Merch by Amazon Review: How to Make Money on the Platform in 2023

If you’re looking for a way to make money online, you’ll want to stick around for our Merch by Amazon review. 

Merch by Amazon is a platform that allows people to sell custom-designed merchandise. You can create your own designs and sell them on t-shirts, tote bags, phone cases, and more.

And luckily, making money on Merch by Amazon is a lot easier than you might think. In fact, with some effort and tenacity, you should be able to start making a profit in no time at all.

How profitable can it get? Well, Empire Flippers sold a website in this niche last year for a cool $93,000. Not bad for a site that was listed on their marketplace for just 19 days.

In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth Merch by Amazon review as well as everything you need to know to start making money on the platform.

Let’s dive in!

Try Merch by Amazon here!

Merch By Amazon

• Ease of Use –

  95

• Stability –

  85

• Customer Service –

  65

• Price –

  90

84

Summary

Obtaining the invite to take part in MBA will take some time, and after you do, the success of your Merch by Amazon business will take some more time. But if you have the patience for this, some creative flair and a dash of tenacity, you can turn your MBA business into a healthy side hustle and beyond.

 

Pros

• It’s completely free to use and removes all the hassle of printing and inventory fees
• All products are hosted on one of the largest eCommerce platforms in the world (Amazon)
• The platform’s user interface (UI) is very intuitive, easy to navigate, and straightforward
• Once you gain momentum it’s a great way to earn passively

 

Cons

• Sellers have to be approved before they can start selling their merchandise
• The commission you earn per sale isn’t particularly high
• The platform doesn’t offer any third-party website or marketplace integrations like Shopify or Redbubble.
• The selection of merch and products you can sell is quite limited

 

Merch By Amazon Review: What is It?

Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand (POD) platform from Amazon that allows its users to sell custom-designed products. And the best part about it is that users don’t have to worry about inventory or shipping. 

Amazon takes care of all of that for you while you get to receive royalties from every sale and generate an income passively.

Plus, unlike some other POD platforms, Amazon only creates and ships products when a sale occurs, meaning that you don’t have to pay for the inventory and there are no hidden or upfront costs either.

Who Should Use Merch by Amazon?

If you’re an artist, graphic designer, or simply someone who has ideas for product designs, Merch by Amazon can be a great way to make money.

It’s also a great platform for people who are looking to start an online business with little to no upfront costs. And because Amazon is such a trusted brand, it’s the best and safest platform to build your business on and generate passive income.

However, it’s important to note that Merch by Amazon can be a very competitive platform. So if you’re not willing to put in the work or don’t have unique designs, it might not be the right fit for you.

You need to put in the work to sell your products and make money. If you don’t, then you likely won’t see the results. Amazon won’t sell your products. You’ll have to do that bit yourself.

And it’s this reason that the platform is ideal for bloggers, influencers, known brands, or anyone with a large enough following that you can promote your products to.

But, this doesn’t mean that if you don’t have a decent following, you can’t start selling on the platform. There are a few other ways to promote your designs that we’ll discuss in detail a bit later in this article.

How Do I Sign Up For Merch by Amazon?

If you’re interested in signing up for Merch by Amazon, the process is pretty straightforward. All you have to do is go to the Merch by Amazon sign-up form and fill out the page with your personal information.

You’ll need to provide details like your name, email, phone number, and mailing address. Once you’ve submitted the form, Amazon will review your application and let you know if you’ve been accepted to the program. 

This approval process can take up to 60 days. However, it usually doesn’t take that long in most cases.

If you are accepted, you’ll be able to log in to your account and start uploading designs. And if you’re not accepted, don’t worry, you can always reapply again at a later time.

How to Do Merch by Amazon Research

One of the most important things you can do to ensure your success on Merch by Amazon is to research your designs and target keywords properly.

If you don’t take the time to do proper research, you’re likely not going to see the results you want. And while it might take a bit more time upfront, it’s well worth it in the long run.

To get started you could try using Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends tools to find out what’s popular. 

You can also use keyword research tools found in our detailed review here.

However, it’s important to realize that these tools don’t utilize Amazon’s data, so you’ll also need to do research with other tools that use the eCommerce site’s data to see what your target audience is looking for on this specific platform.

You’ll need to perform Merch by Amazon niche research just like how an Amazon seller does for their Amazon FBA business. 

Here’s an example of how to do Merch by Amazon research and how to use Merch by Amazon tools to help you target the best-performing keywords:

1. Start by looking up your closest Merch by Amazon competitors. Ideally, you should only include the products and designs that are most similar to yours.
2. Start noting down the product’s ASINs.
3. Make a list of all the relevant ASINs.
4. Head over to an Amazon-specific reverse ASIN lookup tool like Cerebro and enter your list of ASINs into the tool.
5. Look at the data and figure out which keywords your direct competitors are ranking for and start incorporating them into your strategy.

Jungle Scout

Jungle Scout is a comprehensive Amazon product research tool that helps you discover profitable products to sell on Amazon.

