10 Most Profitable Merch Items

One of the mistakes that many artists and bands make is not paying attention to what kind of merchandise they're offering, opting for the standard t-shirt rather than looking for other less expensive but more profitable items.

The chart on the left outlines the 10 most profitable merch items, according to Jakprints, and as you can see, 6 of them (single and full color stickers, patches, magnets, guitar pics and buttons) are fairly inexpensive to manufacture, ranging from $0.20 to $0.40 each. The surprising thing is that most of these items generally have at least a 400% markup to as high as 750%.

While t-shirts are a perennial favorite, the biggest problem is the multiple sizes that you have to stock, and the space required for the inventory. There are a lot of other items that get the promotional job done for a lot less money and hassle.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Top 20 Most Profitable Merch Pieces

Here's a great chart that comes by way of Digital Music News and merchandise manufacturer Jakprints on the 20 most profitable merch pieces. As you can see, patches and stickers have the largest profit margin, normally costing 20 to 40 cents and selling for $3 to $4, but they're also a great giveaway as they're small, which makes them an ideal promo item. Unfortunately, most artists/bands think of T-shirts first when it comes to merch items, while some of the other items on the chart can be a far better promotion and better revenue source.

-----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.