Merch Ideas That Will Earn You Money in 2023
It doesn’t matter if you have a million or a thousand followers, if you’re a world-touring band or a local celebrity, or if you’ve got a well-established business or are just starting out. We’ve got plenty of cool merch ideas to help you bring in extra money and give your fans and supporters something to cheer about.
Continue reading to find out the recipe for great merch, what kind of designs and products are popular, and how you can start selling merch with Printify without any hassle or upfront costs.
What Makes Great Merch
Whether it’s band merch for music fans, custom merch to raise money for a good cause, or unique merch items used as a promotional tool, there are certain things that differentiate average products from best-selling merchandise.
Deciding to create your own merch has already got you headed in the right direction. But before you start selling, ensure you have everything set up to capitalize on the opportunity.
Here are three suggestions to help you get your merch business off to a flying start.
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience is critical in any field of business, including merch sales.
With so many products available for purchase online, you need to make sure you’re offering your customers exactly what they want. Research your audience on social media, identify what the competition is offering, and follow the latest trends.
If you’re unsure what your customers and fans want to buy, ask them.
Offer High Usability Items
To sell more merch, offer products people can use daily, giving your brand, organization, or business an even better chance to get noticed. It can be anything from t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, mugs, etc.
A cool t-shirt with your logo or a phone case with your branding will surely sell better than something super specific, like a golf ball.
Of course, it doesn’t mean you have to sell mundane stuff. Just make sure your potential customers get the most out of your products.
Don’t Forget About Quality
Whatever merch items you’re selling, they have to be top-notch. Customers aren’t shy about leaving reviews online, and a few bad comments can make your sales dip.
When talking about quality, we mean the print design and the product itself. Printify offers apparel and accessories of the highest quality. Match that with a beautiful design, and you’ll have an excellent merchandise product.
Order a sample and inspect it to ensure you’re happy with the finished product.
Let’s look at some of the best merch ideas for you to try out.
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25 Best Merch Ideas
As you set up your merch store, picking products to sell can be tricky since there are so many creative merchandise ideas to choose from.
To make your life easier, we’ve compiled a list of 25 merch ideas that have a proven track record in the print-on-demand industry and are sure to make your customers happy.
Go through the suggestions, check them out in the Printify Catalog, and start designing and selling with our Merch Maker.
You can never go wrong with custom t-shirts. They’re versatile, easy to style, and perfect for all custom designs.
With the global custom t-shirt printing market expected to grow by an average of 10% annually until 2030, creating t-shirt merch seems like a no-brainer. The demand is there – add customized t-shirts to your online store and start earning.
Here are some bestselling t-shirts to try out:
Hoodies are super comfy, and people wear them in various settings – when going out, hitting the gym, running errands, or lounging around the house. They’re an essential part of anyone’s wardrobe and can serve as the perfect gift.
Did you know that they’re also the hottest-selling TikTok merch item?
Add text and images to your hoodie designs, or create all-over-print hoodies for a unique and fresh look.
Give these hoodies a go:
Tote bags are a staple of any merch table or online merch store and can potentially offer you some serious profits.
With people becoming more environmentally conscious and looking for ways to reduce pollution, reusable bags have been on the rise for quite a while. Make sure to jump on the trend by designing your own custom tote bags.
Let your customers make plastic bags a thing of the past by offering these tote bags:
Looking for podcast merch ideas? Stickers are relatively cheap to produce and ship, and you can sell them in bunches or by the sheet.
Great for creating logo designs or showcasing art, stickers come in a variety of interesting shapes and styles. You can also offer free stickers to customers who shop in your store.
Check out these stickers for your merch collection:
Custom mugs are a huge merch hit – people purchase them as gifts or for their own homes and office spaces.
The design options are endless. For example, coffee mugs with “World’s Best Dad” or “Best Mom Ever” written on them are great for presents. You can also design mugs with various graphics and memes that people will love showing off at the office.
Try adding these custom mugs to your store:
Everyone’s protecting their precious mobile devices with cases. Make a stylish phone cover, and your merch will be with your customers everywhere they go.
The value of the global mobile phone accessories market is forecast to grow from $254.5 billion in 2020 to a whopping $413.2 billion in 2030. Phone cases will take up a huge chunk of that – don’t miss out.
Check out these cases and look for more in our catalog:
Socks have always been a hot item in the merch world. The global socks market is expected to grow by approximately 5.7% annually, reaching a value of $67.1 billion by 2027.