It provides the following benefits:

• Helps you find profitable products to sell in your own online store
• Gives you data on the best selling products in any category
• Allows you to analyze the competition for any product and find out their sales volume, estimated monthly revenue, and more

Buzz Sumo 

Buzz Sumo is a social media monitoring tool that helps marketers and businesses to know what people are saying about their brands, products, or services.

The benefits of using Buzz Sumo for Merch by Amazon research include:

• Providing real time data on what people are saying about your niche on social media.
• Giving you insights into your competitors’ marketing campaigns.
• Allowing you to monitor the effectiveness of your Merch by Amazon social media campaigns (if you choose to do them).
• Offering an easy way to measure the performance of your content marketing efforts.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a free tool that provides insights into the search patterns of Google users. It is an invaluable resource for content marketers, SEO specialists … and Merch by Amazon companies!

Google Trends offers a variety of ways to explore the data. The user can choose from different time ranges, regions, categories, languages, and types of searches. 

One of the most popular features is Insights. It provides data on how a word or phrase has trended over time in specific geographical locations and languages.

Optimizing The Title For Your Merchandise By Amazon Program Product Listing

One of the first things you need to do when listing your product on Merch by Amazon is to optimize the title.

Your title is one of the first things potential customers will see and it needs to be catchy and to the point. It also needs to include relevant keywords so that your product appears in Merch by Amazon search results.

Here are a few tips for optimizing your title:

• Keep it short and to the point. Ideally, it shouldn’t be longer than 80 characters (just to stay on the safe side, always aim for around 60 characters). Shorter titles are easier to read than longer ones and are more likely to maintain a reader’s attention.
• Include relevant keywords. Just be sure to not use all caps. Except for prepositions (in, on, with), conjunctions (and, or, for), and articles (the, a, an), capitalize the first letter of every word.
• Make it catchy and attention-grabbing. Study the different title lengths and styles for similar listings on the eCommerce platform.
• Start the title with the product’s brand name. Additionally, make sure the brand name field is also populated.
• Refrain from using subjective comments. Try to be as objective as possible and try not to include words like “Best Seller” or “Popular Item” in the product’s title.

Some examples of optimized Merch by Amazon titles:

• “Funny Sarcastic T-Shirt for Men – I’m Not A Morning Person”
• “Cute Cat T-Shirt for Women – I Love Cats”
• “Graphic Design T-Shirt – I Turn Coffee Into Designs”

As you can see in our quick Merch by Amazon review, these titles are short, to the point, and include relevant keywords. They’re also eye-catching and likely to make someone want to click on the listing. 

Remember, your title is one of the most important elements of your listing, so be sure to take the time to optimize it and make it look great!

For more information about product title requirements and how to prevent your items from experiencing Merch by Amazon search suppression, be sure to review Amazon’s product title requirements for sellers and Merch by Amazon’s terms and conditions.

How To Promote Your Merch 

Most of your actual work begins when your merch goes live. Yes, even though Amazon is an eCommerce giant, it doesn’t mean that you’re always going to get guaranteed sales. 

To succeed on the platform, you’ll need a strong promotion strategy for your Merch by Amazon brand.

Luckily, promoting your Amazon store isn’t any different from promoting any other online business. You mainly need a good social media following and given that you can only sell clothing items via the platform, it’s recommended to primarily focus on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Amazon advertising is also a great way to make your products stand out in Merch by Amazon search results, direct traffic to your store, and create sales. 

The best thing about running Amazon ads is that it’s relatively cheap and work’s much like Google’s pay-per-click ads, meaning you only have to pay when potential customers click on your ads.

You can also use the following marketing strategies to promote your merch:

• Join relevant Facebook groups and forums where your target audience spends most of its time and post about your products there when appropriate.
• Create a blog for your brand and make use of content marketing to include links to your store to get more exposure and traffic.
• Promote your merch using influencer marketing or by getting streamers to advertise your products on platforms like Twitch.

Once your merch is live, take the time to brainstorm and think of new ways to market your products. You’ll definitely be able to come up with a winning strategy for your Merch by Amazon store if you think hard enough (and might as well start with a good Amazon store name).

What Functions And Features Are Available To Sellers?

Put simply, the key feature and biggest highlight of our Merch by Amazon review is that Amazon owns it. 

The eCommerce platform doesn’t offer or feature any unique functions for sellers. Its main highlight is that you get to sell your merch on Amazon with little to no effort (not including the design).

Unlike other print on demand companies, Merch by Amazon is a powerful source of passive income because it doesn’t require sellers to spend money on storage, customer service, or shipping. It’s unique because you can quite literally start a merch business without having to spend a single dollar.

Plus, it offers all of its sellers the option to list their merchandise as Amazon Prime products, which gives it a big advantage over regular products by giving it greater reach and discounts on shipping which can lead to greater sales over time.

Does Merch By Amazon Have Customer Service?

Yes, Merch by Amazon has a customer service team that can help sellers with any issues or questions they may have. You can contact customer service via email or by simply filling out their Contact Us form. 

Unfortunately, you can’t get in touch with them for queries by calling. However, they feature a very extensive Merch by Amazon FAQ section where sellers can find the answers to most of their questions. 

