at least once (seriously, wait for it!)
It's time that I talk about one of the most important things in a Merch by Amazon business: Niche research!
Niche research refers to the process of determining what niche your design caters to.
This can literally be anything! But generally speaking, you're going to want to make informed decisions based on data that Amazon makes available to us.
In short, you're going to want to sell what people are buying.
I warned you that I would state the obvious in this email!
But on a serious note, it's easy to forget sometimes that the best niches to be in are the ones that people are currently interested in.
When you're in the lower account tiers, I recommend being strategic with your niche selection strategy and trying to create designs that will get in front of as many potential customers as possible.
This would mean, for example, selling Father's Day themed designs during the run-up to Father's Day. You can also delete old designs that haven't made any sales, to free up room for new designs in trending niches.
While this may seem obvious, many sellers miss the boat on this and wonder why their sales are stagnant.
I can't overstate the importance of using data to make informed decisions in any business model, and Merch by Amazon is no different.
Amazon shares insights with us into what customers are buying on a day-to-day basis, in the form of a number: BSR, or "Best Sellers Rank".
This data point is visible on every product detail page if you scroll down to the "Product details" section:
I understand that this is a relatively slow & tedious process, so I invested into building a section within PrettyMerch dedicated exclusively to expediting the niche research process.
You can access this on the Research Tab within your PrettyMerch dashboard:
We'll plan on sending you a more detailed tutorial of how to utilize the Research tab in a future email, but for now I just wanted to make you aware that it's there.
If you use the Research Tab's default functionality, it will essentially show you the best-selling Merch by Amazon shirts in order, which is a quick way of viewing the top niches & definitely my preferred approach to staying on top of the trends.
In addition to PrettyMerch's Research Tab, you can also check out tools like Google Trends where you can enter a query and view the search volume for those keywords, graphed out over a period of time. Below is the data for Father's Day:
As you can see, each peak is followed by a steep drop-off.
The climb in interest in "Father's Day" searches is representative of the opportunity to make sales! After the holiday passes, move on to the next trend!
Merch by Amazon Design Tips
T-shirts are the best-selling Merch by Amazon product, so my approach to design will favor them.
While design quality is subjective, there are definitely trends that have emerged over time when it comes to excelling at online t-shirts sales.
My goal in this email is to share the most important tips with you, so that your shirts can compete with the best of the best!
Real quick, before I get into the design tips: I wanted to recommend a few popular design applications that are popular amongst Merch by Amazon sellers, in no particular order:
If you're completely new to all of this, you may want to check out Canva, as it's probably the most user-friendly. It also runs from your web-browser, making it easy to use with all of the functionality necessary to create beautiful designs.
Note: You can find the official Merch by Amazon design resource here, which is full of additional valuable information.
Now, onto the design tips!
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to design, but as I alluded to earlier, there are certainly best-practices that have the potential to help your products stand out among competition in Amazon search results.
TIP #1: Bigger is Better
I went to Amazon and searched for "Father's Day shirt", and then proceeded to count no less than 72 results on page 1.
There is no shortage of competition out there, so you should do everything in your power to win over the potential customer by convincing them to click your product, instead of your competitors.
When you create big, bold designs you tend to stand out relative to those medium and smaller designs.
TIP #2: Make Text Easy to Read
The majority of shirts on Merch by Amazon have text included in the design.
When potential customers are scrolling through search results, very seldom to they stop for more than a fraction of a second to read the text on a t-shirt - it's one of those things where they can either capture the information at a glance, or they move on, knowing that one of the 70+ additional options on the page will likely suit their needs.
By making good decisions with your font-family, font-size, & even font color, you can increase the likelihood of getting clicked in search.
TIP #3: Use Good Color Contrast
Have you ever wondered why black text is constantly used against a white backdrop in things like emails (take this one for example), or vice-versa?
It's because certain color pairings work well together to create a pop.
In the case of t-shirt design, unless you're attempting to create a more blended, worn or distressed design, you typically will want to utilize complementary colors that allow your design to stand out in the foreground of the shirt (while the t-shirt color essentially serves as the background).
TIP #4: Black T-Shirts Sell Best
Black colored standard t-shirts are Merch by Amazon's best-selling product.
When you create a new standard t-shirt design in Merch by Amazon, you're allowed to select up to 10 colors per design.
If you make the black shirt color available, your thumbnail in search results will always be displayed on a black shirt!
As a result, I recommend optimizing your designs during the design process to be displayed on black shirts (if you plan on making that color available).
Getting clicked in search results is critical - you convert an Amazon user into a customer without it - so make sure to do everything in your power to stand out, and put your best work on display!
If you're still in need of direction, I recommend checking out the PrettyMerch Pro Research Tab where you can scan through the best-selling shirt designs for design inspiration!
Merch by Amazon Submission Tips
Before submitting new products on Merch by Amazon, you're going to want to be aware of a few things.
First, lets cover the basics.
The Create tab will take you to the product creation wizard, where you can upload a design and make it available on various products.
PS. They also added a big green button on PrettyMerch that will also take you there:
You're able to drag & drop your artwork into the designated area for upload, and following that the software will create CGI renderings of what the finished product will look like should a customer like your design enough to buy it.
Depending on your current tier, you may need to disable products due to restrictions on how many products you're allowed to submit per day.
After uploading your design, you should click the "Edit details" button for each enabled product type you intend to sell the design on, and determine what fit type & colors will be made available to customers.
Important: Any time the "Youth" fit type is made available, remember that your design & keywords submission will be subject to a stricter content policy that is outlined here.
