What is Merchandise?

This article will take a deep look at a popular alternative source of revenue for comic creators and collaborators; merchandise.

Recently there has been a significant increase in how much an indie comic creator profits from their work. This is due, in a large part, to an increased in use and mastery of the internet. Everything from how social media platforms are used to market one’s own work and the work of others to the use of alternative mediums from which one’s own work can be displayed for purchase.

Now, that’s all well and fine if you’re looking to simply make some money on the side from your published comic or comics. Just keep in mind that most of the time this won’t be an option if you’re looking to make a living out of your hobby or new career as a comic creator or collaborator.

If you’ve been around comics for any amount of time you’ve probably heard of merchandise (AKA merch).

For comic creators or collaborators, and for the sake of this article, merchandise is a branded product used to promote a particular group or story (maybe one bound in a comic).

These products can be anything from t-shirts, hoodies, cell phone cases, pillows, hats, posters, original art, etc.

I’ve been looking to design and sell merchandise for quite a while now and I’ve met with a few different issues that many of you will end up having to deal with on your own in your own way.

These issues are:

1. Figuring out what to put on merchandise.
2. Where to get our merchandise made.
3. Where to get your merchandise sold.

Other issues revolve around business registration and taxation, but those are a very regional a problem for me to be discussing on this article or any other.

If you’re interested in getting some merchandise designed and sold I would strongly recommend looking into finding answers to these three problems. Once you have your answers you’ll be well on your way into opening up a new source of revenue.

Let’s be clear about something. You don’t have to sell things you design yourself. You can always find people who’ve already designed merchandise and convince them to let you sell their merchandise for them.

Although there is typically less profit to be made from individual sales with merchandise you don’t own. Due to the fact that you end up owing a portion of the sale to the producer and the designer of the merchandise.

Typically this route is preferable if you end up selling a larger volume of merchandise. This is more likely if what you’re offering is popular enough.

So there you have it! After everything is said and done you’ve ended up with a decent definition of what merchandise is, three different problems left to solve, and an alternative to making your own merchandise.

In future articles, I plan on offering some answers to the three problems mentioned above and hopefully discuss other alternative revenue streams.