Create and Sell Your Merchandise: A Complete Guide for Influencers
For online influencers, monetizing their influence is a crucial issue. In today's rapidly developing fan economy, creating and selling merchandise is an excellent way to achieve this. Furthermore, selling merchandise is not just a side hustle; it's also a way to solidify a personal brand and transform a fan base into a genuine community. This guide will walk you through everything related to influencer merchandise, from choosing the right products and strategic design to effective marketing, and finally, collaborating with on-demand printing partners to launch your own merchandise line.
Whether you are a content creator, streamer, artist, or lifestyle influencer, this guide will help you create merchandise that your fans truly want to buy.
What is merch?
Merchandise (short for merchandise) refers to branded products designed by influencers, creators, musicians, or companies and sold directly to fans. These products typically incorporate signature elements of the personal brand, such as logos, slogans, signature colors, illustrations, or catchphrases.
For fans, merchandise is more than just a product. It represents identity, belonging, and emotional connection. Fans buy merchandise not only because they like the items themselves, but also because it allows them to support you in a tangible way and express their emotional connection with your brand.
12 Merch ideas your fans will love
MrBeast has built a commercial empire from its merchandise. Emma started by sharing coffee, but its coffee-related products later became the profitable brand Chamberlain Coffee, now a mature business with annual revenue of tens of millions of dollars. If you're planning to build your own merchandise line, here are some proven merchandise ideas suitable for creators in different fields.
T-shirts
T-shirts are among the most common and popular influencer merchandise. They are very practical, easy to customize, and inexpensive. You can print your slogan, graphic, or logo on a high-quality T-shirt, making it a staple in the daily wear of your fans.
Hoodies & Sweatshirts
Hoodies and sweatshirts are generally perceived as more valuable than T-shirts, and therefore command higher prices. These are good choices if your fans prefer comfortable, high-quality clothing. You can design understated styles that are suitable for everyday wear and not limited by your fanbase. These types of products are especially popular with influencers in the gaming, lifestyle, and streetwear sectors.
Hats
Hats are both practical and stylish, making them a popular choice for many online influencers to create their own merchandise. Baseball caps, knit hats, and bucket hats are all incredibly popular. Simple printed slogans and embroidered embellishments can instantly elevate their look. Trust me, no fan will resist a stylish hat you design.
Phone cases
Phone cases are highly functional accessories that everyone uses. They are especially suitable if you have a strong visual brand image or a unique and distinctive illustration design style. These customized phone cases can naturally expose your personal brand to your fans.
Stickers
Stickers are low-cost, highly interactive merchandise. Many fans enjoy collecting stickers to decorate laptops, water bottles, notebooks, and phone cases. Stickers are also perfect as giveaways, bundled add-ons, or limited-edition items. If you're a car influencer, customizing some personalized bumper stickers would be ideal.
Enamel pins
Enamel badges are collectible and popular among fans who appreciate subtle self-expression. You can have your logo, iconic mascot, or symbol printed on them. Some creators also release limited-edition badges to create a strong sense of urgency and encourage repeat purchases.
Keychains
Custom keychains are also a good option— practical, affordable, and easy to customize. Acrylic or metal keychains printed with your logo, slogan , or motto can become everyday accessories for fans; they're inexpensive and fall into the category of impulse purchases.
Posters & postcards
Posters and postcards are perfect for influencers with excellent visual content, photography, or illustration skills. If you fall into this category, you can use your photography or illustration work as material for custom posters or postcards.
Mugs & water bottles
Drinkware is a favorite merchandise among fans. Since morning coffee, late-night work, and hydration during workouts are all part of daily life, they become ideal for personalized designs. Simple designs and inspirational quotes often work particularly well.
Tote bags
Tote bags typically cost only $15-25 , making them the most affordable product for fans supporting influencers . Custom tote bags are also functional lifestyle products that combine style and practicality. Furthermore, in the current trend of pursuing "plastic-free" products, canvas bags are truly eco-friendly merchandise.
Throw pillows
While not as common as other decorative items, throw pillows offer unexpected practical benefits for those seeking a certain lifestyle, home décor, or a cozy atmosphere. For example, Lofi Girl turned her frequently featured orange cat from her livestreams into uniquely shaped throw pillows. This made fans feel like they were bringing a part of the livestream into their homes.
