The allure of TikTok is that you never know what will go viral.
Charli D’Amelio was a high school student in 2019 when she began posting videos on TikTok of herself dancing in her bedroom and the school bathroom. She is now one of the platform’s most-followed stars and highest-earning stars.
Consider the case of Jon Graziano. He began posting daily updates of his elderly pet pug named Noodle, declaring whether Noodle was having a “bones day” or a “no bones day,” and his account quickly grew to over 4.6 million followers.
TikTok virility can strike at any time, and it always begs the question, “How do you cash in?” Monetizing a TikTok following is difficult, as some options are restricted to specific countries or follower counts.
Selling merch, on the other hand, is something you can start at any time, whether you’ve had a viral moment or are gradually building a following. Expanding to eCommerce is a great way to bring in revenue while maintaining your independence as a creator in the creator economy.
This guide will assist you in getting started with TikTok merch creation and sales.
Why should you make TikTok merchandise?
It’s a common misconception that becoming popular on TikTok automatically leads to revenue, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
TikTok, unlike other platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, lacks a robust ad-revenue sharing program that provides a direct path to monetizing content.
TikTok, on the other hand, has the Creator Fund, a program that pays creators but is far less transparent than what is available on other platforms. TikTok pays creators who have access to the fund a variable amount based on view counts, view “authenticity,” and engagement.
To be eligible for the fund, you must also meet the following criteria:
- You must be at least 18 years old to participate.
- You must be based in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, or Italy.
- You must have at least 10,000 followers.
- Your videos must have received 100,000 views in the previous 30 days.
- Your account must follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.
That means you are ineligible to apply if you have a single viral video but few followers, or if you live in a country like Canada.
That’s the case for Julia Roblin, a Winnipeg-based artist whose TikTok success inspired her to launch her online store.
Julia is well-known for her tiny, adorable illustrations as well as her tattoo ideas. While she also creates fine art, her tattoo idea TikToks are what made her account go viral, and she now has 519,000 followers on the app.
Julia began her TikTok account last year, and after a few months, she launched her Shopify store to sell stickers, apparel, and “tattoo tickets” for people to get a design they can take to a tattoo artist. Because of TikTok’s creator fund restrictions, this has been Julia’s only way to monetize her following, and she says it’s been amazing so far.
“It’s crazy, it’s awesome, and I owe it all to TikTok and Shopify,” Julia says.
Merch has also become a strategy for TikTok users Jack Lee, known as @ruesaint, and Stéphanie Cheng, known as @laparasian. The couple has 3.6 million TikTok followers combined, but because they are also Canadian, they are ineligible for the Creator Fund.
They have so far done a few merch drops and launched a shared eCommerce store, Ruesaint et LaParsian, as a source of revenue.
Merch, according to Jack, is a good way to diversify your revenue as a content creator and influencer while still maintaining control over your brand. While they accept sponsored content, they are careful to only accept deals that allow them to uphold their brand. Merch is a way to generate revenue while controlling the entire process from start to finish.
It’s also a fantastic way to interact with fans. Both Julia and Jack expressed their delight at seeing their fans wearing or using their merchandise.
“It’s incredibly satisfying to see your fans enjoy the product,” Jack says.
Read The top 5 Instagram Likes Purchasing Sites.
What should a TikTok creator sell?
Apparel is the backbone of creator merch. Putting your logo, catchphrases, or artwork on t-shirts, hoodies, and tote bags is a tried-and-true merch offering and a good place to start.
Jack hired an artist to create some cheeky bakery-inspired designs with the word “badonkadonk”—an inside joke on their channels—for the first merch drop with his partner. They first sold the designs on t-shirts and hoodies before moving on to a school-themed collection.
Julia sells her illustrations on shirts and bags, but she began with stickers. She got the idea to sell apparel after her fans requested it, which is why it’s a good idea to start small and listen to your fans on social media to find out what products they want to see. You can ask directly or see if you get comments like, “I wish this was on a hat.”
“I’ve done a lot of polls on Instagram and even on TikTok to see what people want to see,” Julia says.
Another request came from fans who wanted permission to tattoo her work as well as high-resolution images to show their tattoo artist. She’s since added the option to request a custom tattoo, for which she can charge a premium.
