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You have to be very careful, as even referencing other copywrited material is considered infringement. You can search the USPTO website for existing trademarks.
You have to be very careful, as even referencing other copywrited material is considered infringement. You can search the USPTO website for existing trademarks.
- Dec 27, 2014
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Do you have an example, just so I can visualize it?
solewoman
Staff member
- Jul 27, 2006
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How do all the chinese suppliers get away with infringement and stealing other merch ideas?
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They do lose their accounts at times, but I suspect they likely just buy another account from another person and list again. It also takes a decent amount of work to hunt down and report all the listings that are infringements. I suspect most people aren't actively searching and reporting everything they can, so the suppliers count on people not doing the work fast enough before they can turn a profit.
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- Sep 27, 2005
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is there word when black hoodies will be back in stock?
- Dec 27, 2014
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Just got approved to start doing this. Any good sites for creating designs? Also, is there a good program to thoroughly learn Photoshop? I'd like to eventually be able to use PS like most people use MS Word.
- Dec 27, 2014
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Where do you get fonts like this? Do you have extensive PS/GIMP experience?
- May 15, 2008
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LONG *** POST WARNING
Yooo thats dope to hear somebody went thru the whole thread and saw it all play out.
Def a testament to the power of making money online and getting after it.
My designs have def improved over time but I would say its still my simple text based (sometimes with a graphic, sometimes without) that sell best. The stuff that I outsourced, that is custom drawn/illustrated and looks great, doesnt sell as well as the simple stuff Ive done. Simple still sells great.
That said, my friend Lique, has super dope illustrated designs and he CRUSHES it. Dude did $80k profit in December alone.
So dope custom designs in the right niches will def sell well too.
Its all about filling a need and resonating with the consumer.
I use Over on my phone and it has different fonts. I paid for the Pro version so it includes a bunch of dope fonts, more than the free version. Check out Pixel Lab and Logopit Plus, both free apps on Android with different fonts.
What I use 90% of the time though is Merch Informer Designer. its a super easy design software included with Merch Informer, which is a merch research tool.
I have zero design background and have been able to do pretty well doing simple stuff on it.
There are some others that I havent used but are popular. Picmonkey is one. Gimp is a free software but has a learning curve and is closer to adobe illustrator than these other easy intuitive options.
They all work, just gotta find something for you based on your level of previous experience, or lack thereof.
Like I said, I had never used anything til merch, but I am an artist at heart so its come pretty easy for me.
Hope that helps!
Bro you and me both!
My hoodie royalties have been nice as hell - $10-$14 in most cases.
Gonna go hard with em for winter 2019
Its a big issue and one Amazon is definitely aware of. They screwed up by not vetting apllicants very good so guessing some people were snatching up multiple accts early on. Something they still need to solve for but I can tell you folks are getting terminated every day.
That particular font was just a free font on a free phone design app. It was either Pixel Lab or Logopit Plus on Android. Both are dope entry level design apps to get you started and what I used when I first got on.
I actually have zero PS experience. I tried adobe illustrator but **** was so damn complicated that I begun on those 2 phone apps then moved to Merch Informer Designer on my laptop and occasionally the Over app on my phone. I do plan to learn Illustrator when I can carve some time out but right now my designs Im making on the other options are selling so im in no rush. I do have an artist background though so I have, IMO, a good eye for design aesthetics.
Wow just finished reading all 29 pages of this after I randomly stumbled across it. I actually already do some online e-commerce stuff so this is very interesting to me! A few questions though, I see that many of you have had great success as I tracked the progress from the early stages to now, but do you feel your designs have improved since the start? I would be keen to see a design made from Day 1 to a design which is selling well today.
Also I saw that someone recommended the Over app for text based designs, are there any other apps which are working for people? I would be interested in having access to a variety of different texts/fonts.
Congratulations on all your success! It was really a great read following from Page 1 to now. I submitted my application earlier today
Yooo thats dope to hear somebody went thru the whole thread and saw it all play out.
Def a testament to the power of making money online and getting after it.
My designs have def improved over time but I would say its still my simple text based (sometimes with a graphic, sometimes without) that sell best. The stuff that I outsourced, that is custom drawn/illustrated and looks great, doesnt sell as well as the simple stuff Ive done. Simple still sells great.
That said, my friend Lique, has super dope illustrated designs and he CRUSHES it. Dude did $80k profit in December alone.
So dope custom designs in the right niches will def sell well too.
Its all about filling a need and resonating with the consumer.
I use Over on my phone and it has different fonts. I paid for the Pro version so it includes a bunch of dope fonts, more than the free version. Check out Pixel Lab and Logopit Plus, both free apps on Android with different fonts.
What I use 90% of the time though is Merch Informer Designer. its a super easy design software included with Merch Informer, which is a merch research tool.
I have zero design background and have been able to do pretty well doing simple stuff on it.
There are some others that I havent used but are popular. Picmonkey is one. Gimp is a free software but has a learning curve and is closer to adobe illustrator than these other easy intuitive options.
They all work, just gotta find something for you based on your level of previous experience, or lack thereof.
Like I said, I had never used anything til merch, but I am an artist at heart so its come pretty easy for me.
Hope that helps!
