January 24, 2023

What is Merch by Amazon and how do you get started?

With Merch by Amazon, you can promote your product using portal promotions. Portal promotions allow you to create Twitter and Facebook posts that you can share with your followers on social media.
What is Merch by Amazon and how do you get started?
Shawn Khorrami
What is Merch by Amazon and how do you get started?

What is Merch by Amazon and how do you get started?

What if there was a way to start selling on Amazon without starting a private label business? 

Mercy by Amazon is a platform that allows you to list apparel designs without any upfront costs. With Merch by Amazon, you don't have to worry about the cost of purchasing Amazon products. 

If you put in the work, you can build sustainable income for your business.  

Read on as we look at how you can take advantage of Merch by Amazon to increase sales and online business revenue. 

What is Merch by Amazon? 

Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand service on the Amazon marketplace. With this platform, you can create apparel designs and list them on Amazon for free. 

Amazon Merch on-demand products include T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, long sleeves, tank tops, and so on. 

To start earning with Merch by Amazon, all you need to do is submit your designs to Amazon, set your prices, and when an Amazon customer buys your product, you earn royalties. 

How does Merch by Amazon work?

Selling with Merch by Amazon is quite simple. Here's a step-by-step process: 

  • First, submit your apparel product designs to Amazon
  • Next, choose the type of product on which your design will be printed on. For example, you can choose a t-shirt or a hoodie. 
  • Next, set prices for your product 
  • Once your design is approved, Amazon will create a listing 
  • When a customer buys your product, Amazon prints it and sends it to your customer. 
  • After every sale, you collect your royalties.

Who can use Merch by Amazon?

What is great about the Merch by Amazon service is that it is open to everyone who can create beautiful designs

If you are an influencer, graphics designer, or blogger, Amazon Merch is a great platform to promote your work and increase your audience base. 

There are no production, inventory, shipping, or customer service costs. Also, Amazon handles everything for you. 

How to join Merch by Amazon

Merch by Amazon has one major hurdle. It is an invite-only platform. 

To get invited and start selling with Amazon Merch, go to merch.amazon.com and click on “Request Invitation”. 

Next, fill out the application form explaining why Amazon should consider you for Amazon Merch. 

Once you complete the form, you will be added to a waiting list. Getting approval may take as long as six months due to high demand. 

Creating a product on Amazon Merch 

So now you've been accepted on Amazon Merch. How do you create a product? 

After approval, you can go ahead to create designs from your Amazon dashboard. With your dashboard, you can also view and manage your designs and analyze sales. 

To add products, click on the “Add Products” button on your dashboard and choose a product for your design. 

Next, click on “Upload Artwork”. You can also edit your work using Amazon's downloadable templates. You want to ensure your Merch products follow Amazon's specific guidelines. For example, your Merch designs should come in transparent PNG files no larger than 25MB. 

You can create designs using software like Photoshop and Pixlr. You can also download T-shirt templates on Merch by Amazon. To create high-quality designs, you can go through Merch by Amazon's best practices

Lastly, once you create your design, you can set your prices and go live. 

Design approval goes through different statuses. Here are the eight different statuses and what they indicate: 

  • Draft: The draft status indicates that your design is being worked on and hasn't been submitted. 
  • Under review: At this stage, your design is undergoing a review process to ensure it aligns with Amazon's Content policies. 
  • Started Process: At this status, Amazon approves your design and starts the process of adding it to their library. 
  • Rejected: This indicates that your design did not meet Amazon's content policy and so has been rejected. 
  • Processing: After “Started Process”, it moves to “Processing” which indicates that Amazon is creating your listing
  • Pending Your Approval: Next, you have the option of reviewing a sample of your design. Once you give Amazon your approval, it switches to “Live”. 
  • Live: Once your product listing is created and approved, your design goes live. At this stage, you can start making sales. 
  • Removed: If your content violates Amazon's policies or your design doesn't sell within 180 days of going live, it is removed. 

Guidelines for Merch by Amazon products 

To get accepted by Amazon, it is important to follow the design guidelines and policies. Here are some of them: 

  • Your products should not violate existing trademarks and copyrights. 
  • Your designs should not include your contact information
  • Items with objectionable content like profanity, promotion of hate, violence, pornography, etc are not allowed
  • Designs should not promote charity, donations, or political campaigns.
  • Your design content should not talk about product quality, fulfillment, or shipping. 
  • No blank images are allowed 
  • No incorrect product descriptions
  • Soliciting for product reviews is not allowed 
  • Designs should be of good quality

Mercy by Amazon tiers 

Amazon places some tiers and limitations for selling on Amazon Merch. This is to avoid people flooding the marketplace with thousands of designs. 

There's a limit to the number of designs you can make. If you are just starting with Amazon Merch, you can only list a maximum of 10 designs. Once you can sell at least 10, you can move to the next tier. 

On the next tier, you can list up to 25 designs. As you make sales, the number of designs you can list continues to increase. Here are the tiers you need to follow: 

  • 10
  • 25
  • 100
  • 500
  • Pro 

Amazon Merch Royalties 

When you make a sale on Merch by Amazon, you collect a chunk of the money from the sale. 

However, there are a number of factors that affect the amount of royalty you get from a design sale. 

Keep in mind that you are only uploading your design so you won't be making business-like profits. 

The price you set as well as other factors like production and packaging costs, shipping costs, customer service, and so on can influence the amount of royalty you get. 

Overall, if you play your cards right, Merch by Amazon can be a great stream of passive income. Royalty rates can fall between 13% to 37% depending on your product price. You can check out some royalty pricing examples here

Tips to sell on Merch by Amazon successfully 

Getting your designs uploaded is the first step to succeeding with Amazon Merch. Here are a few tips that will help you sell successfully: 

  1. Stay up to date with trends 
  2. Find a niche market 
  3. Build your online presence 
  4. Promote your products 

Stay up to date with trends 

To be successful selling with Merch by Amazon, you want to stay up to date with the latest trends in your industry. You can start your research by using Google Trends or checking the top trending products on Amazon. Also, you can check social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest memes, designs, and concepts that people want to wear. 

Ensure you double-check to avoid copyright infringement which can lead to having your account shut down. 

Find a niche market 

As an Amazon seller, picking a niche is important for success. Picking your niche helps you narrow your target audience and ensure you are creating Amazon merchandise that resonates with them. For example, you can narrow your market to motorcycle hobbyists and create t-shirts or hoodies that resonate with them. 

Build your online presence 

To boost repeat purchases and build a customer base, it is important to build your online presence. Social media is a powerful medium to attract your target market and build your brand. 

You can create relevant content to attract your target market, send newsletters via email, write blogs that apply to your target audience, and keep them updated with your latest design releases. 

Promote your products 

Advertising and promoting your product is a great way to boost sales. You can promote your product through advertising or portal promotions. You can choose to run social media ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Google. 

With Merch by Amazon, you can promote your product using portal promotions. Portal promotions allow you to create Twitter and Facebook posts that you can share with your followers on social media. You can also create in-app promotions on IOS, Android, and Fire OS. 

Finishing up

Once your invitation is accepted on Merch by Amazon, you can earn passive income by simply uploading your creative designs while Amazon helps you sell them. To be successful on the platform, it is important to do your research so you can create designs that your target audience wants to wear.  

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