Hey guys! I'thousand Danny.

Welcome to my website Merchpursuits.com – the website dedicated to helping you start, grow, or expand your Merch by Amazon business organisation.

I haven't seen many quality Merch past Amazon tutorials or guides yet, so I decided to dedicate this website to it.

Then at present, I'm hither to help you -for free! No e-courses, no paid subscriptions, just quality Merch By Amazon fabric for you to employ. Follow forth to be emailed whenever I brand a new post, income report, or guide. And don't forget to cheque out my Merch Resources page to see what tools I use to create shirts, become t-shirt inspiration, and for some killer font and vector deals.

Enjoy!

Then, What is Merch Past Amazon?

Merch past Amazon is an on need t-shirt printing service. It allows you lot to create and listing t-shirt designs right on Amazon – for free. Gone are the days of ordering t-shirts in majority, shipping them to Amazon using their Fulfillment by Amazon(FBA) service, and waiting to encounter if they even sell.

This what a Merch by Amazon listing looks like.

With Merch by Amazon, you get paid on a per shirt basis. There is literally no upfront price to do this. You just upload your design, set up a price and colors, and allow Amazon do the residuum. Your royalty depends on the toll yous set.

Merch by Amazon is specifically for t-shirts at this time, but if the name is whatever indicator, they will be branching into all forms of branded merch in the future. Some of us have fifty-fifty received a survey asking what types of Merch nosotros would like to sell in the future. Merch past Amazon will exist huge, guys. The time to get started is now.

At present, there'south a few tips and tricks to becoming successful with Merch. You could just create a bunch of t-shirts and run across what sells, but you'll probably waste your time. Yous could also create t-shirts you like, but over again, no 1 else may recollect so.

Or, yous tin can take the smarter approach and create t-shirts you lotknow people will buy. In this guide, I'm going to evidence you how to get started with Merch By Amazon.

Let's become started!

Footstep 1: Get Your Account

Merch by Amazon was extremely popular when information technology first launched. Amazon was flooded with hundreds of members and thousands of unique designs almost overnight.

Every bit a result, the only way you can join is past signing up to a waiting list. This waiting list can exist anywhere between iii weeks and 3 months.

The best thing you tin do is sign up now. Absorb every bit much of this knowledge as you tin while you look your invitation. Information technology sucks, trust me. I waited a few months myself.

Once canonical, you lot'll log into your business relationship hither. Earlier you tin list designs and get paid, Amazon will enquire for some bones data near you.

After that, you should encounter a screen this:

merchdashboard1

This is your Merch Dashboard. Here you lot tin can upload designs, promote your t-shirts, clarify sales, and much more.

More than on the Dashboard later on.

Offset, let's go over the tools yous need to get started.

Things You lot Demand

  • Adobe Photoshop (or GIMP)
  • Merch by Amazon Business relationship
  • A little creativity

Step 2: Make a Gameplan

Before you can starting time uploading designs, you outset demand a plan of activity. Yous demand to know which t-shirts to become afterward. Like I said, you could just create designs you lot like, but there's no guarantee any of those volition sell.

Consider these:

  • Your target audience
  • Will yous be doing quotes, or images, or both?
  • How practise y'all come up up with T-shirt ideas?
  • Which shirts are the hottest sellers?
  • How familiar are you with Photoshop?

Don't worry if you aren't familiar with Photoshop or GIMP, I've created several video tutorials, equally well as several posts specifically for creating unique, professional Merch by Amazon t-shirts at the finish of this post.

In one case accepted, you are limited to 25 designs. Sell 25 shirts, and y'all'll automatically exist upgraded to the next tier.

Merch Tiers

Y'all start out, you'll have the ability to create 25 designs. One time you sell 25 private t-shirts, you'll be upgraded to Tier 2.

It doesn't take a genius to tell you the more than designs you lot have, the bigger the more money you tin can make.

The kickoff 25 designs are disquisitional to your success. You don't want to be stuck with just 25 designs and not sell a unmarried shirt. Quality enquiry for these first 25 shirts ensures you lot'll get bumped upward to the next tier. Afterward selling 25 shirts, you'll take a better idea of what shirts are selling meliorate for you and you continue to create designs in that niche.

Here's what the Merch tiers wait similar:

Tier 1: 25 designs.

Tier 2: 100 designs

Tier 3: 500 Designs

Tier v: 1000 Designs

Tier 6: 2000 Designs

Tier seven: 4000 Designs

Pro: Invite Merely.

I personally think a tiered system like this is a good thing. It rewards those whoare creating quality t-shirts. It also helps preclude spammers from uploading x,000 designs and destroying any take a chance yous take of being successful.

Step iii: Recognizing Merch T-Shirts

Before you start doing any research, you demand to recognize what a Merch listing looks similar. If you didn't click the link earlier, click it at present because this is important when doing inquiry.