Also equally Important: Intellectual property infringement is taken very seriously by the Merch by Amazon team, and they often terminate accounts that infringe on the IP of others (especially big, well-known brands). I highly recommend reviewing the intellectual property best practices & restrictions outlined here.
Keeping your account in accordance with the rules is of critical importance, as this is a long-term business we're working on!
Now, back to the upload process!
After picking the fit-types and colors, your last task is to set pricing. As mentioned a few emails back, Amazon sets default prices for us and there's no harm done in using them.
One thing worth noting is that a lower price point creates an incentive for potential customers to buy your product instead of your competitors, so you may want to consider lowering your price in a competitive niche.
After you're done with the artwork section, you'll notice a heading for "Translation options" in the Product details section.
After expanding beyond just the United States into international markets, Merch by Amazon added support for automatic translation using artificial intelligence so that the product details are converted into the native languages of each marketplace it's sold on.
I suggest you let Amazon translate product information for you automatically, unless you're confident in your ability to speak the other languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish, & Japanese).
The final section is where I provide Amazon's algorithm with information about my product, in the following forms:
- Title
- Brand
- Feature bullet 1
- Feature bullet 2
- Product description
Title
I recommend placing your most valuable keywords here, in the title. This typically carries the most weight when it comes to associating your new product submission with a specific set of keywords that a customer may search for.
Over time, as customers search for & purchase your products, Amazon's algorithm learns more about your product... but it has very little data on new submissions beyond the keywords I provide, and the title is by far the most important.
If you can fit it, I would place one or two phrases that a customer would type into the search bar that you would like to rank on.
Brand
You get to choose the brand name associated with each product that you upload, so I typically recommend choosing a brand name that has relevance to your product niche and that it will make sense to the customers, as the brand is public-facing.
Products submitted to the same brand will also allow you to index them on that brand name, meaning if you submit multiple products to the same brand, you will be able to click that brand from your product detail page and view other products within that brand.
Feature bullets #1 & #2
Your bullet points are another way of getting indexed on relevant keywords in Amazon search. Getting indexed means that keywords included in your bullet points are looked at by Amazon's search algorithm and taken into consideration when the algorithm must determine what results to display after a customer query.
I recommend writing one to two sentences for each bullet that include information on your niche and your design's relevance to the niche, with priority keywords sprinkled in.
Product description
Unlike feature bullets, your product description will not be indexed, so you don't need to spend too much time on writing one. If we're being honest, you can skip the description altogether if you don't have the time to work on writing one - or, you can write a single generic description and use it on all of your product submissions (something is better than nothing, right?).
The last section in the product creation wizard is related to product availability.
The default state is Searchable, which you almost certainly want to keep checked. This will allow your submission to appear in customer search results and be purchased.
When you're ready, click the Publish button to submit the design for review and the status will be visible on the manage tab.
Typically, your submission will retain a status of Under Review for at least a few minutes, and potentially longer depending on the nature of your niche and your keywords.
Once your status changes to Processing, you're good to go!
It shouldn't take long before processing finishes and your listing is Live on Amazon!
Congratulations on making this far, it certainly was no small feat.
Like many things in life, the learning curve can be steep when taking on a new challenge, but like anything else, it will get easier with time.
If you can dedicate time on a regular basis to growing your Merch by Amazon business, you'll be amazed at what you were able to accomplish.
My best advice now is to keep chipping away, little by little, as often as possible and before you know it, you'll be making a regular recurring passive income that increases month-over-month and year-over-year!
Recommended Apps
There are additional apps (typically in the form of Google Chrome extensions) and services that many people find useful.
They can help with the various aspects of running your Merch by Amazon business that we covered in this article, such as research, design, and more.
PrettyMerch PRO+
PrettyMerch is the #1 free Chrome extension for Merch by Amazon sellers with more than 60,000 sellers that use it.
The Chrome extension has a free version that transforms your dashboard into a more aesthetically pleasing dashboard, but also offers advanced functionality including a product manager that is infinitely better than the default option (it replaces the manage tab), plus it's got an in-depth Analytics tab built in, and my personal favorite: They added a Research tab in 2022 that helps find high-demand, low-competition niches to sell!
Try PrettyMerch PRO+ (Save 15% w/ code "Ryan-15-off") »
All Sunsets
All Sunsets is one of my go-to places for graphic design assets, using them helps me create winning designs without spending hours creating them myself.
I typically take a pre-made retro sunset graphic and add my own text, and sometimes I cut out graphics to create Sunset silhouette designs.
Vexels
Vexels has a team of professional graphic designers that create a ton of ready-to-use designs that are optimized for print on demand t-shirts and would do great on Merch by Amazon.
In addition to that, you can find graphic resources to use however you see fit + they have Amazon KDP resources + they take custom graphic requests!
Creative Fabrica
Creative Fabrica is one of my favorite places to go for all things print on demand design related.
They have a library of almost 100,000 unique fonts, over 4.5 million graphics, and more!
Oh yeah and the best part... you can join today for only $1.
Try Creative Fabrica (join for only $1) »
Merch Titans Automation
Merch Titans allows me to automate my uploads to Merch by Amazon!
Note: I would not recommend using upload automation if you're in lower tiers, this tool best serves you if you are in tier 500+
Automate your uploads w/ Merch Titans Automation »
Printful is my go-to print on demand production partner for selling my designs on products outside of Merch by Amazon
This article was all about the Merch program at Amazon, but don't overlook the fact that the work you're doing there can translate directly into additional income streams by selling them on more products & marketplaces.
Some of my favorite ways to make money with Printful include selling print on demand products on Amazon Seller Central, Etsy, Ebay, & Shopify.
Try Printful & make more money from your Merch by Amazon designs »
