We analyzed 30 best-performing YouTuber merch stores: This is what we found

1. T-shirts and hoodies reign supreme for YouTube merch sellers

T-shirts and hoodies are a trend of their own. They rank high among the best selling products on all social media platforms. Hoodies are the top-selling products among TikToker merch stores, while t-shirts dominate YouTube and Spotify merch selections.

Analyzing our top 30 content creators – 90% list t-shirts on their YouTube merch store. Followed by hoodies at 76%, and caps taking third place with 66%.

While apparel takes the lead, variety is key when appealing to your fans. Design merch in all shapes and forms to cater to a wide audience. Top creators do it, – offering products like stickers (43%), socks (26%), water bottles (23%), pins (23%), backpacks (23%), posters (20%), and other types of merchandise. 

2. Popular printing methods: Direct-to-garment for the win

Analyzing YouTubers and their brand merchandise, a couple of things stick out in terms of decoration (aka printing method). Not most, but all (100%) YouTubers on our list choose direct-to-garment (DTG) printing for their clothing and accessories.

DTG is a convenient, long-lasting, and fast printing method that ensures crisp colors and quality for a friendly price. 

It’s followed by embroidery (60%) and all-over-print designs (36%) on hoodies, t-shirts, and other products.

3. Offer four or more quality products

Different YouTubers offer different amounts of products on their YouTube merch store. Some list as few as three, while some creators go above and beyond, selling up to 38 different products inspired by their fans, niche, logo, and overall activity within the platform.

However, the average results are clear – all YouTubers list at least four products for their fans. More than half of creators (56%) promote their brand and channel on 4-10 personalized items, creating unique designs with their logo, channel name, and other elements.

While only 16% choose to fill their YouTuber merch store with 21-30 products, it doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself when it comes to your merch, especially if you choose to rock a POD business. Create, list, and sell as many products as you want – with zero risks or investments.

4. Most common color combination on youtuber merch: Black & white

While there is some diversity in terms of color, most YouTubers still opt for similar patterns and combinations. Close to all creator stores (93%) have custom products with more than three colors – a few mixing the entire rainbow. 

But some color categories stand out and dominate YouTuber merch. 

1. Black +1 (23%)
2. White +1 (19%)
3. Black +2 (10%)
4. Red +1 (7%)

Another creative option is tie-dye designs (30%), created for those who love a splash of color in their YouTuber shirts, hoodies, or joggers. 

The most popular color combinations are

• black & white
• black & white & red
• white & green
• white & red
• white & blue
• black & green
• black & blue
• black & white & pink
• black & pink
• black & gray
• black & white & blue

Some colors are slowly gaining popularity, such as purple, orange, beige, and gray.

5. Design placements: Full front takes the lead

There is some variety in terms of design placement for creator clothing. But one specific area stands out – full-front designs with 96% of YouTubers using this option. Full-front designs are fun, huge, and fans love them. Perfect for advertising your brand and YouTube channel and giving your followers a piece of you.

Left-chest and center-chest designs are coming in hot with 60%, mostly displaying channel names, logos, or a creative spin on both. Sleeve designs take third place with 50%, leaving full-back style in fourth with 46%. 

While full-front designs are fun and sold the most, other placement options are gaining popularity, adding diversity for fans. So search the internet for inspiration and create fun custom merch for your YouTube channel.

VanossGaming

VanossGaming is the pseudonym of Evan Fong, the Canadian internet personality and gaming enthusiast with 25.9 million subscribers.

Evan’s store is a great example of simplicity and quality combined. He sells gamer merch with simple yet elegant designs – his epic owl logo with a prominent V, avatar, and drawings of him with his friends – mostly displayed in black and white.

The product scope varies from apparel to accessories. Flashlights, pens, backpacks, slippers, and even a custom logo-shaped table lamp. 

With a persona built behind the camera and a winning logo – you’ll find a lot of inspiration for your merch from this A+ YouTuber.

Dream

We cannot talk about impactful simplicity without mentioning Dream and his insanely straightforward product designs – delighting the 31.9 million fans who admire him and his Minecraft videos.

Dream famously revealed his face only in 2022 – after capturing viewer hearts with a clever disguise and engaging content for years. That plain smiley face became the ultimate symbol of his brand.

His merch store has around 20 products – including typical YouTuber clothing, accessories, and knick-knacks like stickers, pins, wristbands, and even pet items. They all display a simple smiley face or his YouTube tag, proving that designs don’t have to be complicated to sell exceptionally well.

Pokimane

We have to mention some of the powerful ladies on the platform – Poki being one of them. Rocking 6.57 million subscribers on YouTube, this Moroccan-Canadian gamer has a simple merch store matching her adorable personality.

Her listings are few – but powerful. Unlike other creators, Poki’s sales channel features only six items: two sweatpants, a hoodie, a sweater, a t-shirt, and a mousepad. Proving that popular YouTuber merchandise doesn’t have to go above and beyond – sometimes simplicity on a few practical items is key.

Boldness

YouTubers with bold personalities have even bolder designs. And we’re not just talking about daring images or patterns. Some content creators dare to take risks – they offer everything to everyone. 

If you’re on your channel and people keep saying you’ve got a larger-than-life personality in the comments, check out these examples of a potential successful path for you and your merch.

Julien Solomita

Julien is one of those funny, creative, bold dudes who don’t fear showing their full personalities online. And his merch matches his style – created with epic imagery and quotes, representing his inner self.

