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Merch by Amazon. How to set up a T-shirt business with no money?
Since I started writing this blog, all idea was to make more money either with no investment or with as little as it can be. Money is essential, but another critical factor while earning extra money is TIME. So one of the requirements for each side hustles, it should use as little time as it can.
Snapping receipts after shopping takes only seconds per day. To do a task while shopping? No extra time – you are in the shop anyway.
Today, I will speak about another great idea which you can start doing with no money but some work, or a little money and less work 🙂 Selling T-Shirt’s online using POD (Print-on-Demand) service on Merch by Amazon.
What is Merch by Amazon?
Merch by Amazon is a print on demand service running on Amazon’s platform. Print-on-demand service is a process where individuals can create and upload their designs to customise T-shirts, hoodies, hats, etc. and sell them on a pre-order basis, receiving royalty from each sale.
Why is print on demand so attractive? Because it allows you to have an online business with no cost, and it requires little to no time to maintain your business. From the moment you upload your designs, everything after-sale handled by the POD provider. Printing, packing, shipping is done by the supplier, and you don’t have to pay anything.
How to start selling T-Shirt’s on Merch by Amazon?
First thing you need to do is to sign up for the Merch account. Since Merch by Amazon became very popular POD supplier, Amazon restricted registrations, and now you need to apply for the account before you can start selling. From what I gathered, most applications approved within a few days. However, some people said they had their applications rejected and their process to get into Merch was a bit bumpier.
My application was approved within three days.
Sign up process is quick and straightforward.
- Go to Merch by Amazon page and click “Request Invitation” button, then log in to your Amazon account
- Fill in the application form. Provide details about company (if you are not registered business, use your full name), complete banking information and Tax survey.
- Complete invitation form for Merch by Amazon
- Be honest and give as much as it’s possible information about yourself. If you have graphic design skills, mention them. If Merch is just another way to make extra money from home, let them know how the way you will be getting your designs. Your experience, education, design examples, give them everything you have and your chances to get approved will increase!
- Wait for approval
Congratulations! Your application approved. What’s next?
Now it’s time for you to upload your incredible designs. In the beginning, you will be limited to 10 designs max, and you can upload not more than three designs per day. Once you sell 10 T-shirts per month, your tier will go up.
- Tier 1 – 10 designs
- Tier 2 – 25
- Tier 3 – 100
- Tier 4 – 500
- Tier 5 – Pro (by invitation)
How to upload your designs on Merch by Amazon?
Now you are all set and ready to sell. I suggest having the first ten designs prepared before you get approved for the Merch, in this case, you can upload your artworks and start earning from the first moment.
If you don’t have designs ready yet, then it’s a time to start making them. If you are a skilled graphic designer, most likely you will be using Photoshop for your work, and this is an excellent software designing your Tee’s as well. Otherwise, you can use Gimp or Canva. Gimp is free open source software for skilled users, while Canva is easy to use, and basic computer skills will be sufficient to create your T-shirt design. However, to have a transparent background on Canva, you will need to have a paid subscription. You can try this service for Free for 30 days and see if it suits your needs.
Or you can subscribe to FREEPIK and choose from 6 million available resources. Premium members can have unlimited downloads, no attribution required and no additional fees after you pay your subscription. Subscription starts from 7.50€/month with annual plan.
Otherwise, you can use Fiverr.com for hiring graphic design experts to do the job for you. Depending on the complexity of your design, this will cost you $2-50 per design. For example, if you are planning to make a text-only designs and don’t want to mess around creating your designs, just find the right seller on Fiverr.com, and I am sure text-based designs will not cost you more than $2 per each. You will get upload ready designs for bargain price 🙂 Sign up to Fiverr using following link and you will get 20% discount on your first order here.
Now when you have your designs ready, go to your “Dashboard” on Merch and click on the “Create” tab. You will then see multiple T-shirt products available. Pick the one you like to proceed and click “Edit details”. You can now upload your designs, choose which products you want to use for your design, where you want to sell them, etc.
Bear in mind, every click on a new product or adding a new country will increase your design usage. For example, you choose to sell “Standard t-shirt” only, then you click on .com and co.uk, this will use 2 of your available designs. If you add “Premium t-shirt”, this will double up to 4 designs! Don’t forget you are limited to 3 uploads per day with Tier 1.
- Before uploading designs, make sure you read the design requirements for Merch by Amazon.
- Make sure you check phrases of your designs through official trademark / intellectual property offices.
- Get familiarised with Content Policies
Make sure your content is unique and avoid rejections. Too many rejections can lead to suspension of your account.
Why use Merch by Amazon?
Print on demand nowadays has immense popularity. And why not? It requires no investment and can be an excellent source of passive side income. There are many companies offering POD services now, Printful, Printify, Streetshirts and many more. So, why to choose Merch by Amazon? Most important is the organic Amazon’s traffic. Over 200mln people visit Amazon each month, and each of this visitor is a potential buyer without any advertisement from your side.
Once you build your Tiers up, you can expand your range of products, and sell hoodies, sweatshirts and Pop Sockets. Also, Merch by Amazon is an international venture now, and you can sell your products in the US, UK and Germany markets.
How much royalty will I get paid by Merch?
With every product you sell, you will earn a royalty. Your royalty is based on your product sales price take away Amazon’s basic costs and tax. Full list of examples can be found here.
To wrap this up, if you are thinking to start T-shirt business for passive income, I say go now and complete your invitation form. You may be lucky and get approved for Merch by Amazon very quickly, or it might take some time. While waiting for approval, start either making a designs on your own or begin to outsource the work. Find the right people, do few designs and get ready.
While waiting for Merch approval, you can register with a few other POD suppliers and expand your business. The beauty of this business – it doesn’t cost anything to sell your T-shirts on multiple platforms.
I wish you good luck and success building your t-shirt empire 🙂
looking for something different? Try buying and re-selling Raw Customers Returns