Is it worth it creating products in Tapas Merchandise Store?

[Tanako]

I was approved to post in Tapas Merch shop several months ago and I pondered the idea. Long story short I finally decided to create a Tee-shirt with a nice character logo on it. So far I just have one item created but haven’t activated it for purchase and will like to create more in the future. So my questions are if any of you have access to the merch shop? And if so, have you sold any product?
I do want to invest some time in It by creating more products, but my concerns are if it’s worth investing time in it.

[cherrystark]

I have merch shops on a couple different apps and I haven't sold anything. I don't know ins and outs of the Tapas Merch shop, but if you really want to sell merch, multiple sites might be your best option.

[darthmongoose]

I've sold a few shirts. I think it can be a "why not?" to put at least some designs on, because it won't cost you anything but time. All of mine I could create from assets I already had for design, merch or covers. I feel like simple designs might sell better with my audience than elaborate ones... but I may test that theory with something like the design from the book 1 print cover in future. I probably wouldn't spend ages doing an elaborate drawing just for those shirts though- the stores just aren't visible enough.

[Tanako]

Oh that's cool. which other websites do you use? I considered Etsy but I'm still pondering the idea.

[Tanako]

Yeah you are right. all it will require on my end is time. I currently have 3 comics with two on hiatus so the main one I'm posing on actually have a decent level of audience and interaction which is why I used that as my main choice when creating an image for the Teeshirt. I'll give it a try and see where it goes. the fact that you sold something gives me hope so why not.

Regarding the store not being visible on the website it's even worst on the app. you literally have to know search for it to find it which isn't good lol

[cherrystark]

Redbubble and Threadless

[Azifri]

I've sold quite a few shirts, but mostly when the store first launched; probably readers who wanted a shirt already got one, and I haven't uploaded any new designs recently. As for the time investment... I think it's worth setting up the store but don't expect to make huge sales out of it, and I would definitely not expect the sales to be consistent over time. The good thing about the merch store is that you set it up once and then if you sell something great if not, oh well, all you spent was some time.

Maybe you can ask your readers which ideas they'd like to see in a shirt? In my case, the best selling shirt is the one with the most complex design (a space station in my comic, which people have mentioned they like), so I'd say definitely listen to your readers.

[Tanako]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. I am now reviewing the websites and it looks pretty good. I will take your advice and open multiple stores since it is free to do so anyway compared to Etsy where you pay.

[Tanako]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will ask my readers to see what they prefer before I dive into a second design.
I am not too hung up on if I make money and reason being is, I have had my patreon acount for a while now and I think in each year I make about $800 to 1K and that is very very small compared to other artist that bring in about 3 to 13K a month LOL not that I'm comparing myself to them.
well my point is, it dosent bother me much weather I make money or not as long as I can make something and if I don't that's okay. I believe with time I lol, that's me bing hopeful

[hakei]

I've sold some at launch of the shop and bought one hoodie for myself as well.

Pro:
- very easy to use
- no upfront cost
- no need to keep inventory
- no need to worry if a design will sell or not
- the shop tracks for you what's the most popular, when you sold the most, etc.
- the hoodie itself is soft and of nice quality

Con:
- the print quality isn't the greatest but much better than redbubble
- strong chemically smell when you open the package, have to wash to get it out
- the printed designs easily crack/fade if you're not extremely careful in the wash
- you will need to do all the promoting as the Shop isn't easy to find naturally
- as with other print-on-demand hosting sites, the profit percentage you get is very low

[Tanako]

This was very usefull information. Thanks for sharing. at least now I have an idea of what to expect. knowing the quality isn't great is kind of disappointing and yes I noticed the profit you make is very small.

[DarkSena]

I think it's a good thing to have something on the Tapas merch store if you're offered to.Sounds like a pretty nice oportunity.
Actually for this year I decided to do merch of my comic on my own and sell those on upcoming conventions this year.

[Tanako]

Oh cool. that's another great avenue to promote and sell items related to your comic. I use to do these like a long time ago but the vendor fee got way to expensive and if i participated, it wasn't going to break even so i took a back seat on it. I am considering hoping back on it but only when i have enough merchandise to sell out there.
Good luck, it sounds fun!

[system]

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