Here is a great list of 10 reasons your merchandise may not be selling. Read it and think about your merchandise.
I would also add one more tip: You don’t adjust the prices. Your t-shirt from last year should not be the same price as the newest shirt. You might be surprised to see how many old $5 t-shirts you sell. Get rid of that old inventory and get yourself some cash for new merchandise.
Here’s an excerpt of the most salient points from an excellent post by Bruce Warilla from the music blog Music Think Tank. It’s regarding selling your merchandise (actually not selling your merchandise), a subject that every musician with swag to sell is concerned with. It was actually supposed to be the top 10 reasons, but for some reason he left out number 8, so that’s one and the bonus tip are from me.
10) You never create anything different. It’s the same merch you were pushing two years ago, but you tried to change 2008 to 2010 with a Sharpie.
9) Your merch looks like your little sister drew it…using crayons.
8) There’s nothing different between your merch and what other bands sell. Try another kind of product, get a better design, or try a different color. Do some market research before you spend money on inventory.
7) There’s not enough lighting on the merch table; everything looks monochrome.
6) The merch table is next to the dance floor / mosh pit.
5) Your manager (smaller acts) has too much pride to be hawking merchandise, but he or she should be…
4) You can’t process debit cards. Get a wireless solution.
3) You underestimate the importance (to the band) of grabbing that extra $100 to $200 per show, so you don’t bother making the effort.
2) The lead singer refuses to promote merch. Solution: give him or her a pitch speech that doesn’t sound desperate or cheesy. Write and then sing your signature “buy my stuff song…” three times a night.
1) You don’t connect with your audience; you don’t make eye contact; you don’t know the name of the bar you are performing in; or you forget that you were in Portland last week (Seattle this week).
Bonus tip: Announce from the stage that the band will be at the merch table to talk to the audience directly after the show. It’s amazing how much you’ll sell just by your presence.
via Music 3.0 – The Blog Behind The Book: Top 10 Reasons Your Merch Doesn’t Sell.
Mike – great article. I’ll be using some of that info. Thanks.
Great piece. I would add one more noteworthy thing for bands: don’t forget the ladies. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked from a merch table because everything was so guy centric that there was nothing I would wear.
Great note Julie, I am going to add that to the post.
Julie, what items would you like to see?
Steve,
The biggest thing for me is the cut of the shirt. I look for the womens (sometimes called babydoll) shirts because they are cut to fit a womans curves. The guy shirts I feel like I’m swimming in.
The design doesn’t have to be girly, and album cover image or a cool design with the band logo works.
Color and cost. a red, olive green, grey, pink.. colors are more likely to pull me in than a black or white shirt. As far as cost goes… At $25 for a shirt ill usually buy. Over $35 and I’m probably skipping it. But under $25 I’m more likely to buy two shirts.
The last thing I’d recommend is think beyond tees. Hats are awesome. So are totebags. Hope that helps.
Great article, as a designer for bands you I swear that the hardest part is teaching bands that quality sells. When a band only half tries they will not get the results they expect. Also I find that bands have an issue deigning merch for their tastes and a not those of their fans. Check out Our designs for bands and let me know what you think.
Keep writing great articles.
Cassidy
LOL Mr. Grandvold, while musicians can be extremely creative musically, Sir, most musicians’ marketing and business creativity usually ends with the last note that is played in the first measure/bar of their first song at their sound check. And, may God help those whose song temp is in 2/4.
Very true! All the more reason a band should seek out qualified help when it comes to business and marketing.
My biggest pet peeve with Merch is the sizing of the girls shirts. I sell merch, am not a big person and wear an XL in most of the girls shirts. I lose sales to girls who are curvier, more endowed or not wanting a skin tight shirt because they want a girls shirt cut not a mans shirt. There needs to be girls shirts that are designed for more body types.
True true. Be around your merch table after the show. Make the shopping experience personal and sth special for your ‘customers’. And very important: get your band merchandise from high quality screen print shops. Fans who got bad quality once, won’t buy any more. I can tell you from my experiences, there is lots of trash sold as band merchandise. Man, your band merch is your reputation.
The product presentation goes a long way. My company manufactures custom buttons, a lot of bands order single buttons which are best in certain genres where the fans actually wear pins. We’ve found that when they order our button packs customers that might not wear pins still purchase the packs as a collectible.
this article was shit.
My music is differnt, every song is different and I have at least 200. I sold all together 80 dollars. I don’t get musicians either, I think all these guitar players want to be stars themselfs and can’t play the instrument in the first palce. I have to say I don’t go on stage, I am shy and my songs are not yet in youtube. Personally I think people who don’t like or buy my music are idiots and I continue with my ideas.
There were people who said I should go and sing for x factor and listened to my songs a whole day long.
I like my songs I listen always to them.
I saw these awesome t shirts that light up to sound at a music festival last year and they were a huge hit with the crowd since the shirt would light up with the bands music. I think this could be a great way to catch the attention of fans and promote the band at the same time. You should try looking up companies that make custom light up t shirts.
its not all about the money , guys
surely it would spoil the atmosphere of a show, if half way through it the singer starts talking about t shirts.
you guys seem more in it for the money than the music.
The article is about selling merchandise. And like it or not, you need money to succeed and advance with a music career. Nobody is going to come along and just give you money. If you have listened and read other articles and podcasts, I have said repeatedly that the most important thing is a great song, without that nothing else matters.
allright i hadn’t read or listened to any of your other stuff-
yeah, but like some of these suggestions seem a bit desperate, like you’re lowering the quality of your show to get more money.
yeah, it also depends as what you define success as ,
I really enjoyed this article too, even though I don’t perform live. I have some very nice merch. on Zazzle, can’t understand why fans not buying, by I have recieved many great comments, and rewards from the site. May one day I will sell some thing.