Digital products
Wallpapers, emojis, filters, and other digital products allow fans to promote your brand on mobile phones and social media. This content is easy to share and spreads very quickly, making it highly effective at increasing your brand awareness. You can choose to sell these digital products or offer them to your fans for free.
How to create your own merch?
Creating successful merchandise is more than just slapping a logo and photo on a product . It requires careful design, community engagement, and a focus on customer experience. Here are some practical strategies for launching merchandise that fans love:
Designing functional merch that aligns with your niche
In the fan economy, fans are tired of low-quality merchandise that's just randomly printed with a name. Merchandise should be a physical extension of your content, not simply a tool for generating revenue. If a fitness creator suddenly starts selling pillows with their selfie on them, fans will find it strange. But if you're selling custom leggings, gym bags, and water bottles, fans will feel that's exactly what they need. As an influencer, if your content addresses your fans' emotional needs, then your merchandise should address their practical and everyday needs.
Validate your product ideas
It's crucial to focus on the needs of your fans or followers. Before actually launching a product, it's best to confirm whether they genuinely need it. If you're livestreaming, you can directly ask your fans in the chat if they're interested in the product. If most of the comments are affirmative, then the product is viable. Alternatively, you can post messages like this on your social media and communities: "Hey guys, I'm finally designing my first merch drop, but I can't decide between these two items. Which one do you like more?"
By surveying your audience and involving them in product decisions, you can ensure your product resonates with your followers .
Selling interactive products co-created with your fans
Involve your fans and followers in the creation of merchandise. You can solicit design submissions from your fans. Launch a contest, such as "Design a design for our second-anniversary T-shirt." The winning design will be printed on the shirt, and the winner will receive a sales commission or a free set of merchandise. This way, you get a free, high-quality design, while the winner will enthusiastically promote the custom T-shirt to their social media.
You can also give fans the naming rights to the product and let them interact in the comments section. The comment with the most likes is selected, which can easily create some inside jokes. In the future, when people mention this name, there will be a kind of tacit understanding.
Why do this? Simply put, people tend to value products they helped create. This strategy has a specific term in marketing psychology: the " IKEA effect ."
Crafting a unique unboxing experience
In the fan economy, the unboxing experience is just as important as the product itself. If fans receive a tattered gray plastic shipping bag, they'll quietly open it. But if it's a box covered in fun designs, or contains a beautiful thank-you card, they'll take a picture and post it on Instagram Stories or TikTok. Every unboxing video is a free advertisement. And when fans open the package and see a small card that says, "Thank you for your support, it means a lot to me," it's no longer a transaction, but a gift—a gift that connects you emotionally.
Where can you sell your merchandise?
Choosing the right sales channels for influencers on different platforms to sell merchandise is also important. Below are some of the most effective sales channels currently available for influencer merchandising.
TikTok Showcase/Shop
If you're a TikToker, selling merch becomes incredibly easy. You can open a TikTok Showcase and a TikTok Shop, which will appear as a tab with a shopping bag icon on your profile. Fans who click on it will see all the merchandise neatly arranged like on a shelf. You can even tag products directly in your videos and livestreams, allowing fans to purchase without leaving the app. If you have a strong engagement base, this channel can bring you rapid growth and high conversion rates.
YouTube Shopping
If you're a YouTuber, YouTube Shopping allows you to directly link your merch to your video content. Products can appear below the video, in the live stream, or on the channel's shop tab, allowing viewers to shop while watching your videos. For followers, YouTuber content is often considered more in-depth, and fan engagement and trust are generally higher than on TikTok. Therefore, subscribed fans are more willing to pay a premium for their expertise.
Shopify
Shopify remains one of the most flexible and scalable solutions for selling merch. If you want to build your influence into a highly personal brand, setting up a Shopify store is the best option. You have complete control over vibe design, customer data, and marketing strategies. Furthermore, Shopify integrates seamlessly with virtually any print-on-demand platform. You can promote your store to your followers and fans on any of your social media platforms and drive them to browse and shop.
Fourthwall
Fourthwall is a creator-centric platform designed for selling merchandise and digital products. It integrates shop, print-on-demand, payments, and fan engagement tools into a single ecosystem, resulting in a streamlined sales process. It's incredibly convenient for streamers and community creators, supporting features like memberships, exclusive content drops, and private messaging, and you can quickly launch and scale your merchandise without managing multiple tools.