And if you can’t find what you’re looking for there, they even have a dedicated forum where you can present your questions.

For your buyers, the customer service is completely handled by Amazon itself. As they’re taking responsibility for the fulfillment, shipping, and production, they are more than capable of handling all customer queries.

For all Amazon users, there’s no difference in customer support whether a shirt or hoodie is sold by a popular clothing brand like Calvin Klein or by an individual seller on Merch by Amazon. If they have any issues, the customers can contact Amazon similar to any other order.

Merch by Amazon Review: User Experience

Merch by Amazon’s user experience is positive overall. The platform is easy to use and navigate. Uploading designs and creating listings is pretty simple. And there are plenty of helpful resources available to sellers, including a customer service team.

The only downside is that Merch by Amazon’s application process can be a bit lengthy and getting into the program isn’t always guaranteed. However, if and once you’re approved, you can start selling right away.

Overall, Merch by Amazon is a great platform for selling t-shirts and other merchandise. So, if you’re looking to start your own merch business and aren’t in a time crunch to launch your designs, it’s definitely worth considering due to its ease of use.

How Much Money Can You Make With Merch By Amazon?

By this point, I’m sure most of you have a few questions like, “Is Merch by Amazon profitable?” or “ Is Merch by Amazon worth it?”,

Well, the answer to both of these questions in our Merch by Amazon review is a resounding YES!

Plenty of Merch by Amazon top sellers are making a full-time income from selling their products on the platform. And with the right strategies in place, there’s no reason you can’t be one of them. 

In fact, there have even been cases where people have sold merch worth $700 per day or, as we mentioned in our introduction, sold their Merch by Amazon stores for north of $93,000.

Of course, how much money you make will depend on several factors, including:

• The niche you’re in
• The quality of your designs
• The demand for your designs
• The price of your products
• Your competition 
• How well you market and promote your products

But if you’re willing to put in the work, there’s no reason you can’t start making serious money with Merch by Amazon or at least add a nice passive income stream to your monthly budget.

Regarding how much Merch by Amazon pays you for each sale, generally speaking, you can expect to make 13-37% commission on each sale (find out more about Amazon pay here). So if you sell a $20 t-shirt, you can expect to earn approximately $5 per sale.

Of course, the more products you sell, the more money you’ll make. And if you’re able to sell your products at a higher price point, you’ll earn even more commission. 

So if you’re looking to make some serious money with Merch by Amazon, it’s important to create high-quality designs that people are willing to pay for.

You can learn more about how Merch by Amazon works out its predefined prices for every type of product and an outline of the Merch by Amazon royalties on their site.

What Products Does Merch By Amazon Offer?

Merch by Amazon originally started as a POD platform specifically for printing custom t-shirts. Since its inception, Merch by Amazon has slowly added several products that you can customize and sell on the platform such as:

• T-Shirts
• Hoodies
• Tank tops
• Long sleeve t-shirts
• Sweatshirts
• Phone cases and pop sockets
• Tote bags
• Throw pillows

Despite diversifying its catalog, the platform’s offerings still aren’t as extensive as some of its competitors. However, at least it covers most of the popular merch options. 

Plus, their product and print quality is also pretty solid, as long as you make sure the design you upload is of decent quality and resolution.

The Pros and Cons of Merch by Amazon

There are a few things to consider before you start selling on Merch by Amazon. Here are the pros and cons:

The Pros of Merch By Amazon

• Compared to Merch by Amazon alternatives and other POD platforms, it’s completely free to use and removes all the hassle of printing and inventory fees. The only real work that sellers need to do is design their merchandise.
• All products are hosted on one of the largest eCommerce platforms in the world (Amazon) and are Prime eligible, resulting in better visibility and potentially greater sales.
• The platform’s user interface (UI) is very intuitive, easy to navigate, and straightforward.
• It’s a great way to earn passively. Simply create your merch, forget about it, and wait for the money to start rolling in.
• There are plenty of resources available including a customer service team.

The Cons of Merch By Amazon

• Sellers have to be approved before they can start selling their merchandise. And the application process can be lengthy. It can take weeks or even months to get approved and, even then, there’s no guarantee you’ll be approved.
• The commission you earn per sale isn’t particularly high, and the competitive market means that sellers will have to sell lots of merchandise through the platform to earn a decent profit.
• The platform doesn’t offer any third-party website or marketplace integrations like Shopify or Redbubble.
• The selection of merch and products you can sell is quite limited, only offering popular items like clothes, phone cases, pillow covers, and tote bags while some Merch by Amazon alternatives offer much more like keychains, jewelry, and mugs.

The Takeaway: Merch By Amazon Review

So, is Merch by Amazon worth it?

If you’re willing to put in the initial work, then the answer is yes. 

Our Merch by Amazon review shows that it can be a great way to earn extra income by selling custom products without having to deal with the hassle of managing shipping, customer service, and production.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the application process can be lengthy and there’s no guarantee you’ll be approved.

That’s why it’s best to have one or more other revenue streams set up before you rely on Merch by Amazon as one of your main sources of income.