Like Evan & Katelyn, you can create designs that match your personality and channel content. If your YouTube channel shares makeup tutorials, for example, you can design merch with lipstick and blush illustrations. If you’re a musician, use lyrics from your popular songs.
Okay, but how do you create the designs? For the design-savvy, use free tools like Canva or Kittl, or invest in expert tools like Photoshop or Illustrator. You can also use Printful’s Design Maker to remove backgrounds and access free clipart, fonts, and ready-to-use designs.
Source: Printful
Don’t feel confident in your design skills? Another option is to hire someone on Fiverr or Upwork to create designs for you.
If you decide to design custom merch yourself, follow these essential design tips for flawless results:
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Know your audience. Before you start selling, engage with your audience to understand what custom merch they’d like. Test merch ideas with pre-sales to see what works. With print-on-demand, you can feature unlimited designs in your merch store without any upfront costs.
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Keep your designs simple. Use no more than 2 to 3 elements, styles, and fonts in your design—don’t crowd it. The most successful YouTubers keep it simple:
Source: zachking.store, teamninja.com, mrbeast.store
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Think about colors. Choose colors that match your brand personality or your YouTube channel. Mix and match so that your designs pop alongside the background color of the product.
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Consider diverse merch types. Think about the canvas you’re using and what kind of design would look good on it. One design might be perfect for a t-shirt or hoodie but not so much on a mug or tumbler.
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Explore existing designs. Use Pinterest, Etsy, or Instagram to explore designs by theme. Create a mood board with your favorite ones for inspo.
Source: Pinterest
By following these tips and using free design tools, you can effortlessly create custom merch. Find inspiration from other successful YouTube creators and start designing.
Pro tip: Order samples before uploading your items to your online store.
Use Printful’s branding tools to create a consistent look and feel for your brand.
2. Create a store to sell your goods
To bring your custom merch to fans, you need an online store—unless you are a YouTube Partner Program (YPP) member. YPP members can sell merchandise through the YouTube Merch Shelf without an external store (more on the YPP later).
But not every YouTube channel qualifies for the YPP. Plus, building a custom store gives you more control over branding, pricing, profit margins, and more.
There are several ways to create a YouTube merch shop, each with its pros and cons. We go through the different options below.
Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce make selling merch a breeze. You can customize your online store with branding and features matching your needs. Having a branded domain makes it easy for fans to find you. You can also host content to improve search engine optimization (SEO). Plus, you’ll gain access to valuable tools and app integrations to scale your business.
A downside to ecommerce platforms is that the initial setup can be time-consuming. Also, there are potential costs for advanced features like custom reports and analytics. Check out Shopify’s pricing to get an idea of what we mean.
Source: Shopify
Online marketplaces
Source: Etsy
Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy give your merch immediate visibility with minimal marketing efforts. You gain access to a large existing customer base ready to spend money, in addition to your YouTube channel fanbase.
However, online marketplaces usually charge fees for listing products and sales commissions. Also, you may encounter high competition from other sellers. What’s more, you have limited branding options and little control over the customer experience.
If you don’t want to create a custom online store, you can sell merch via your social media account. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok allow you to set up shop right there on the platform.
Source: Instagram Shopping
By selling on social media, you offer a streamlined, mobile-friendly user experience with no redirects. The entire shopping process, from product discovery to checkout, happens within the same social app. This makes it super convenient for shoppers.
On the flipside, selling merchandise on social media can limit your control over branding and the shopping experience. The platforms often dictate layout and functionality. And you won’t have access to advanced ecommerce features like abandoned cart recovery or a personalized checkout experience.
Custom website
Source: smosh.com
Creating your own website provides the highest control over the customer journey and branding. Use tools like WordPress and WooCommerce or website builders like Wix or Squarespace. With their help, you can create a professional-looking site on your own. You can also hire a pro to create a site for you.
Building a website from scratch means independence from third-party platforms and fees. Plus, you can access SEO opportunities to attract organic traffic.
The downside is it requires some technical know-how, time, and effort to build and maintain. Also, it can be costly (between $2.75 and $2,000 per month).
All the above platforms integrate with Printful to streamline your order fulfillment process. This also allows for seamless product creation and shipping. Browse the complete list of Printful’s integrations here.
3. Start selling
Once your merch store is up and running, it’s time to add your branded merchandise. To do so, you need a way to produce, store, sell, and ship your merch. Here are the most popular ways to produce and sell products on your online store.