Getting $10 in royalties per hoodie has been
Already drooling over holiday 2019 profits lol.
Bro you and me both!
My hoodie royalties have been nice as hell - $10-$14 in most cases.
Gonna go hard with em for winter 2019
Its a big issue and one Amazon is definitely aware of. They screwed up by not vetting apllicants very good so guessing some people were snatching up multiple accts early on. Something they still need to solve for but I can tell you folks are getting terminated every day.
That particular font was just a free font on a free phone design app. It was either Pixel Lab or Logopit Plus on Android. Both are dope entry level design apps to get you started and what I used when I first got on.
I actually have zero PS experience. I tried adobe illustrator but **** was so damn complicated that I begun on those 2 phone apps then moved to Merch Informer Designer on my laptop and occasionally the Over app on my phone. I do plan to learn Illustrator when I can carve some time out but right now my designs Im making on the other options are selling so im in no rush. I do have an artist background though so I have, IMO, a good eye for design aesthetics.
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- Aug 19, 2015
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maldonado
any links to that Lique persons shirts? I wonder how much detail / illustration is worth it as far as effort vs sales.I think I'm going to buy an iPad and get the Procreate app. I've been watching videos and it looks a lot cooler and easier to design with, as compared to Gimp / PS / Illustrator. Also would use it for non-Merch reasons.
Watched this video last night, that was posted in a Merch Facebook group:
- Apr 30, 2010
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Did ya'll have business information already when signed up?
- Dec 27, 2014
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I've had a little luck finding fonts online that are free to use commercially.
Any clipart sites that you'd recommend for free images?
I've taken some google images and manipulated them significantly so that the OG image wouldn't even be recognizable, but apparently even that is unethical so I'm trying to refrain from doing so.
I've been using GIMP since it's free. There are a lot of helpful tutorials on YT, but it is time consuming for sure.
I finally got approved and threw up a design that also got approved within a day.
- Aug 19, 2015
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My main question is how do you market your designs?
- Aug 19, 2016
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interesting thread, will need to read all pages.
- Dec 27, 2014
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First design, very basic. Still figuring out how to do things with GIMP and stuff.
Amazon product ASIN B07NXD32MR
Amazon product ASIN B07NXD32MR
- Aug 19, 2015
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Not bad at all. If I were you...
I'd update your descriptions and use as much of the available character limit as possible. Your 2nd bullet "find it and grind it" leaves quite a bit of space that you could use. Other skate phrases and what not, in case someone searches for other words "skateboard grinding shirt". You could add something like "Great gift for your family skater to wear when doing ollies and rail grinding" or something like that. That way you just added a bunch of other keywords that are searchable.
- Aug 19, 2015
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This worth it?
Merch Informer Pro for $49.99 for 6 months (instead of $360)
Merch Informer Pro for $49.99 for 6 months (instead of $360)
- May 9, 2004
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Most people don’t use a singlular brand on merch and are covering a broad spectrum of trends and niches.
It’s extremely difficult to cover all those bases marketing wise so most people rely on organic traffic or AMS (Amazon marketing services) which for a fee helps to bump your products to top of searches when certain keywords are searched.
Outside of that you can post stuff to relevant social media audiences... fbook groups/pages, Insta accounts, forums etc.
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- Dec 27, 2014
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Appreciate the tips. I can edit descriptions even if the design is already live?
- May 15, 2008
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I think I'm going to buy an iPad and get the Procreate app. I've been watching videos and it looks a lot cooler and easier to design with, as compared to Gimp / PS / Illustrator. Also would use it for non-Merch reasons.
Watched this video last night, that was posted in a Merch Facebook group:
You can search 'Lique' on Amazon and his stuff will pop up. There are some stuff thats not his too lol some peeps think by just by throwing their **** under his brand will equate to sales
Heres one of his
Amazon product ASIN B07DSF5H5G
Beejay Delong is dope. He's in the FB groups and Ive chatted with him about doing some work for me but haven't done anything yet. He's here in the states so he's more expensive than my other guy.
None required. Once approved for an account you're good to go. Amazon will give you tax info at the end of the year.
The beauty of a merch by amazon acct vs, for example, a redbubble print-on-demand acct is the massive amount of organic traffic that flows thru the website (more than any other retail site on earth)
People find your shirts by the keywords you include on your listing, which makes proper SEO just as important as the design element.
Amazon does have an advertising platform called AMS that Ive used sparingly but 95% of my sales come from organic traffic.
I would say so, but I use the Designer portion more than the research part. That alone makes it worth it for me. You can try it out for free, I think they offer a 7 day trial or something to try it out.
- May 15, 2008
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Yes
- May 9, 2004
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- Oct 8, 2005
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Well just applied. Hopefully they select me...
Had to use my Twitter since I dont have a site.
I actually have an art background so hopefully...I'm trying to quit this no end job.
Had to use my Twitter since I dont have a site.
I actually have an art background so hopefully...I'm trying to quit this no end job.
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- Dec 27, 2014
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How long did it take folks to get their first sale?
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Can happen immediately, or can take weeks+. You have all 10 designs loaded?
Sometimes people will even buy their way out of Tier 10, so they have more design slots available.