Use Printify to create novelty socks with bright colors, fun visuals, and funny texts. A pair of cool socks might just be what your customers want to add to their wardrobe.
They’re the perfect product for almost any design, including something super specific, like NFT merch.
Here are some socks to try out:
Sell sustainable merch by offering your customers cool reusable water bottles. They’re perfect for the gym, the outdoors, or the office.
The reusable water bottle market is growing steadily and is expected to reach $12.7 billion by 2032. Add this practical and fun merch item to your store and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Give these water bottles a go:
Notebooks and journals might not be the first thing to come to mind when thinking about merch, but there’s a lot of potential there.
Although students might be your safest bet for selling notebooks and journals, you can target people of all ages. A lot of people take notes and journal regularly – make sure they can jot their thoughts down in your custom notebooks.
Try adding your designs to these products:
Beanies offer a fun way to create merch items. People wear them all year round, and you don’t need special design skills to make a best-selling hat.
If you’re looking for merch design ideas, you can use anything from funny puns to cute drawings or a logo design. Beanies come in various colors and let you create embroidery designs.
These beanies will be perfect for your merch offering:
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Pin buttons are super fun, and they’re more popular than ever. People attach colorful pins to their backpacks, jackets, hats, etc. Why not have your custom pins in the streets?
Often associated with custom band merch, pin buttons aren’t limited to the music business. Combine fun images, cartoons, and text with your brand colors and fonts, and you’ll have a great product on your hands.
Use pins to raise awareness about various important causes. It’s a perfect item to use for pride merch.
Magnets bring a personal touch to any indoor setting. They look fantastic, and your customers can use them on any metal surface, for example, to attach notes.
Magnets come in various shapes and are great for any design. Use an image or your logo, add a quote or a joke, create a practical design – anything goes.
Check out these ideas for your merch:
Posters are a merch staple. For example, if you’re looking for band merch ideas, posters are great for displaying album art or a promotional photo of the musicians.
You can use inspirational quotes and puns on posters, design unique maps of countries and cities, or create abstract digital art – the options are endless.
Add these posters to your merch table:
Don’t underestimate coasters when looking for business merchandise ideas. The global beverage coaster market is expected to grow from $173.88 million in 2021 to $203.12 million in 2027.
Whether you want to use text or images for your design, both will look great on a coaster. Choose between square and round coasters, and sell them in bunches to save on shipping.
Try out these coasters for your custom merch:
Long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts are great ideas for merch. They’re super comfortable and look great in any setting.
People wear long sleeves everywhere they go, giving your brand a chance to be seen by a lot of eyes. Create a cool design, and your long sleeve shirt may just become the personal favorite of your customers.
Have a look at these long sleeves and find even more in the catalog:
Perfect on a hot summer’s day, for lounging around the house, or sweating it out at the gym – tank tops can be your next bestselling merch item.
When looking for merch apparel, people want style and comfort. The latter is already there, so all you need to do is add your unique design and start selling.
Create the perfect custom fitness apparel by adding your designs to these tank tops:
Looking for gamer merch ideas? Try selling mouse pads.
People love styling their home desktops with different cool accessories, and every gamer or PC user needs a pad for their mouse. There are many great options to pick from – your customers will love them.
Here are some mouse pads to start with:
No merchandise store or merch table is complete without at least one hat on offer. They’re great for various occasions and can add some swagger to any outfit.
Caps are perfect for durable and high-quality embroidery designs. Use your logo or brand motto for a sleek look.
Are you a podcaster or a musician? Use hats for your Spotify merch.
Add one of these caps to your store:
Fanny packs have been in and out of fashion for decades, but it looks like they’re here to stay for good.
People accessorize their outfits with fanny packs, and they’re very practical. If you manage to jump on a design trend and add a couple to your store, they’ll sell like hotcakes.
Check out the fanny packs on offer at Printify:
Keyrings offer your fans a way to show support discretely and tastefully. They’re very popular as sports and band merch, but you can also design them if you aren’t selling either of those.
Create a fun text or image design, and these keyrings will be dangling from your customers’ keys in no time.
Here are some options to try out:
A custom wall tapestry is an excellent option if you’re looking to find merch ideas for artists.
Tapestries are great for decorating any indoor space, letting you take your creative process to the next level. Sell unique art and let your customers showcase it in their homes.