Print-on-demand
Print-on-demand (POD) is a type of dropshipping that allows you to sell merchandise with your unique designs. The best part? There are no upfront costs and no inventory management. You pay for a product only when a customer places an order. With a POD service provider like Printful, you can access premium white-label products ready for customization and branding.
POD allows you to create as many designs as you want without any upfront costs. You can use Printful’s Mockup Generator to upload product photos to your online store free of charge.
However, you can’t control production and service quality. That’s why it’s crucial to trust your POD service provider and order product samples before selling.
Bulk ordering from a wholesale supplier
Source: Unsplash
Ordering products in bulk means you get a discounted price. This can translate to higher profit margins. Some wholesale suppliers allow product personalization, making it a viable way to sell merch.
Yet, bulk ordering requires a major upfront investment. Getting a discount from the wholesale suppliers usually entails a minimum order quantity. For example, if you buy 1000 t-shirts at $5 each, that’s $5K. And you’ll need to manage inventory and shipping yourself.
Bulk ordering can also result in excess stock, which isn’t a good look as unsold items contribute to overproduction and waste.
Producing yourself
Another option is to create your own merchandise from scratch. You can use up-cycled garments to create custom apparel. Or craft merchandise like DIY stickers, pins, jewelry, or candles. With this method, you maintain full control over the production and shipping process.
The disadvantage is that creating custom merch from zero requires a lot of time and effort. It’s also hard to expand your business, as you can only make so many keychains in a day, for example. Plus, you need to manage storage, inventory, and shipping.
Source: Etsy
When choosing a fulfillment method, consider how much time and money you can invest in producing and selling merch. As a YouTube creator, writing, filming, and editing videos fills your days—not to mention staying active on other social media platforms to engage with your audience. Outsourcing the production and shipping of your YouTube merch frees up time for the more creative aspects of your business.
Now you know how to produce and sell all the cool merch you created! The final step is getting your YouTube merchandise in front of your fans. Follow these marketing strategies to start selling merch from day one:
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Announce the new launch. Most YouTube creators will upload a video announcing the launch of their new merch store. They’ll also promote the store on social media accounts like Instagram, TikTok, or X. Here’s Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd) and Smosh (@smosh) promoting their new merch line drops on Instagram.
Source: Instagram
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Leverage every marketing channel. Other marketing channels may include your email list, blog, or live streams. Wherever you have a fanbase, let them know about your merch.
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Optimize your YouTube channel. Moving forward, mention your custom YouTube merch in every video you upload. Link to your merch store at the end or middle of your video. Create hype around your merch and wear it while you’re filming.
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Use social media to the fullest. Go beyond your YouTube channel and use other social media platforms to promote your merch designs. You can build a community that gains access to exclusive deals or leverage user-generated content as social proof.
These strategies are accessible to any YouTube content creator, regardless of your views or subscriber count. Check out the articles below for more marketing tips and tricks.
Find more social media marketing strategies to boost your merch sales.
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) empowers creators with increased access to YouTube resources, monetization features, and support from the Creator Support teams. Once you’re a member, you can earn ad revenue, gain exposure, and access additional YPP and YouTube Shopping features, making promoting and selling your merch on YouTube easier.
And the YPP enables you to display your custom merch directly under your videos in a “Merch Shelf.” Here’s an example of what a YouTube Merch Shelf looks like from the YouTube channel Mom on the Spectrum:
Source: YouTube
There’s a catch though. To be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program, you need a minimum of 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months, a linked AdSense account, and adhere to all YouTube policies and guidelines. So, if you’re not there yet, stick with the marketing strategies mentioned above to sell your merch.
Discover 11 effective ways to market a product.
Get your merch online today
Creating custom merchandise is a fun way to engage with your audience and boost your YouTube earnings. It also lets you showcase your brand identity and elevate viewer interaction. No matter how successful your channel is, you can make merch for YouTube and increase your profits.
Let’s recap the steps to successfully creating YouTube merch:
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Select and design products that you and your fans love
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Set up a reliable store where your customers enjoy shopping
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Choose the proper production method to fit your budget and schedule
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Promote your merch on multiple channels and in every future YouTube video
The key is to remain true to your brand while addressing the desires of your target audience. With ingenuity and, most importantly, strategic planning, your merch can become a pivotal component to your YouTube success.
Need some extra inspo? Check out these 15 successful YouTuber merch stores.
