Just want a quick confirmation from someone if monetization is required before setting up the merch feature on a channel.
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YouTube Question Merch store before being monetized
- Thread starter DamoΓÇÖs Paintings
- Start date
You're allowed to sell merch at any point, but being monetised makes it a lot simpler. YouTube has integrates with TeeSpring so that would be the most logical way to start, but SpreadShirt and Redbubble are also good options.
TeeSpring connects directly with YouTube merch shelf once you have monetisation set, and before monetisation, you can simply paste a link in your description.
I believe you need to be qualified for monetisation intially to unlock some of the merchandise features that TubeBuddy uses on YouTube (which would be the merch feature on a channel)TubeBuddy has merch options and the channel's not monetized
But to have a merch shop like TubeBuddy has outside of YouTube, anyone can do.
Hi @Beanie Draws
When it comes to Teespring, I'm a bit hesitant at the moment. I have a store set up and created some merch. I bought a couple of items for myself, and I found a lot of errors on their page, and I'm not sure that the merch will arrive at my place. So I'm not sure I want to send my community over there and buying my merch and having a bad experience.
Best regards
Daniel
When it comes to Teespring, I'm a bit hesitant at the moment. I have a store set up and created some merch. I bought a couple of items for myself, and I found a lot of errors on their page, and I'm not sure that the merch will arrive at my place. So I'm not sure I want to send my community over there and buying my merch and having a bad experience.
Best regards
Daniel
What do you mean by errors? Can you go into a bit of further detail? The the thing is, most merch stars are print on demand, meaning they won't be as high quality as they could be if you were going with traditional screen printing methods anyway.
No, from what I believe you simply need to be monetised to open up extended monetisation features. Look at your monetisation tab in Studio as that's where it is.
It is still a part of their channel eligibility according to Google's article: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9454088?hl=en&ref_topic=915399
Hmm... interesting. That kind of sucks. Though it did take a long time to roll out to me. I had to wait a few months before it came to Australia and I think I was in the 20k mark so that's why I didn't know about the 10k requirement. That's kinda lame
(stories at 10k is also lame)I guess it's because it's harder to get to 10k than it is to get to 1k, so it's to avoid people exploiting and abusing the merch store.
BUT you can still make a merch store, and simply link it in your description like you would with any other affiliate link.
Yes, unfortunately you need 10k subs, or be an artist channel (I do not understand that bit, but ok).
Thanks. I was going to cry for missing out on this. I have been waiting for my 10k sub so I can have my already made design T-shirt out there. Still working hard to get there.
Am almost there. Have my crasy T-shirt designs all ready. 10k sub opens a lot of features. The training and the use of their YouTube room in UK.Hmm... interesting. That kind of sucks. Though it did take a long time to roll out to me. I had to wait a few months before it came to Australia and I think I was in the 20k mark so that's why I didn't know about the 10k requirement. That's kinda lame
I guess it's because it's harder to get to 10k than it is to get to 1k, so it's to avoid people exploiting and abusing the merch store.
BUT you can still make a merch store, and simply link it in your description like you would with any other affiliate link.
And in THAT regard, when they say "artist channel" I think YouTube means Musician. I might need to check some other art channels with under 10k subs to see if they have a merch shelf but pretty sure it's related to musicians as musical artists also get their own special category and musical note icon.
You don't have to wait for 10k subs just to have merch, just that you don't have access to the merch shelf through YouTube (I wonder how well it actually converts anyway?)
I've been on RedBubble long before I had a YouTube channel, probably for 10 years, and I've sold plenty of stickers before bieng on YouTube.
There's no reason to hold off just to wait for 10k. Start now, and then when you hit 10k you'll already have a very established collection.
Yes, First up I would like to say that I like the Teespring store overall but I did not have the best experience so you might have a different experience.
First, when I had created my collection I wanted to try it out in order to see what the quality of the products are so I went to order samples. That page never loaded and when I looked at the page in the developer console, the error was because my application store id was never initialized on the samples store page. As I didn't know the ID in question I could not correct the javascript error so I wrote a message to their support.
