How to Make and Sell Merch on Twitch in 2023

If you want to become a full-time Twitch streamer, you will need to find a way to make money beyond Twitch's 50/50 ad share.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything from how you can create the merch and how you can sell it without upfront investment. We'll also explore the world of Twitch merch shops, how Twitch streamers make merch, the advantages and disadvantages of different platforms, and which companies the biggest Twitch streamers use to sell merchandise.

Why Sell Merch on Twitch?

For many of both the biggest and up-and-coming Twitch streamers, launching a merch shop is one of the best ways to make money and allow you to support yourself in the live streaming world. Plus for many streamers, merch isn't just about making money — it's about extending their brand into the real world. Your fans in chat can "touch grass" while still repping a shirt, a hoodie, or any other product from your line.

For many of the top streamers, merch is one of their top sources of income, so it's a great way to build a sustainable revenue stream.

How to Sell Merch on Twitch

1. Decide what is right for your community

Creating on demand merch is easy on platforms like Fourthwall. If you're not familiar with print on demand or "POD" manufacturing, it means that:

• All products are made to order, so there's no inventory risk
• There are no up-front costs, so you can start for free

But before you begin, you should consider:

• Do you have a logo that fans love?
• Do you have any regular characters in your content?
• Do you have a catchphrase or something easily recognizable? 

We also recommend involving chat in your design process, so you know it's something that your community will love.

2. Choose Your Products

If you're interested in seeing what options are available to you and filtering based on the questions above, we recommend browsing the Fourthwall product catalog:

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Fourthwall's product catalog offers a broad range of products, including:

• Shirts & T-shirts
• Hoodies
• Sweatshirts
• Tank Tops
• Stickers
• Mugs
• Hats
• Phone cases
• Tote Bags
• Plushies
• And many more

3. Create designs for your merch

If you're not sure where to get started with apparel designs, we recommend reading our "Design Tips & Tricks" article. As a quick overview, however, you can create a design with the help of one of the following sources for your online store:

• A graphic designer or artist in your community
• 99Designs
• Fiverr
• Canva
• PlaceIt

4. Create mockups of your merch

Once you've come up with art designs on a tool like 99Designs, you'll need to turn it into a professional mockup. Mockups are an important way to show that you're using the best print quality and printers, since it lets fans see the product before buying. The better the mockup, the more likely you are to get people to buy your merchandise. 

Fourthwall's mockup generator is one of the best in the industry. The technology used is similar to the ray tracing software used in Unity's gaming engine, but it's designed for products that you want to sell. The result is beautiful lighting and photorealistic designs, so you can showcase your products to your audience:

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5. Promote your Merch

Once you have your products designed, one of the best ways to promote your merch is with Twitch Gifting.

Twitch Gifting lets you open up a whole new world of possibilities for your chat. They can now gift any product (your merch, your plushies, your memberships) on your site to other viewers via a random giveaway while you're streaming. Not only does it help with your profit margins and sales, but it also helps your community to feel more engaged. 

Sneegsnag talks about selling with merch gifting and how it helps a channel's engagement and profits here:

What's the best platform to sell merch?

How do the biggest streamers sell merch and apparel?

Many of the top streamers like Pokimane, Disguised Toast, CohhCarnage, and QTCinderella use one of the following two platforms to power their Twitch drops:

• Fourthwall. Fourthwall is purpose-built for content creators and Twitch streamers (no matter if it's your first stream or you have millions of viewers). It lets creators pick from 100s of instantly available products and customize their sites down to the code. Fourthwall is free for streamers, so there are no monthly fees and no upfront costs. 
• Shopify. Shopify allows creators to tailor their sites for their channel, but it's designed for conventional ecommerce brands. This complexity often hinders streamers without a dedicated team to handle the Shopify backend. For instance, creators using Shopify must manage their own customer support. Plus, Shopify's monthly fees for creators range from $39 to $399.

Both Fourthwall and Shopify are popular with creators, since they are both private label (white label). That means that they allow creators to fully customize their website, so it's fully branded to them. For example, you can see an example of Disguised Toast's shop, which is powered by Fourthwall's creator commerce platform:

Both Fourthwall and Shopify allow you to connect with:

• Print-on-demand (or POD) manufacturers like Printful
• Custom manufacturing partners for screen-prints and bespoke apparel
• Third-party fulfillment centers to sell anything you've sourced

No matter what product makes sense for your audience, these two platforms allow you to offer it. 

What other merch makers do streamers use?

There are a number of other merchandise platforms that creators use to sell merchandise online, but these have become less popular over time due to either having limited customization options or not having the best print quality. These include:

• StreamElements. StreamElements allows Twitch streamers to design and sell merch along with their alerts & overlay tools. StreamElements is also available for free. While StreamElements natively integrates with Printful, it lacks many of the ecommerce branding tools and web design tools streamers have grown used to. 
• Streamlabs. Similar to StreamElements, Streamlabs also allows Twitch streamers to design and sell merch along with their alerts & overlay tools. It also lacks many of the ecommerce branding tools that streamers have become familiar with on Fourthwall or Shopify. 
• Teespring (now Spring). Spring (Teespring) was one of the original merch makers, but it has seen a decline in creator reviews in 2023. Teespring's product prices are much higher than platforms like Printful or Fourthwall. 

There's a reason that many of the biggest creators have their own fully branded online store. This is why either Fourthwall or Shopify tends to be the best tool for most Twitch streamers that are looking to launch their own apparel, merch, or clothing line. 

However, no single platform is perfect for every creator. That's why creators should pick the best platform that represents their channel. 

How to start your merch or clothing line?

Merch stores offer creators an exciting opportunity to monetize their branding, engage with fans, and express their creativity. Both the biggest Twitch streamers and many up-and-coming Twitch streamers are choosing Fourthwall to launch their shops. It's the easiest way for creators to launch their merch lines, sell their first hoodie or shirt, and give fans the best print quality. 

Once you're ready to launch your unique brand for your audience, you can get started on Fourthwall.