Jack has also tried out various products, all of which have sold out. For their most recent release, Jack and Stéphanie collaborated with a clay artist to create mugs with unique etchings that Jack and Stéphanie added themselves. This provides fans with an even more personalized and one-of-a-kind product to purchase.
Other big names have also been experimenting. Another of TikTok’s most popular stars, Addison Rae, recently released a perfume.
According to Jack, they’ve learned something new with each release and are always on the lookout for what’s trending and what they can try next. The first drop, for example, sold but did not generate a lot of revenue, so they had to adjust the pricing.
If you’re just starting, t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and other apparel are great places to start, especially if you use to print on demand, which we’ll discuss next.
How to Make TikTok Merchandise
When it comes to merch, you have the option of having someone else produce the items or producing them yourself. There’s also the question of whether you’ll handle shipping yourself or hire someone else to do it.
Using print on demand, create merchandise
Print-on-demand companies are the simplest way to get started making merch. These services will take your design, print it on the product of your choice, and handle the shipping for you. That means you won’t have to worry about finding blank t-shirts, maintaining an inventory, or handling shipping.
You can sell the following items using print on demand:
- T-shirts
- Hoodies
- Hats
- Mugs
- Stickers
- Patches
- Bottles of water
- Pillows
- There are many more items
To begin, you’ll need to create artwork. You can do it yourself if you have the skills, as Julia did, or you can hire someone else. There are numerous places to find artists who can create designs for you.
Consider the following:
- Experts in Shopify
- Fiverr
- Dribbble
- Designious
- T-shirt manufacturing facility
- Market for Creatives
The next step is to select a print-on-demand company. There are a plethora of options that are completely free to set up. There are numerous options for blank products, so order samples for yourself to ensure they have the feel and quality you desire.
You can set a price for each item once it’s integrated into your Shopify store, and you’ll earn any amount that exceeds the printer’s cost. If, for example, the printed product costs $10 to produce and you sell it for $15, you keep the $5 difference.
Print-on-demand, according to Jack, is a great way to test demand and designs to see how your fans react. It’s a low-risk way to begin selling merchandise.
Make merch yourself
Julia used a different approach for her merch, demonstrating that deciding what you’ll sell can influence how you make it. While stickers can be printed on-demand, Julia chose to print them herself with a specialized printer and handle the shipping herself. StickerMule is what she uses, but there are other options, such as StickerApp or local printers. You can also create stickers at home with a standard printer and cutting machine, such as a Cricut. Check out our full guide on making stickers for more ideas.
Julia also uses a local supplier for her t-shirts and bags, as well as an online printer for her fine art prints.
The benefit of making your merchandise is that you have more control over the creative process and the final product quality, and you can even add personal touches to how you package and ship your orders.
The disadvantage is that there are higher upfront costs, and you will spend more time handling orders and packing shipments.
Finally, the method you choose for merch will be determined by how much time, skill, and funding you have to begin your first collection.
How to Sell TikTok Merchandise
How do you get your fans to buy your merchandise once you have it?
You must first notify them that it is present. When you have a merch drop coming up, you can start hyping it up with countdowns on social media and TikToks. It’s also important to make it easy for people to find your shop by including a link in your TikTok and other social media bios.
Jack has also had success with limited drops, which involve releasing a small collection that is only available for a limited time and in limited quantities. This creates a sense of scarcity for each collection and adds an element of exclusivity.
He was inspired to do drops by YouTuber Casey Neistat, who has previously discussed how cool it is to see early fans wearing exclusive merch.
“The point wasn’t to make as much merch as possible, but to have a very limited number,” Jack says of their release.
“So it’s a bit of a flex for the people who supported us early on.” We’re also very proud that people were able to obtain the limited edition drop.”
Increase views and sales
TikTok and eCommerce can coexist. Jack claims that he and Stéphanis have sold out of every merch drop they’ve done, and Julia sees a direct correlation between her opinions and her sales.
“It didn’t take long for me to start getting orders daily,” Julia says.
Julia’s inbox is now happily clogged with tattoo requests, and Jack and Stéphanis are already planning their next drop. Jack suggests just giving it a shot and seeing what sticks, then learning from each new drop to optimize for the next one.
“I wholeheartedly believe that people should try,” he says.
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