How To Make Band Merch That Resonates with Your Fans

Like any good millennial, I love things that make me nostalgic for my youth. So it’s no surprise that my most worn t-shirt is band merch from one of my favorite pop-punk bands in high school, Relient K.

In 2014, Relient K went on tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album “Mmhmm.” I sang every word of every song at their show in Portland, and I picked up this whimsical t-shirt on my way out the door. I was, of course, drawn to the design. Who wouldn’t be? A long-legged turtle chasing a slice of pizza. What more do you need?

These days, I’m more than willing to shell out a little cash for cool band t-shirts that support an independent artist I love.

Are you an artist or a member of a band? Want to give your fans the band merch they want and earn some money as well? Keep reading to learn how.

Make money selling custom band merch

If you’re still wondering why you should start a clothing line and sell band tees online, here’s the quick answer: to make money. Designing custom clothing and running your own online store is easier than you think, and it can serve as an additional source of revenue alongside your music.

The best way to sell band merch is by partnering with a print-on-demand (POD) company. POD is an order fulfillment method where items are printed and shipped to your customers as soon as an order is made, with no order minimums. You can create custom designs for a myriad of products and sell them all under your brand.

When working with a POD company like Printful, you can avoid the hassle of inventory management, and instead dedicate your time to your art and music. Store setup is simple, and we offer resources to guide you through the process. 

Your fans can order your custom merch online, and the products will be printed and shipped by Printful. Or, if you’re heading out on the road, you can get discounts for buying in bulk and take your band merch with you. 

Now, you might be wondering—sounds great, but where do I start? Keep reading to find out how to make band merch and open an online store.

How to make your own band merch

Crafting memorable and authentic band merch can boost your brand visibility and create a lasting impact. Here’s how to make your own band merch that resonates with your audience. 

1. Understand your audience. Know who your fans are and what they like. This insight will guide your design and product choices.

2. Reflect your music and message. Your merch should be a visual representation of your band’s style, genre, and ethos. Whether it’s edgy, whimsical, or retro, make sure your products align with your band’s image.

3. Brainstorm ideas. Look at your band logo, album cover, and song themes for inspiration. Your logo might be perfect for band merchandise items like custom hoodies or t-shirts, but you might also want to create new artwork that quotes a fan-favorite song or represents the theme of your new album.

4. Choose a variety of products. Go beyond t-shirts, hoodies, and posters. Consider hats, mugs, bags, stickers, or even unique items like all-over print leggings. We’ll delve deeper into custom band merch product options later in the post.

5. Explore design tools. You can use graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator or free alternatives like Canva or Printful’s Design Maker to create your own, authentic designs.
   The Design Maker is loaded with a ton of amazing clipart, fonts, and more. You can also use it to create all-over printed patterns for products like leggings and totes. 

6. Make sure your designs are high-quality. Ensure your designs and logo are high-resolution and scalable for different product sizes. Follow our guidelines—you can find the instructions along with useful print file templates in the File Guidelines tab under each product in our catalog.

7. Create your band merch! 
   
   Learn More: 50 Merch Ideas + Examples
   Learn more: Everything You Need to Know to Prepare the Perfect Print File

How to start your store

LA-based pop artist Laura Rizzotto started her online merch store in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Laura couldn’t travel or perform, so instead, she put her creative energy into recording a new Friends-inspired single called “Ross & Rach” and filming a music video with her sister and close friends.

Laura celebrated releasing her new single by creating her first merch line with Printful and Shopify. 

“We didn’t want to create merch that was going to be just like . . . my face,” Laura says. “I wanted to create designs that were cool and take the opportunity to be creative.”

The idea of running her own store felt overwhelming at first, but once Laura decided to partner with Printful, she could work step by step and get her store ready in no time. 

“Once you’ve created your designs, you don’t have to worry about getting your items shipped, so it’s pretty simple,” says Laura, “I was excited to create my shop and have all the products organized.”

To sell custom band merch online for all your fans like Laura, you’ll need to follow the steps we’ve outlined in this article.

1. Decide where to sell

Printful allows you to integrate with many of the most popular ecommerce platforms. When selecting a platform, it’s important to consider various factors, including pricing. Some platforms may require a monthly subscription fee, while others might charge a percentage for each order processed through your store.

Every platform provides unique features concerning customer experience and mobile optimization. To make an informed decision, you should explore our ecommerce platform and marketplace comparison.

If you’ve built your website using Bandzoogle, you can easily connect it to Printful and list your new merchandise for sale. The same goes for selling merch on Spotify, where you’re likely already streaming your music. 

Learn More: How to Sell Merch on Spotify With Shopify

2. Set up your store

Once you pick your sales platform, set up your account and link it to Printful. This will kickstart your store setup process. 

Focus on creating a store that is welcoming and appealing to your fans, but don’t forget to address essential operational details. One key aspect is selecting a payment processing method. Your chosen ecommerce platform or marketplace will provide guidance on how to set it up.