Once you know what to await for, you can check the BSR (best selling rank) of the shirt to see how well it is selling on Amazon. I use a tool called MerchData.io to get live, authentic Merch sales data.

All Merch list have two things in common: a sizing chart (see below), and a visible white tag.

Meet below.

Sizing Nautical chart

merchsizingchartamericanapparel

Visible White Tag

whitetag

Sidenote: whatever listing with a person clothing a t-shirt is not a Merch listing.

Step 4: Understanding Amazon Best Sellers Rank

Now that you know what Merch shirts look similar, you demand to make up one's mind how well they are selling. You can do this by checking the Amazon Best Sellers Rank of that shirt.

Find any Merch shirt, click into the listing, and gyre to the Product Description section. If y'all're on the Amazon app, scroll down and click into the "Features and Details" section.

bsr2

If you don't run into any ranking, that means a grand full of 0 t-shirts have been sold.

Generally speaking, I only go after t-shirts that are under #100,000 BSR. One would expect a t-shirt around #100,000 BSR to sell 1 t-shirt every few days. Annihilation #50,000 and lower is probably selling a few shirts every single mean solar day.

The goal is to use these designs for inspiration. You should never straight upwardly copy a design. Utilize dissimilar vectors, different fonts, or different layouts. You want to create a design that is similar, but different. Make your design stand out among the competition.

The example above would definitely be a corking pick. Every time you come across a winning quote or pattern, add it to a list. Your goal is to come up with at least 25 designs, around #100,000-#150,000 BSR, to use as inspiration.

Step 5: Check the Competition

Permit's say you institute a good t-shirt with just under #100,000 BSR. You enter information technology into Amazon and run across 264 listings, all with the same quote.

Would this be a good t-shirt to target?

In most cases, no.

The t-shirt may have a low BSR rank, which is what we desire, simply it doesn't account for a couple things: Competition and Optimization. Information technology doesn't matter how astonishing your design is, you however have to fight with 264 other sellers to make a sale. If you run into quite a few sellers in the aforementioned depression BSR range, you have a fighting chance with that pattern. If you only see ane shirt with a low BSR, but 10 pages of no ranks/really loftier BSR – you'll want to find a new design.

Couple things to note here. All Merch shirts are placed in the Clothing, Shoes, & Jewelry > Novelty & More than > Clothing category. For this example, I'll be using the quote"Zilch Fob Given t shirt". If yous enter that quote directly into Amazon, you'll run across listings from all categories – including all of the Amazon FBA shirts.

You exercise non want to do your research from the homepage of Amazon. Yous want to do it from Novelty & More category. I get into more particular virtually that in my Writing Amend Merch Bullet Points post.

I use an awesome Merch tool chosen Merch Informer. Whenever I type in a search term into the tool, information technology automatically searches the Novelty & More section.

Once yous accept 25+ ideas, quotes, or designs, information technology's fourth dimension to create your first t-shirt!

Step 6: Creating Your First T-Shirt

Since many of you probably don't take your Merch invite notwithstanding, I've included the template files for you to download. This will let yous create your designs while you lot await for your invitation.

In this tutorial, I'll exist using Photoshop CS6, however, any version of Photoshop will piece of work.

Don't take Photoshop?

Here's your alternatives:

  • GIMP (gratuitous)
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop CS6($ix.99/month)
  • Vexels

Photoshop Merch Template

Gimp Merch Template

Illustrator Template

If you've already received your invite, you can download these templates from your Dashboard.

Later opening the template, you should see this:

merchamazontemplate

It'southward pretty straightforward from hither. For Photoshop CS6, just right-click on the "Front" layer on the correct hand side and choose "Edit Contents".

Delete the sample image layer. This will leave 1 layer remaining.

From in that location, the design is completely up to you. Add together vectors, quotes, or whatever you want. If yous're using images or vectors, make sure to use a high quality image or else information technology will look stretched and pixelated.

Then, click Salve (not Save As). Yous can render to the t-shirt page and see what information technology volition end upward looking like on a shirt. If you like it, and want to upload information technology to Amazon, salvage it as a PNG somewhere.

I ALWAYS salvage every bit a PSD (an editable photoshop file), besides equally a PNG. This way, if I ever want to tweak the prototype, modify the color, use the same layout for another design – I don't accept to completely recreate it.

I won't be going over how to use Photoshop in this tutorial, but I'll be uploading videos to my Youtube aqueduct where I walk you through step-by-step on how I create a t-shirt, or read my Using Photoshop for Merch past Amazon Tutorial.

