Struggling through "Merch Purgatory" a.k.a Tier 10 is a part of the grind that everyone has to go through to earn their "stripes".
All newly accepted accounts are able to upload 1 design per day, and have a maximum of 10 products available for sale on Amazon until they get at least ~5 sales (this has been variable over the years).
Unfortunately, most people fizzle out and lose their enthusiasm for Amazon Merch in Tier 10.
My advice to you if you're in the same boat:
Don't give up!
It's all uphill from here, I promise.
I remember being in tier 10 on my first Merch account... I was unsure about everything I was doing.
I didn't know if my lack of sales was due to my design ability, my niche targeting, or poor listing optimization.
The feeling I felt when I got my first sale was one of joy & feeling like my effort were validated! Even though I only made a dollar or two in royalties from it.
It inspired me to keep pursuing this passive income channel & decide at a later date if it was actually worthwhile.
The result 2 years later:
- 9,286 sales
- $182,689.40 sales
- $43,821.01 royalties
In summary: Looking back, I couldn't be happier that I persisted through the tougher times!
From Tier 10 to Tier 500
My first Amazon Merch account experienced the normal, slow grind from tier 10, to 25, to 100, to 500+
Like anything else, I faced the "first-timer" learning curve & obstacles that come with it.
It would've helped to have a resource to lean on, someone that had achieved success prior to me... but there weren't nearly as many sellers back in early 2017 when my journey began.
My second account (in my mom's name) was a different story:
This account was approved in October, 2017.
If you've been following my Merch content, you know I almost never chase the "obvious trends"... in this case, the obvious trend being Halloween.
Given the nature of print on demand where there's no monetary investment to pursue an over-saturated trend, it cost me nothing (but time) to launch a few designs that target high-volume, high-competition keywords.
With the account in tier 10, I took a few design that were relevant to October '17 (not evergreens) & uploaded them, 1 per day, until 10 were live.
What happened next couldn't have been predicted...
One shirt in particular went nuts!
It ended up selling 82 units (2.6/day) in October, generating $269.59 in royalties.
Here's more on why the trend was so popular.
Niching Down Your Designs
It wasn't just capitalizing on one trend... it capitalized on multiple!
The shirt I'm about to share was a perfect example of what it means to niche down" from something overly-saturated to something more fringe.
By no means would the niche qualify as low competition... but it was based on the intersection of multiple time-sensitive/relevant niches, so it worked really well.
Because I <3 my audience, I'm going to reveal the shirt in hopes that it demystifies what it takes to be successful on Amazon Merch.
* Queue drum roll *
3... 2... 1...
* click to expand
A Girl Has No Costume
This design combined two red hot trends at the time:
- HBO's global sensation Game of Thrones
- The American holiday Halloween
This was a too-good-to-be-true intersection of two mega-popular niches, and the design was extremely easy to execute... so I went for it.
* click to expand
The funny thing is that I used the exact same design, brand, title, bullets, & description on both of my Merch accounts, but one sold way more than the other!
Your guess is as good as mine regarding how one listing got more exposure than the other initially.
It honestly could've come down to sheer luck...
We do know that Amazon's A9 algorithm rewards product listings that convert customers, as in, a customers follow the desired flow:
Search Find Buy
If your listing is converting customers at a higher rate than others associated with the same primary keywords, yours will continue climb higher.
Getting positive product reviews also helps immensely.
In my article where I share the design that made me $700 in royalties in a single day I share how I had a friend purchase & 5-star review the shirt before the trend took off, positioning me nicely to dominate the trend.
Any edge you can gain over the competition is worth pursuing. Having a friend review your shirt, running AMS ads, designing to stand out in the SERP, SEO optimization, etc.
In the case of the shirt that took my second account straight from T10 to T500 eligibility, all it took was great niche research, mediocre design skills, and a dash of luck.
And it's important to share that my process for launching this design was the exact same one that I followed for many more unsuccessful designs.
When you're going through the research, design, & optimization process, remember that not all of them will be winners! And you certainly don't know ahead of time which ones are going to pan out or flop.
Just like NBA players trying to raise their free throw percentage, it takes repetition to achieve success on Amazon Merch!
To recap:
- I didn't have anyone purchase / review it for me
- I didn't run AMS ads to supplement
- There were no silver bullet keyword optimization tips or tricks involved
The pie associated with the niche was so big that even by carving out a minor portion of it, it was enough to propel me out of Merch Purgatory: the 10 tier.
This is also why I preach that it's still possible to launch a successful Amazon FBA business:
The pie is HUGE... & it's continuing to grow every year!
As long as Amazon's customer base is growing, the opportunity Amazon's marketplace presents will scale with it.
There's no way for me to ever guarantee that you'll be able to replicate my success... but hopefully this will help you understand what it takes to achieve minor success on Amazon Merch & with some luck, fast-forward you out of tier 10.