They answered back with a link to a help page on which steps you should follow in order to click your way to the sample page. I responded to them that it wasn't my inability to find the function but the page being corrupt that was the problem.
I never got a response on that email but the site got fixed after 2-3 weeks. By then I had already ordered the products using the normal ordering flow. Then I got an email that one of my products was printed and shipped to me. There was a link to the shipping page in the mail and when I went to that page some of the strings were not translated so I got a couple "Translation missing" on places of important information. I was able to decipher the page and understand what it said anyway. Keep in mind that I use English in my browser for all webpages so the missing translation seemed strange.
Then the page had a link and a tracking ID that was not found at the distributor. I know it can take a couple of days before the shipping information is updated on a distributor page but it's been two weeks and still doesn't know where my products are, when or if they will arrive.
Hopefully, this is an uncommon experience but it hesitant to use them as I don't want my community to have a bad experience.
Best regards
Daniel
Wow, yeah that sounds way beyond my knoweledge. I haven't tried to purchas anything from them yet, but I will say I'm not a fan of some of the way their site works. But to be fair, none of the print on demand sites are perfect.
TeeSpring also won't allow you to edit the graphics of a product if the placement is wrong in your shop, so it seems the only way to "fix" it, is to delete it, and even then, the product isn't actually deleted, but archived. There's some complex issues involved, so on the whole, if it weren't for the fact they're directly tied into to YouTube's merchandise, I wouldn't recommend them.
Redbubble seems to be the most intuitive from a design aspect, and they DO allow you to edit the placement of graphics if you want to make tweaks. They also have a large collection of times that some others didn't offer. But the shop navigation is pretty horrid. Unless you have a direct link to say, a badge pin, you wouldn't necessarily know those products are available outside of a tshirt.
Other sites like Spreadshirt, have fantastic shop navigation, but the product design isn't always as good as redbubble, and I haven't ordered from anywhere other than Redbubble.
I believe Nick Nimmin has Spredshirt as his main merchandise provider, and for me, the quality of his shirts were amazing. I wasn't a fan of Redbubble's print quality on the shirt I bought of mine, it seemed like an iron on transfer. Thier pencil cases however are great, and I ordered a pencil case of mine from redbubble, and I still use it 4 years on, very robust design, and the print is much better, so it might be dependent on the product you buy.
I hope I one day find the "perfect" merchandise store, as they all have pros and cons.
OP
OP
Wow great responses, well IΓÇÖm currently setting up a merch store using RedBubble, IΓÇÖm not gonna put my work on clothing or anything fabric, as IΓÇÖve heard it wears off quicker than it should, IΓÇÖm mainly gonna be focusing on the wall mounted or desk top prints, and coffee cups, maybe phone covers if thereΓÇÖs a big enough demand for that, but thatΓÇÖs it, nothing more.
@DamoΓÇÖs Paintings Well, I would say it depends on the quality. I bought a merch T-shirt from Mythbusters and Hak5 and there clothing is more than 10 years old and still has an imprint and looks worn but good. On the other hand got a Youtuber merch from a print on demand store that disappeared the first wash. So I will try some of them and see which are quality and which to skip.
That's the prime example of the differances between screen print, and digital print. Digital print tends to be inkjot print, or viynal/iron on transfer, meaning they typically shouldn't be machine washed, or need to be washed delicately. Something from Mythbusters, would have their own printer supplier (as does TubeBuddy's store outside of YouTube I assume) where the screen printing prints directly with inks that typically last for decades, minus a bit of cracking in the print.
So it's definitely tough. Screen printing tends to cost a lot more upfront, which is why people typically go for print on demand until they can afford a more substantial merchandise supplier.
OP
OP
Yeah IΓÇÖm gonna avoid anything fabric for now, as it was never my intention to put my work on everything I see anyways, just a few items such as printed canvas, and coffee cups, nothing more.