Merch By Amazon Value Analysis and Practical Guide

Everyone knows that Amazon is great at selling clothing, and now Amazon is offering a service called Merch By Amazon, which allows users to sell their own designed clothing through the platform , which is full of creativity and flexibility.

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Signing up for a Merch by Amazon account is relatively simple and can be done in 15 minutes. First, make sure you have the following materials:

• Amazon account and password

• Contact Details

• Bank account and routing number

• U.S. Social Security or Tax ID Number

  
  

Open the website: www.merch.amazon.com/landing , and then an orange button will appear on the interface saying "Request Invitation", as shown below:

After clicking this button, you will see an application form where you need to fill in your company profile, bank information, etc.

• If you don't have a business profile, you can just use your full name, but you need to fill in an industry, such as T-Shirt business.

• In addition, you will need to fill out a tax audit questionnaire. If you are a non-US user, Amazon will withhold approximately 30% of your profits to cover taxes.

What kind of content can be reviewed more quickly? It is recommended to include your personal design experience, personal resume website links, and original design works in the application to increase the chance of passing.

Log in to your Merch account → dashboard → Upload Finished Artwork , as shown below, click the button to upload your design:

Your design work must comply with the following basic rules:

• Aspect ratio is 15×18, transparent background;

• Resolution up to 300 ppi (e.g. 4500×5400);

• Export the artboard as sRGB;

• File size < 25MB.

If you’re just starting out, you can download templates from Amazon, which include T-shirt templates for Photoshop, Illustrator, and GIMP.

Please note that before selling clothing designs, make sure the work is original . Using other people's works in the design is an infringement. Once discovered, you will be banned from selling and may even be sued.

If your design is really unique and creative, and you want to use it widely, then it is worth registering it to prevent others from stealing your design. You can register the brand of the product you designed through the USPTO . The application portal is: https://www.uspto.gov

Once you've uploaded your product design, you'll see a drop-down menu where you can select the type of apparel you want to create, such as a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or hoodie.

After submitting a new product, the backend will show it as Under Review. After the review is passed and before the product is finally launched, the status will change to Processing. Once the product is launched, you can copy the product link and start your marketing.

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While Merch by Amazon is a great tool, it’s not necessarily right for every user. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this platform.

advantage

• Be creative — New and emerging designers can build their own portfolio through the Merch platform. Designers are also sellers and can sell their own products.
• Zero cost —Selling on Merch is almost free. Designers only need to provide unique clothing designs without having to bear the costs of materials, warehousing or shipping.
• Easy to use —Merch is super easy to use. Users only need to follow the tutorials to easily and quickly create products and sell them on Amazon very quickly.
• Large quantity - Amazon rewards designers by increasing the number of designs that can be uploaded. Professional and prolific designers can upload up to 8,000 products, which can greatly increase sales.

• Product Pricing   —Pricing is determined by Amazon, not by sellers. For example, a standard T-shirt usually costs between $15.99 and $25.99, and sellers cannot set their prices below Amazon’s lowest price.

• Royalties - New designers should not expect to become millionaires through the platform. Amazon pays designers very low royalties. For example, for a T-shirt sold for $15.99, the seller only gets $2.36.

• Category – Amazon does not have a wide range of product categories, currently only including T-shirts, long-sleeved T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies.

• Quality - Since Merch is a print-on-demand platform, the products are printed, packaged, and shipped by Amazon, which means that sellers are not involved in the production process of the products and cannot control the product quality.

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Among the many designers who sell their designs through the Amazon Merch platform, how can your design stand out?

• Design – Make sure your design is unique enough to draw customers in. If possible, add a slogan and try something trendy or topical.

• Marketing – Take advantage of social media and promote across all platforms. Create engaging posts, run paid ads, and collect lists of likes and shares.

• Market Research – Before uploading your product, do some market research. Summarize what types of products already exist on the platform. Look at similar products, who your competitors are, and how your product is selling. You can use the Merch Informer tool to help you see what products your competitors are selling.

( Note: URL: https://merchinformer.com/ )

• Register your brand - Selling your own brand products through the Merch platform can increase your chances of success. Be sure to SEO optimize your business name, product name, and description. Use keywords that are easy to remember and related to your niche or brand. Of course, make sure the product design is original.

• Pricing - Many sellers will tend to lower the price to promote more sales. In fact, it is better to set the price at an average price rather than the lowest price, because when encountering similar products, buyers tend to question the quality of low-priced products.

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Merch by Amazon is a platform provided by Amazon for independent fashion designers to realize their creativity. Designers can freely display their designs, and Amazon provides on-demand printing services, that is, Amazon will print them, which greatly reduces the cost of designers.

The disadvantage is that sellers cannot control the pricing of goods, and the royalties for each sale are relatively small. For sellers who hope to make a lot of money through the Merch platform, it may not be a good choice.