Merch Research Tools

Hither's the tiptop 4 tools I use for researching merch by Amazon t-shirts:

SpyAMZ

SpyAMZ currently has the largest Merch by Amazon shirt database, with 9 million designs and updates every few hours. In general, you tin can search in SpyAMZ database with many advanced filters such as Best Seller Rank, Sudden Increase, Rank range, Time range, Official/Unofficial brands, and more than. At that place is an Events tab which shows all the upcoming events you lot could utilize for t-shirt designs, and a well-organized Favorite tab to manage your tracked items and ideas.

Moreover, this tool as well includes Keyword Analytics which lists all the most appeared keywords in Merch T-shirts. This should aid in optimizing your listings. You tin easily cheque Trademark for your designs with SpyAMZ, as well.

Utilise Coupon Code MERCHPURSUITS for xxx% off lifetime cost!

Merch Informer

This is another go-to tool for researching, organizing, and looking up t-shirt competition. Anyone who'southward serious nigh making coin with Merch uses this tool.

Try Merch Informer gratis for 3 days here!

Merch Buddy

The fastest way upwardly upload Merch by Amazon designs. Seriously, this is the best $20 I've spent on a Merch tool so far. It allows you lot to copy the product details from 1 list and paste them into as many open tabs every bit you take open.

Get Merch Buddy Hither!

Read my Merch Buddy Review here!

Amazon.com

Yes, I use Amazon.com straight for the bulk of my enquiry.

You tin discover the full list of tools I use here.

Pretty Merch

The all-time enquiry yous tin do is create more than of what's already selling. Use Pretty Merch to rapidly and hands run into which kinds of shirts are selling best for you, which gender, colour, and target your research appropriately.

Both gratis and paid options are available. Download the free Pretty Merch Chrome extension here!

You tin can read my in-depth Pretty Merch review here!

MerchData.io

MerchData is ane of the first tools I utilize when researching. Information technology has the most accurate sales data, so I don't demand to worry nigh chasing old, historical data.

Copyright

Practice not borrow upon copyright with Merch. All of your designs go through an approval process anyway. If yous are using a copywritten term, image, or quote, you lot take a chance your entire account exist shutdown without warning.

You'll see a lot of it going on. And it may make some people a lot of money. Only make no fault, y'all will become caught, banned, and lose all the money you made.

If you aren't certain if it's been copywritten, check out Trademarkia or the USPTO.gov website.

Quotes or images from Television set shows or movies are usually off limits.

Finding Vectors

I of the hardest parts about designing your ain t-shirts is finding vectors. Many sites are hard to navigate, or it's hard to determine if the vectors are available for commercial use or not!

Vexels.com makes it super piece of cake and is the #1 place I go to to find Merch Ready vectors, graphics, or artwork.

Merch Thought Enquiry

There'due south a lot of ways to get t-shirt inspiration. Call back, the goal isn't to copy another sellers shirt – it'southward to stand out. Continuing out will assist you differentiate your pattern from all the similar designs of other sellers.

Here'due south a few techniques I use:

Search Latest Merch T-shirts

Go to Amazon.com, and drill into the Merch listings category. Clothing, Shoes, & Jewelry > Novelty & More > Habiliment. Sort by "Newest Arrivals". At present yous tin can come across what otherMerch members have just posted.

Click here to encounter what information technology looks like.

Chances are they've gone through some kind of Merch research as well.

Every Merch shirt volition have the same bulleted phrase:

"Lightweight, Classic fit, Double-needle sleeve and bottom hem"

Re-create that into the search bar on the Amazon homepage. This will display all shirts uploaded by other Merch members. You want to scroll to find listings around #200,000 or less, and and so create a t-shirt around that. The DS View plugin is very handy if searching this manner.

merch by amazon tricks

View A Seller'southward Store

With Merch past Amazon, you can create 1 "store" for all your shirts, or 25 stores each with dissimilar store names. Information technology's up to you. If you detect a design you lot similar, and it seems similar it'south selling well, view the seller's other tees. They could take a gilt mine of inspiration for yous.

Enter the T-Shirt into Google

At that place's a adept gamble you tin find inspiration on other t-shirt websites like Teespring. Just Google the quote+t-shirt. Other websites to check are Printful or RedBubble, Pinterest, Reddit, or Etsy.

Google Trends

Google Trends is awesome. You can view the most trending keywords on the spider web, or enter your ain. Information technology you lot run across a steady decline for the keyword, chances are people won't exist buying t-shirts around it, either.

Finishing Up

There you go guys! This tutorial should go you started with the basics of selling on Merch by Amazon. I hope it helps y'all create a bunch of cool designs that sell well. And the best part is, because Amazon is such a behemoth of a site, you don't have to do any advertising to make sales. That'due south why I stress that research is the primal to success.

And sign upwardly here to follow my journey and view monthly income reports!

Good luck! If you lot have whatever questions or comments, feel free to comment beneath!

Also bank check out these articles:

Optimizing Keywords and Production Descriptions

How To Exercise Merch by Amazon Research

Organization Tips for the Merch Seller