How to market your merchandise?
Even the best merchandise needs effective marketing to succeed. But influencers naturally have a unique advantage because they already have an audience's attention.
Word of mouth
What you need to do is offer genuine recommendations, not deliberate sales pitches. You can naturally wear or use your products in your content; this will appear natural and easily attract the attention of your followers. However, the quality of your products is paramount. High-quality merchandise itself serves as advertising. When followers buy, wear, or use your merchandise, they act like mobile advertisements, automatically generating word-of-mouth marketing and boosting your brand awareness.
Content marketing
Content marketing is also a top-tier marketing strategy; the content you create can absolutely serve as a vehicle for promoting your merch. You can simply wear or introduce your merch in your live streams and videos. You can also showcase them in social media posts or incorporate them into the creative concepts behind your work. For example, you can mention or introduce them in your blog and use a buy button to guide your followers to the order page.
Retargeting
Retargeting is a highly precise digital marketing strategy. Its core logic is to retarget those who have already interacted with your brand but haven't yet placed an order. In merch business, if your followers click on your merchandise links, look at your custom hoodie, but don't buy it and close the page, retargeting will make them see the hoodie ad again when they browse Instagram or Facebook. Major advertising platforms like Google and Facebook support this type of campaign.
Start pre-orders
Pre-sales are creators' best friend and one of the smartest and most stable strategies in merch sales. Besides eliminating inventory risk, they artificially create scarcity and a sense of urgency. Telling fans that it's a limited pre-sale, and once the window closes, it may never be produced again, creates psychological pressure that can significantly boost immediate conversion rates.
Partner with PeaPrint to customize your POD merchandise
If you're unsure about the success of your merchandise business, launching with a print-on-demand model is the safest approach. You avoid the burden of inventory buildup and huge upfront investments. Furthermore, print-on-demand platforms streamline the entire product creation and shipping process. By partnering with a print-on-demand company like PeaPrint, you can focus on creative and marketing while leaving production and logistics to us. Here's how to create your merchandise collection with PeaPrint:
Register
Start by creating an account with PeaPrint. The registration process is straightforward and gives you access to the full product catalog and design tools.
Select a product
Choose from a wide range of print on demand products, including apparel, accessories, drinkware, and home goods. Select items that align with your audience's preferences and your brand identity.
Upload your design
Upload your artwork, logo, or text-based designs directly to the platform. PeaPrint supports high-quality printing and offers clear guidelines to ensure optimal results.
Generate product mockups
Create realistic product mockups that can be used on your website, online store, or social media. High-quality mockups help customers visualize the product and increase conversion rates.
We will handle all the remaining matters
Once an order is placed, PeaPrint handles production, quality control, packaging, and shipping. This allows you to scale your merch business without worrying about inventory management or fulfillment logistics.
FAQs
Why do fans buy merch?
At its core, merchandise is a way for fans to support creators they admire while feeling more connected to them. Merch allows fans to express identity and belonging. Wearing or using a creator’s merchandise signals participation in a shared community, not just passive consumption of content. In many cases, merch also carries emotional value, such as inside jokes, memorable moments, or shared values that only true fans understand.
Is selling merch profitable?
Yes, selling merch can be highly profitable, especially when using a print on demand model. Because products are only made after an order is placed, there is no need to invest in inventory upfront, which significantly reduces financial risk. Influencers with strong brand identity and loyal followers often achieve healthy margins, particularly on apparel, accessories, and digital products. Over time, merch can evolve into a stable, recurring revenue stream.
How many followers do you need to start selling merch?
There is no minimum follower count required to start selling merch. What matters far more than audience size is engagement and trust. Creators with a small but highly engaged audience can successfully sell merchandise, sometimes outperforming larger accounts with low interaction. If your followers regularly comment, share, and respond to your content, they are far more likely to support you through merch purchases. Many influencers successfully launch merch with just a few thousand followers.
Conclusion
Creating and selling merchandise is one of the most sustainable ways for influencers to monetize their brand. With the flexibility of print on demand, you can experiment, scale, and grow without financial risk.
By choosing the right products, designing with intention, involving your fans, and partnering with a reliable POD platform like PeaPrint, you can turn your influence into a long-term revenue stream.