Once you've built a following and started earning from your streams as an affiliate or partner, branching out into merch is often the next step.
If you're not sure how to start selling merch as a streamer, we've got you covered. This guide discusses why selling your own merchandise is worth it, how to do it with Print on Demand, and what it actually costs to get started. We'll also walk through real examples to get your creative juices flowing.
Why sell merch as a streamer
A merch store gives you a source of passive income that doesn't rely on someone catching your stream live, no matter where you are in your streaming journey. Subscriptions, donations, and ad revenue all reward viewers who show up at the right moment, while a merch store keeps earning after the broadcast ends.
Branded merch also diversifies your income in a way subs and ad revenue can't. Small Twitch creators with 5-10 average viewers typically earn $50-$200 a month from streaming, while mid-tier streamers with a follower count between 1,000-10,000 followers can see $5,000-$30,000. Bringing your VODs to YouTube, another common practice, adds $1-$30 extra per 1,000 views.
All of it depends on platform payouts, ad policies, and algorithms you don't control, which is exactly what a merch store lets you step outside of.
There's more to selling merchandise than money. A merch shop helps grow your brand outside the stream and builds community. Every custom merch a viewer wears or uses works as free advertising and gives fans a way to show support even when they're not watching live.
In the long run, a visible merch line can open the door to brand and affiliate deals, too. Sponsors usually look for streamers with a huge following willing to spend money, and steady merch sales prove your community backs you up.
How to start selling merch as a streamer
The easiest way to launch an online store is through Print on Demand – a model where products are printed and shipped only after a customer orders them. There's no unsold inventory piling up, no warehouse to manage, and no risk of sinking money into merch products that never sell.
We'll use Printify to walk through the process in this guide, but feel free to compare us to other POD services if you want more options.
Pick your merch ideas
Think about which products fit your audience’s preferences and budget. Apparel like t-shirts and hoodies work well for most Twitch streamers, while lower-cost items like stickers or phone cases are easier entry points if your audience skews younger or price-sensitive.
Save exclusive drops and special editions with higher price points for later. Focus on a small, solid core merch line first, one that gives your audience an easy way to start supporting you.
Not sure what to pick?
Browse Printify's bestsellers for POD products that perform well and consistently earn high customer satisfaction.
Create your merch designs
With Printify, you don't need design experience to bring your merch to life. Our free merch maker gives you beginner-friendly design tools to build designs from scratch using ready-made graphics, text, and templates. Alternatively, if you'd rather not build your own designs, hire designers to create something unique and resonates with your branding.
Once you have a design, upload it to the Product Creator and adjust the placement on your chosen product. Preview exactly how it'll look before it goes live in your store.
The best merch designs tie directly back to your brand. Your channel logo is the safest choice. Inside jokes, recurring phrases, or a mascot your community already recognizes tend to perform just as well, sometimes better, since they feel personal to your regulars.
Just make sure anything you use is original or copyright-free. Memes, fan art, or images pulled from elsewhere online can create legal issues even if your audience would recognize them instantly.
Set up your online store
Printify integrates with popular eCommerce marketplaces and platforms, so you're spoiled with options. For most streamers, the latter is the better fit since you don’t have to compete with thousands of other sellers under their own branding.
A platform like Shopify and Squarespace lets you build a streamer merch store that looks and feels like an extension of your channel. You're free to customize it however you want, so your branding is always front and center.
Integrating Printify with your store takes just a few clicks, no coding. Once connected, fulfillment runs automatically: an order comes in, Printify prints and ships it for you.
Promote your first merch drop
Now that your Twitch merch store is live, it’s marketing time. Start by adding your store link to Twitch's Info Panel and any other platforms you're active on, including your social media bios. The goal is to make it accessible for both regular viewers and first-time viewers.
Next, make an announcement with a fun teaser like a short skit or a custom animation featuring your new designs. They catch attention and give your audience something to share. Or, keep it simple like what Ethan Nestor did when launching his custom calendar. He simply took a picture of it with his dog, who also modeled in the calendar itself.
Follow up with periodic shoutouts during your Twitch streams. A quick mention during a lull in chat reminds regulars your store exists and lets newcomers know it's there, without derailing the stream.
You can also make your store easier to find with tools like Nightbot or Streamlabs. Set up a custom command like “!merch,” and whenever someone types it in chat, a message pops up with a direct link to your store. It's a simple, low-effort way to promote merch on Twitch without breaking your focus mid-stream.
What does it cost to start a merch store
While building a Twitch merch store doesn't need a big budget, knowing how much you should expect to invest lets you plan ahead and avoid surprises down the line. Here's a breakdown of what to expect, from one-time setup costs to the fees that keep showing up every month.
Upfront costs
We'll use Shopify as the example platform here, with Printify handling the fulfillment.