Next, you’ll have to determine the pricing for each product, taking into account the profit margin you aim to achieve and shipping costs. Deciding whether to offer worldwide shipping and determining the appropriate shipping fees are crucial steps in the store setup process.

Remember that you’ll have to pay Printful for shipping each one of your orders. To make a profit, you’ll need to charge your customers for shipping, but high shipping costs can discourage customers from buying. So we recommend pricing your products a bit higher in order to keep shipping prices low. Learn more about how shipping works at Printful.

Finally, you’ll need to write store policies with information about returns and exchanges and other common issues.

3. Choose products to sell

When I think of band merch, I think of custom t-shirts first. At Printful, you can find crew-necks, v-necks, long sleeves, short sleeves . . . the list goes on and on, and there’s something for everyone.

We also offer a variety of high-quality matte and luster posters with and without frames, as well as canvas prints. Customize these with album art or photography from one of your shows. Imagine the satisfaction your fans will feel hanging up their new band posters in their bedrooms while singing along to your tunes.

Consider selling other trending items like hoodies, tote bags, mugs, leggings, and stickers as well. POD allows you to sell a wide variety of products without any risk! If an item doesn’t sell, you’re not stuck with unsold stock gathering dust in a warehouse. 

Valuable read: Novel Band Merch Ideas + Examples

Some apparel items have multiple print placements for your designs. For example, you can create a cool design for the front of a t-shirt and add your band logo on the sleeve. You’ll see where you can add designs on each product as you use the Design Maker.

When you select items to sell in your store, remember that high-quality products often mean better profit margins and happier customers. At Printful, we take pride in the high quality of our products. Each product goes through a three-step quality check before it’s shipped to your fans. 

66% of customers shopping online say they’d pay more for sustainable products, and this may be the case for many of your music fans. You can let them know that on-demand production like POD is a more sustainable fulfillment model than buying in bulk because items are only printed after a product is ordered. This cuts down on fabric waste, especially compared to conventional manufacturing methods. 

Plus, Printful offers a whole collection of eco-friendly products that are made of at least 30% sustainable, recycled, or biodegradable materials.

No matter which products you choose to sell, they’ll be completely white-label, which means they won’t have any Printful branding at all—just your amazing designs.

4. Add products to your store and make a test order

Once you’ve connected your store to Printful, you can test your designs in real life by making a sample order. 

Rizzotto remembers testing as an important part of getting her own store ready for her fans.

“It’s really important to order samples,” Rizzotto says. “Most of the samples we ordered, we loved, but everything prints differently, so it’s important to see the products for yourself and make sure they’re good.”

You can order samples from your Printful Dashboard. Just choose your store, and in the pop-up under Test your designs, choose Create your order.

If you’re happy with your sample orders, you can add them to your store for your customers to buy! Head to your Printful Dashboard > Stores and add your products to your store with just a few clicks. Then, it’s time to make a test order through your own storefront. Go through the checkout process just like your future customers will. Placing a test order will give you a chance to see what’s working and what’s not, so you can fix any issues. 

Once you’re confident in the quality of your products and the user experience in your store, you’ll be ready to share your store with the world.

5. Share your store with your fans

Your fans are dedicated to supporting your music, and they’ll be the first ones lining up to make a purchase from your new store, so make sure you keep them in the loop about your merchandise launch.

Email is one of the most popular ways to drive traffic to ecommerce stores, so collect your fans’ email addresses and make your way into their inboxes to let them know about your store.

If you have a presence on social media, you can also look into boosting posts about your store or creating advertisements to target fans who’ll be most likely to buy your merch.

Once you’ve made a few sales, you can ask your fans to review your merch and feature the reviews on your website or social media platforms. Positive reviews will help new customers make decisions about what to buy from you.

Incentives on your store can help you make sales as well. Consider:

• Offering free shipping 

• Offering coupons for loyal fans

• Running sales around the holiday season

• Building excitement by releasing new products regularly

Try the extra services

You can surprise your fans with branded pack-ins, which are special extras you can add to each of your POD orders. These little extras will surprise and delight your fans and leave them with a positive impression of your store.

If you’re having trouble setting up your store, creating designs, or sourcing high-quality product photos, we’ve got support for that too.

Let’s rock and roll

My old Relient K t-shirt means a lot to me. It’s more than just a t-shirt, really. It’s a physical representation of hours spent listening to their music as well as a memory of a really fun night at their show.

I hope that after reading this post, you feel ready and inspired to make a similar heartfelt connection with all your fans by starting your custom band merch store.

I’d love to hear about your favorite band tees in the comments. Will you use those designs as inspiration for your own?

Read Next:

• 22 Novel Band Merch Ideas + Examples
• 10 Successful YouTuber Merch Stores to Get Inspiration From
• How Do Artists Make Money on Spotify? 3 Ways to Monetize Your Music