If you’re thinking about selling your own band merch, we have you covered. The reality of being a musician is that you need to look at additional revenue streams alongside the music, selling custom band merch at your shows is one of the easiest ways to do it - but you need to make sure you’re creating something your fans want to buy. A Rolling Stone survey looked at how much some of the world’s biggest bands made from selling their merch at shows and bands like Iron Maiden and The Who can pull in a staggering $225,000 per show. You may not be at rock god level (yet) but putting together your own custom offerings is a must for anyone looking to capitalise on their brand and get your logos and designs out there.
At Zap Creatives, we’ve worked with plenty of bands and musicians of all different sizes. Whether you’re a worldwide success or just starting out on the scene, one thing remains the same - your custom band merch needs to be high-quality, distinctive and something your fans WANT to buy. From custom band badges to band sticker printing, let’s take a look at how we can help you get your name out there.
What band merch should I sell?
Choosing what custom band merch you sell is the first step and one that all of your bandmates should help decide on. What merch works best for your fans? Is it t-shirts and hoodies or are you looking to appeal to smaller budgets with things like badges, keyrings and stickers? Speak to other local bands and find out what they’re selling at their shows, this advice is invaluable as it could mean the difference between stock flying out and a garage full of unwanted t-shirts!
If you have built up a fan base on social media, this is a great marketing tool to use for inspiration. Create a quick poll to see what the people at your shows want to see, it’s free market research that will be incredibly helpful later down the line.
What is your budget?
Work out your budget before you start ordering! Smaller items such as band badges and stickers are cheaper to produce and can be bought in bulk, whereas larger ticket items such as t-shirts and hoodies can quickly eat into a low budget with not much return. We recommend spreading out your cost and picking out a few high-ticket items to sell at a higher cost, with a larger quantity of smaller items to balance them out.
How to create band merch designs?
You’ve got your budget and you know what your fans want - time to get creating your masterpieces. If you’re lucky enough to have an artistic streak, or know someone in the band that does, you can utilise them to create band logos and designs. If not, why not take a look at sites such as Fiverr and commission a talented freelancer to get your designs made.
Once you’ve got your designs, it’s time to bring them to life. At Zap Creatives, we’ve made this easy for you to do thanks to our design templates. Ensure your files are high-res and we can take you through uploading your designs, step by step. Form band sticker printing in bulk to smaller sample orders to get a feel for what we can do, we’re here to get you noticed.
What type of band merch can you make?
We’re able to make a wide range of custom band merch to suit your style, whether it’s custom band stickers or something a little more ‘out of the box’. Take a look at each of our collections below and see what works for you.
Custom band standees (perfect for your merch stall!)