- Shopify Basic plan: $25/month or $22/month if paid yearly
- Domain name: $10-$20, depending on the registrar
- Design tools: free, using Printify's Twitch merch maker
- Product samples: around $8 per t-shirt, so $24 for a starting lineup of three
All together, you're looking at roughly $59-$69 to get your store ready to launch.
Monthly costs
Once your store is live, a few costs stick around. Some are fixed, like your Shopify subscription, while others depend on how much you want to invest in your store's look and functionality.
- Shopify monthly fees: starts from $25/month or $22/month if paid yearly
- Domain renewal: $10-20/year, depending on the registrar
- Shopify premium theme: $100-$500
- Shopify premium apps: starts from $5/month
That brings the estimated total to $40-$550+ a month.
You can adjust these costs once you know what your store actually needs. Free templates and apps work fine to start, and you can hire a designer to custom-fit your store to your branding later. The same goes for your domain – buying multiple years upfront usually works out cheaper than renewing year to year.
Real streamer merch ideas and examples
Seeing how other Twitch streamers sell merch can help you find your own angle. Here are several Twitch merch ideas that tend to perform best, along with real examples of streamers who've built their stores around it.
The classic merch: Apparel
When people picture Twitch streamer merch, apparel is usually the first thing that comes to mind. T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts are the go-to for many streamer merch stores because they fit into everyday life and are simple enough to personalize around a logo or catchphrase.
With the right design, they work for basically any age group, from younger viewers into graphic tees to older fans who'd rather keep it simple with a clean hoodie.
Successful streamers like Kai Cenat and MoistCr1tikal both lean into this approach, filling most of their Twitch merch stores with apparel in a range of designs. Instead of offering a huge range of products, they keep the focus on these clothing items and let the designs do the heavy lifting.
Pro tip
Add a limited merch drop with unique designs every month or two. It keeps your store feeling fresh and gives people a reason to buy before it's gone.
The everyday merch: Accessories
Accessories are another easy way to kick off your merch store. They're affordable, leave plenty of room for unique designs, and get used often enough to keep your brand visible without breaking the bank. They also pair well with apparel, giving you an easy way to extend a collection you've already started.
CaseOh does this on top of his apparel lineup, offering socks, beanies, keychains, and trucker hats, with most designs built around his channel name and his cat.
BenVanLier goes a different route with art prints of his own drawings, which ties nicely with his creative-focused streaming channel. It's a simple way to grow a catalog too: put a design on a few different print-on-demand products and let the audience pick their favorites.
Pro tip
Bundle an accessory with an apparel item to boost order value. You can also use accessories to test new designs before committing them to pricier products.
The niche merch: Personal and community-driven products
Not all Twitch merchandise needs to appeal to everyone. These products speak to your most regular viewers: the ones who follow your content closely enough to get the reference, and that sentimental or inside-joke value can justify a higher price tag.
D&D-focused Twitch channels like CriticalRole and RobertHartleyGM sell dice sets, maps, and pins with designs related to their campaign settings and characters.
The ASMR channel angelskimi takes a different route with candles. The wellness item extends the calming feeling of the stream itself into something physical, designed to help their audience relax.
The creative streamer drawfeeshow leans into plushies, body pillows, and pins based on caricatures drawn live on stream. Since the audience already recognizes and likes the designs before they become products, they tend to sell with little extra marketing needed.
Pro tip
Do a poll on your stream if you’re not sure what to sell. There’s no better way to know what your audience wants than asking them directly.
Keep the sales coming
Launching a merch shop is only half the battle. Here are more tips to help maintain the momentum and turn it into a solid passive income stream.
- Keep your store updated. Add new designs periodically, and drop the ones that aren't selling, so your store stays fresh for returning visitors.
- Watch what sells and adjust. See which merch products perform best, then lean into similar ideas going forward.
- Make checkout simple. A complicated checkout, or forcing people to create an account, is one of the biggest reasons carts get abandoned. Test your store before it goes live so this doesn't happen to you.
- Learn from other streamers. Check out other merch sites and see what most successful streamers are doing with pricing, layout, and drops.
- Price for your audience. Set prices your viewers can actually afford.
- Stay consistent with promotion. A single announcement gets buried fast. Keep finding ways to promote your merch across streams and socials, not just at launch.
- Engage with buyers. Reply to posts, repost fan photos in your merch, and thank people who support your merchandise business. It keeps the relationship going past the purchase.
- Team up when it makes sense. A merch swap with another creator introduces your branded merchandise to a new audience without extra ad spend.
Frequently asked questions
Launch a print-on-demand business and sell branded merch effortlessly
Selling streamer merch is one of the most practical ways to add income to your streaming career, whether you're just getting started or already building a decent following. It doesn't take a big budget or design experience – just the right products, designs that reflect your brand, and a consistent way to promote them.
Sign up for Printify and see how easy it is to launch your merchandise brand's online store.