Pick between these two options:
A wall calendar provides a great way to bring your brand into your customers’ homes for an entire year.
Each month gives you a blank canvas to offer something fresh and fun. Use graphics, images, and text – offer something educational or inspirational. Keep it as light as you want.
Custom wall decals offer a terrific way to decorate one’s home. They have vibrant print colors and last for a long time. Your custom visuals and branded designs will pop right off the wall.
Try adding your designs to these decals:
Perfect for any outdoor activity, neck gaiters will be a fantastic addition to your merchandise store.
Choose between lightweight and midweight options, or offer extra warm neck gaiters for the winter. Print your awesome visuals all over the product and let your customers enjoy their time outdoors in style.
Pick between these three neck gaiters:
Bookmarks serve a practical purpose, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun.
Create personalized bookmarks with literature puns or beautiful drawings. Keep the design light and playful, and your customers will add your product to their regular reading routine in no time.
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Design Ideas for Your Merch
We’ve identified the products worth adding to your merchandise store, but what about the designs?
Whether it’s band merch, branded products of a business, or athletic merchandise – the main design principles are similar for all products.
The most important thing you need to do is add your unique touch to your merch without trying to copy anyone else.
Here are some ideas to try out.
Logo
Adding a logo to your company merch is great for raising brand awareness and recognition.
When designing your brand logo, you need to consider all the possible use cases. What might look good on a computer screen might not look as great on a mug.
If your brand is still on the come-up, you might want to dedicate a smaller surface of the merch for the logo. When you become more popular, the logo will sell itself.
Quotes, Words, and Phrases
Letters and words look great on merch products. You can add a fun quote or phrase to your product; just make sure to avoid copyright infringement.
Also, consider what type of font and typeface looks best on the product you’re designing. If you’ve established a brand font, use that. If you haven’t, try out different options and see what works best.
A catchy quote or phrase can be the perfect addition to any YouTuber merch or podcast merch item.
Names
Names are great for merch because they offer a personal touch, and people love using personalized products.
For example, try adding personal names or names of cities to your merch – just make sure they match the entire design of the product. Let your customers send in names they’d like to see on the merch and create the items for them if you can.
Pictures
A picture is worth a thou… Yeah, you get it.
The web is full of free stock photos you can use on your designs, but you can also get next-level visuals for a small fee.
For example, Printify offers a built-in Shutterstock integration. Browse thousands of images and illustrations for any occasion and use them on your merch.
Turn Your Merch Ideas Into Real Products With Printify
Printify is a print-on-demand platform that lets you design and sell custom merch worldwide without any upfront investment.
With over 100 fulfillment locations around the globe and more than 70 carefully vetted print providers, you can start your merch empire from the comfort of your home in a matter of minutes.
You don’t even need to keep stock – Printify takes care of the production and shipping.
Follow the steps below to start earning money with Printify.
Sign Up
The first thing you need to do is sign up with Printify. It's completely free.
It doesn't matter where you're from and what's your background. Printify lets you become your own boss by starting a custom merch business.
Select Products
Browse the Printify product catalog and choose from more than 750 items to customize. We have a wide selection of men's, women's, and kids' clothing, accessories, and home & living products.
Whatever merch you're looking to design, you should be able to find it in our catalog. We're regularly adding new items.
Add Your Own Design
Once you've selected an item, it's time to create your unique design.
Use our built-in, user-friendly Mockup Generator to drag and drop your design right onto the product. Adjust and reposition your visuals however you like, and get free mockup images instantly.
Integrate Your Store
To sell your merch, you need to connect to an online store.
Printify integrates with all major eCommerce platforms and marketplaces, including Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.
Research the available options before you decide where to sell. Our blog has plenty of articles describing each eCommerce platform and marketplace.
Start Selling
After connecting your Printify account to an online store, it's time to start selling.
Publish your merch to your storefront and promote it online. You don't need to worry about keeping stock and sending the products to your customers – Printify does all the heavy lifting.
Once you make a sale, you'll be charged for the production and shipping. The rest is your profit.
Final Thoughts
With the global licensed merchandise market size expected to grow from $320 billion in 2020 to $445 billion by 2027, it’s safe to say that merch can help you bring in good profits.
Printify makes selling custom merch easier than ever before. Pick some of the merch ideas described in this article, add your designs, and start selling.
We’ve got everything set up for your success – start earning money with Printify today.
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Written by
Jānis Bute
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