The biggest question with podcast merchandise is "Do you need it?" Are your listeners asking for merchandise? Will the time and money you need to create merch.

Is it worth it?

Buying merch can be a big up-front cost. You don't want to get stuck holding boxes of t-shirts if they're not selling. You can take some of the uncertainty out by either doing a presale or ordering a small, limited quantity.

What kind of merchandise should you get?

Obviously, t-shirts, stickers, hoodies, coffee mugs and such are popular. But there are literally thousands of ideas out there. Get creative with it. If you're going to buy merch, consider something memorable that might get others to talk about it and become familiar with your show.

How do you buy merch?

There are a ton of different options from online to local promotional item dealers. However, the two that I have had success with are Threadless and Printful.

Threadless is an online print-on-demand store. It has a good selection of items that are reasonably priced. The quality isn't top notch, but it's good.

Printful is a more robust print-on-demand merchandise dealer. It integrates with Wordpress (through Woocommerce), Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, Etsy, Ebay, and a number of other platforms. They have a great selection of merch, including bigger brands like Adidas and American Apparel. However, the prices are a bit higher, so you will have to charge a relatively high price in order to make margin.

And that's kind of the game with merchandise. You need to either sell it for a lot, or move enough quantity to make any real money off of it.

But, if you want to get your brand out there, there's demand for your show, or you have a brand in your niche that people want to put on their chests, quality merchandise may be the way to go.

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