So, you and your friends started a band in your parents’ garage and now you’re wondering how to sell your band merch online. Great! This is a thought process we fully endorse. Because if you’re not currently selling band merchandise, you are missing out on a very profitable opportunity.Â
Band t-shirts go with the music industry as well as popcorn goes with the movie industry. You can technically have one without the other, but it just doesn't feel right, does it? That’s why one of the best things you can do to boost your band is to invest a little thought and energy into creating some merchandise for your band and selling the swag online.Â
Here at MerchBooth.com, we’ve assembled this ultimate guide on how to sell band merch online. Let us know if we can answer any questions!
Why Should You Sell Your Band Merch Online?Â
If you’re a dedicated musician, your primary focus is probably not on merch, but rather the music itself. Putting out quality music should always be your first priority, but there are a few reasons why you should sell your merchandise online.
For one, if you are hoping to make some money, you really need to sell your band swag online.Â
The shift away from physical music to streaming has changed both the way we listen to music and how much artists get paid. Spotify isn’t transparent about how much money artists can make per stream, but it generally falls between $.003 and $.005 per stream.
Wanna make a buck? You better hope you get at least 250 streams to generate one dollar in revenue. And just in case it needs to be said, you probably won’t need to sell anywhere close to 250 hoodies to make that same dollar.Â
Selling band merch is starting to sound really appealing, isn’t it?Â
Besides making additional dough to fund your touring costs and pizza habit, having merch increases brand awareness and functions as free advertising. If clothing brands can slap their logo on a polo to advertise, you can do the same with your awesome album art on a super comfy cotton t-shirt. Â
You already have a band, so now it is time to make the merch. There are only a few steps you need to start selling your band merch.Â
1) Choose the Types of Merch you Want to SellÂ
Before you can begin selling your band merch online, you need to decide what type of swag you want to sell. You have plenty of options here, including physical merch and digital merch.Â
Physical Merch
Physical merch makes up a bulk of the band merch you see on a daily basis:Â
- Stickers
- Shot glasses
- Posters
- Patches
- T-Shirts
- Hats
- Hoodies
- Sweatshirts
- Guitar picks
- Tote bags
Digital Merch
Digital merch is a popular choice because it eliminates physical production and shipping costs:Â
- Behind-the-scenes videos
- Digital lyric book
- Downloadable sheet music
If you’re just starting out, it’s best to start small so you don’t get overwhelmed with too much merchandise too soon.
Now, if you’re selling any type of merch, your fans will almost always expect to see t-shirts, which is a good choice considering 60% of consumers make the most online purchases in the clothing, shoes, and jewelry category.Â
Since you want to create merch that your fans actually want, you can create a poll on your social media channels to see what products are the most popular among your fan base.Â
2) Create Kick-ass Custom Merch Designs
Once you have a general idea of what kind of band merch you want to focus on, you can get to the creative part: designing your merch.Â
If you have artistic talent and a knack for digital design, you can create your own merch designs. Maybe you already have a great logo or some awesome album art that would look great on the front of a t-shirt or the back of a hoodie. If so, you are well on your way to an online merch store.Â
If you don’t have any artwork that is ready to use yet, you can hire a freelance designer for some custom graphics.Â
One way to find an artist who will vibe with your style is to look for band artwork you like and see if you can track down the artist. They just might be open for commissions and hopefully within your budget. If not, check out websites like Fiverr to help find a freelance designer in your budget.
The Benefits of Selling Band Merch Online at MerchBooth.com
If your website has e-commerce functionality, you can sell your band merch online directly from your website, but then you have to add yet another task to your ever growing agenda.Â
If you don’t want to worry about taking control of product pages/descriptions, inventory management, and bulk ordering, it sounds like you need to create your own MerchBooth.com storefront.Â
At MerchBooth.com, we offer tools and resources to make your merch dreams a reality. It is now possible to get your merch in the hands of your biggest fans, all from the comfort of the internet.Â
Think it’s expensive? Think again. It doesn’t even cost you $.003 to open up a storefront with us. And thanks to our state-of-the-art printing technology, bulk ordering is a thing of the past. We use cutting-edge Direct to Garment (DTG) technology to create high-quality merchandise for little cost to our sellers
DTG printing creates sharper, higher resolution images that will make your band shirts stand out from the crowd. Unlike the screen printing process, there is no long setup or cleanup required, so we can print shirts individually without minimum order requirements.
What Makes MerchBooth.com Different:
- Zero upfront costs
- Real-time reportingÂ
- Fulfillment services
- Access to professional design services
- State-of-the-art DTG technologyÂ
- Sales and marketing support
Long gone are the days when your only opportunity to sell your band swag was to haul your dusty collection of t-shirts from venue to venue. Now, you can focus your time and energy on creating new music and hauling your instruments from festival to festival by putting the merch responsibility in the hands of MerchBooth.com.Â
Goodbye, old-fashioned merch table. Hello, MerchBooth.com. Â
Sell Your Band Merch Online with MerchBooth.com
So, you decided what type of swag you want to sell and have approved some product mock-ups–now it’s time to get selling. Â
At MerchBooth.com, our goal is to help talented people get discovered, booked, and make more money. With our marketplace, musicians and other entertainment professionals can easily sell merch on demand to their adoring fans.Â
Merchandise is more important now than ever. Learn more about how MerchBooth.com can take your band to the next level today.Â
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