He established his brand outside the “Jenna & Julien” fame, creating funny and engaging content for millions of viewers on YouTube and Twitch. Rocking a badass mullet and dad-like stache – he brings his Aries personality to his platform and merch designs.

This merch store displays exactly who Julien is, from the ad to the listings themselves. A fun and cheeky daredevil, here to make the world laugh.

Good Mythical Morning

The Rhett and Link empire offers boldness in design and product scope. Their videos entertain over 18 million subscribers with fun topics, games, and experiments. And their store matches the channel.

They sell close to everything, from a regular t-shirt to stickers, kitchen items, water bottles, custom fitness apparel, and so much more. Their entire YouTube merch is an excellent example of creating products representing your channel to its full potential.

The GMM designs feature their epic logo and other elements from every video segment. The famous Moochelle, podcast “Hotdog is a Sandwich”, their fans – the mythical beasts – and other inside puns and features only true followers would know. 

An excellent example of YouTubers matching their video content with their merch.

CaRtOoNz

CaRtOoNz is one of those YouTubers who knows how to sell digital art on epic product designs – bold and beautiful. With 3.9 million subscribers, his gaming content and merchandise entertain both kids and adults.

Sticking to simple color combinations and product scope, his sales channel offers 12 custom products with unique designs. Elements include his YouTube logo, slogans, and creator name. While bolder products feature his signature samurai skull and snakes.

Branding

Some YouTubers choose to stick to their brand rather than their video content. And that’s perfectly fine. You can still make money with branded merch – created only with logos, creator names, and tags.

Jeff Wittek

Jeff has many different video segments on YouTube. His podcast JeffFM, Jeff’s Barber Shop, and daily daredevil videos with his friends. While he has content for many design ideas, his store sticks to simple branding – using nothing but logos and titles.

And the SOLD OUT sign on every product proves that sometimes a strong brand identity is all a creator needs.

Ninja

Richard Tyler Blevins – better known as Ninja – is a world-famous content creator, streaming Fortnight adventures on YouTube and Twitch. And with 23.8 million followers, his merch store can be as simple as possible, focusing only on his brand.

Appealing to kids and adults, his huge following can dress themselves head-to-toe in Ninja’s logo, YouTube name, and three main colors – white, black, and blue.

Clear messaging

Some creators say the funniest or most wholesome things in their videos – and those lines stick forever. While some have earned their place on the platform by starting or ending their videos with a signature phrase. Whatever the case, it’s worth using those elements for your merch design.

Sam the Cooking Guy

This brilliant and talented man is good at cooking up excellent puns and delicious meals. And creating not only engaging content but unique merch as well.

Samuel D Zien, better known as Sam the Cooking Guy, is a Canadian-born author, content creator, and restaurateur with a YouTube following of 3.71 million. His recipes will leave you drooling from the intro to the first bite. And we suggest you visit his store to see some epic branding.

Sam has put his face-shaped logo, original titles, and hilarious quotes on the most diverse – black-colored – merch ever. From his own seasoning and cast-iron pans to knives, aprons, and t-shirts. He’s living proof you can sell anything as a creator – as long as it fits your audience and niche.

And, if you happen to spit out some fire quotes while filming your videos, it’s your duty as a creator to preserve these gems in the shape of custom products.

Philip DeFranco

PhillyD is a great example of how one simple intro phrase can make your entire brand. By always starting his videos with “Sup, you beautiful bastards,” – he accidentally created a trademark for himself on the platform. And now – it’s the official name of his entire merch collection.

The Beautiful Bastard store features comfy, practical products with clear messaging and simple designs. Direct and straightforward – created by one of the most direct and honest men on YouTube.

PhillyD posts reaction videos to the latest news on politics and pop culture – a segment most YouTubers would avoid. But he has earned 6.5 million subscribers with his witty and honest approach. And his store is clear proof that even commentary creators can pull off simple merch that sells.

Creative designs

Some creators come up with merch that either has nothing to do with their original brand or YouTube channel – or that is so creative it leaves fans in awe. Let’s look at some examples of YouTubers going that extra mile for their products and services.

The H3 Podcast

This podcast is the lovechild of the creative, chaotic, off-the-rails Ethan Klein and his uniquely artistic and stylish wife, Hila. They cover close to every topic possible to an audience of 2.8 million. And their store is a great example of turning creative podcast merch ideas into profits.

The Teddy Fresh shop is originally Hila’s company, selling adorable and unique products and designs she comes up with. But it’s also the go-to place for all H3 Podcast fans – the footsoldiers. Here they can support their favorite YouTubers and buy unique merch created by them.

Also, this power couple occasionally comes up with hilarious quotes or fun designs related to the podcast and discussed topics. While sometimes controversial, these designs are relevant and one-of-a-kind – every die-hard fan is running to buy them. 

The H3 Podcast merch is living proof that you don’t need to implement any branding from your YouTube channel to create top-selling products. All you need is creativity and a loyal fan base.

Flamingo

Albert Spencer Aretz – better known as Flamingo – is a creative YouTuber who mostly films fun gameplay and reaction videos to his 12.6 million subscribers. And when we analyzed his merch store, one thing was clear – this guy knows how to sell art online.

The Flim Flam store is filled with creative artwork surrounding his YouTube tag and avatar. It’s full of cotton candy pinks, soothing pastels, and flamingos. A great example of how YouTubers can be as creative and artistic as they want. The SOLD OUT sign on most of Albert’s items proves it.

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