The most popular, and maybe the easiest way to make money online is Affiliate Marketing, according to some of the Internet Gurus. But the real big money is made by selling your own product. I make the better part of my full-time income with affiliate marketing, but I have and continue to sell my own products as well. And I can tell you it is very profitable.
The reason that most of us don't create our own product is fear, the start-up cost and the inherent risk involved. There is no guarantee that you are going to make back your investment, let alone make a profit.
Wouldn't it be great if you come up with a product idea, and your only responsibility would be designing and promoting your product? The cost of actually producing the item would not come out of your pocket. I know it sounds like a pipe dream but my article today is going to show you.
What Is Merch By Amazon?
Merch by Amazon is an on-demand service that enables you to create, sell and promote your custom branded T-shirts with no out-of-pocket costs to you. Merch by Amazon is a branch of their retail site that was originally created for game developers and gaming companies to quickly produce t-shirts to promote their products, and get them out to their fans as fast as possible.
Since September 2015, Merch by Amazon is now available to anyone wanting to sell personally branded T-shirts at no startup cost. Take a look at the list of stuff YOU DON'T have to pay for, or deal with, when working with Merch by Amazon:
- Material
- Shipping
- Packaging
- Printing
- Handling Returns
- Accounting
How Does Merch by Amazon Work?
It all starts with your artful design for the T-shirt. Because this is Amazon your shirts must be family-friendly and cannot contain offensive material. Once you upload your artwork, it needs to be approved and you'll have tools and templates available to actually create the T-shirt.
Your only real responsibility will be to promote your product. Potential customer will be able to see your design on the Amazon T-shirt section, and when a sale is made, Amazon will take care of the rest and ship the product to the customer.
Pricing of your product is up to you, and Amazon will take about 50% to 55% of the sales price as their commission.
How Do You Get Started With Merch by Amazon?
The process is pretty simple and straightforward. Here are the basic steps:
1) Request Invitation
Click this link to merch.amazon.com and request for an invitation to apply for the opportunity. They'll ask you to tell them more about your background and experience.
2) The Merch by Amazon Dashboard
You arrive at your Merch by Amazon Dashboard. On the right side of the screen you'll see a message and below a link to their FAQ page. Take the time and study this document. It will answer all questions you may have. You also find helpful tips on how to promote your product in different ways.
3) Create Your T-shirt:
Click on the Menu tab ‘Create‘ and start by uploading your artwork. They will walk you step-by-step through the whole process, from build T-shirt, adding details to reviewing and submitting your product.
4) Promoting Your Product:
After submitting your design and creating an account, Amazon will create a t-shirt product page on Amazon.com for each design you submit. For your customer, it's like buying any other product sold by Amazon, with existing customer benefits like Prime shipping.
You can reach out to your fans, friends, and followers by creating Facebook and Twitter posts directly from Merch by Amazon portal promotions section. You can also pin your T-shirt design on Pinterest from your Amazon product page.
Their guidelines are easy to understand and follow. You shouldn't have any problems getting all set-up, and now you are ready to make some money.
How Much Money Can You Make With Merch By Amazon?
That depends a lot on your artistic imagination and your talent as T-Shirt designer. But to put it in perspective, did you know that a staggering 2.5 Billion T-shirts were sold worldwide last year? Can you see the potential in this market? You should now that I've shown you “how to make money with Amazon” another way.
Merch By Amazon Complaints and Concerns.
At the time of this review, we couldn't really find any complaints. But there are somethings that concern me about this opportunity. So let's go through them.
Commission Structure
Now given that Amazon is taking a lot of the headaches and costs associated with setting up a tee shirt business, I knew they would take a percentage. But is 50% – 55% too much? I think I'd be more comfortable with that if I knew they would be helping with the promotion as well. They provide you a site but you still have to promote it. So I find their commission structure pretty high.
You Better Be A Marketer
As I alluded above, for this to be profitable you better be good at promoting your tee shirts otherwise you won't make a dime. But you won't really lose one either given Amazon's Merch program set up. Ultimately like any business it's really going to fall on you to make this work or not. Amazon just gives you the tools but you have to hustle to make it work.
Are You A Designer?
I can barely draw stick figures and photoshop gives me the willies. I know a lot of people that can barely copy and paste so this may not be up your alley because of these limitations. But I guess if you hire someone to design the shirts for you or learn how to use software like photoshop you can get into this business. Quite frankly some of the best tee shirts are simple designs or text so it may not be an issue. But it's always been a concern for me.
You're Limited
I don't like that Amazon limits the creativity of your shirts. Not everyone has the same sensibilities as to what is offensive or not. So it would be very interesting to see what that review process is like. I personally don't want anyone dictating how I run my business. If I wanted people telling me what I can and can't do, I'd try to be an employee the rest of my life. So their content policy would give me pause.
So Is Merch By Amazon Legit or a Scam?
Well if it's an Amazon program then you know it has to be legit. And I've personally met people that may a great living selling tee shirts. But this is a nice twist on how to get started. So there is a lot of potential here. However when you take into consideration some of the concerns I listed above, it may not be right for you.
That's fine, because there are other options to consider such as My Top Free Work At Home Recommendation or My Work At Home Courses. They both give you additional ways to make money outside the Merch By Amazon program. Or you can use them in conjunction as a way to increase your multiple streams of income.
In any event, I hope you found this article helpful. Let me know your thoughts about this opportunity by leaving a comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Eddy with a y
I started the process to become one of the designers on Merch by Amazon. The form asked for bank information and social security number. Is this reasonable?
Yes it is. They will report your earnings to the government and they need to be able to pay you. Amazon is a trusted company. You should be fine.
I live in India.can i work for merch program ?
I’m not sure Manish. Visit their site and ask them.
Hi,
Is this program will work here in the Philippines?
No
Hi,Just came across this.Not much of an artist,but my mom is.Can people upload a picture from a phone,like if i took a picture of one of my moms pheasant paintings or something?Thanks,new here lol.Scotty
Hey Scott,
I’m not really sure. You might want to visit their site and see if that is possible.
Hi Eddy Salomon,
i’m newbie and i have small question.
This image: http://i.imgur.com/uujJ6D0.jpg
If i don’t have any website and just register with organization name & industry type. So, is that ok to approved? thank so much
I am not sure. But you can try and see what happens.
at the present time, your area is still registered ?
It sounds like it’s not available in your area. But again feel free to contact them directly. I don’t really control their site and wouldn’t know.
I have a problem with registration merch
can u help me ?
Hi Hung,
You need to contact Amazon regarding this. It may mean that this isn’t available in your area. But the best thing to do is contact Amazon directly.
Hi Eddy,
This is awesome information that I can be a business owner by channelizing my talents and abilities with amazon.com. I am wonder why I couldn’t get such information before. I really want to do it because basically I am a designer and a video artist and I joined WA before one month. It is really helpful and god bless you for your efforts. Thank you.
with Kind regards
Jijo
You’re very welcome Jijo!
I’m glad you found this useful.