Welcome to the era of YouTube entrepreneurship, where content creators are not just video producers for their own YouTube channels, but also savvy business owners. One of the best ways for YouTubers to monetize and engage their audience is by launching a YouTuber merch store full of unique and exclusive merch items to hype up their fans!

These online ecommerce merch stores allow YouTubers to sell their viewers custom merchandise, ranging from apparel to accessories and more. It can be quite a lucrative monetization strategy - Popular YouTubers like PewDiePie and Markiplier have leveraged their massive audiences to sell millions of dollars worth of merchandise. YouTuber Danny Duncan's channel created in 2014 has made over $150 million from selling his merch.

The key to their success? Understanding their audience and creating merch that resonates with them. For YouTubers, merch isn't just about making money with your custom products — it's about extending their brand beyond their YouTube channel screen and into the real world. By selling merchandise, creators can strengthen their connection with fans, who get to wear or use merch items that represent their favorite online personalities.

This guide will delve into the world of YouTube merch stores, how YouTubers set up their merch, the advantages and disadvantages of different platforms, and which companies the biggest YouTubers use to sell YouTuber merch.

How do the biggest YouTubers sell merch and apparel?

Many of the top popular YouTubers, like MrBeast, MKBHD, Charlotte Dobre, and Philip DeFranco, use one of the following two platforms for their merch stores:

• Fourthwall: Fourthwall is specifically focused on creators, including Twitch streamers and YouTubers. It lets you easily customize your Fourthwall ecommerce website and merch store, and has many native integrations including the YouTube Merch Shelf. Fourthwall also has a built in product catalog that allows you to design and sell merch products instantly - and it's free for creators, as there are no monthly fees and no upfront costs, just a small percentage taken out of sales.
• Shopify: Shopify also lets creators fully customize their merch stores. It's built for more traditional brands as opposed to content creators, which can make it tricky for some creators to get started with Shopify, especially if they don't have a full-time staff to manage the Shopify backend. Creators on Shopify need to do their own customer support, and also need to pay a monthly charge to Shopify to list their merch products on the site. 

Both Fourthwall and Shopify are popular with YouTube channel creators and also Twitch streamers for good reason. They're both private labels (white labels) which allows creators to fully customize their website and their YouTuber merch so that all of their merch is fully branded to them. One great example is MKBHD's Fourthwall merch store, which is so unique to his brand:

Both Fourthwall and Shopify allow you to connect with:

• Manufacturers like Printful for your print on demand YouTuber merch
• Custom dropshippers for screen printed merch and bespoke apparel
• Third party fulfillment centers
• And resources for anything else you want to sell, from plushies to hot sauces and more!

No matter what product makes sense for your audience, these two platforms very likely will find a way for you to sell it!

Finding the Best Website to Make Your YouTuber Merch 

When choosing the right merch maker for your online merch store, most creators should focus on who has the best print quality and most printing options.

Creators needing on demand YouTuber merch (for everything from stickers to shirts and hoodies and more) can hardly do better than Fourthwall's platform, which integrates with a long list of global manufacturers and fulfillment partners in the U.S., UK, EU, Australia, and Asia, so you can easily bring your merch ideas to life through high quality products and smooth shipping. Fourthwall also handles customer support for all orders sourced through the Fourthwall product catalog, which makes running your shop a breeze!

Unlike Printful and Printify, Fourthwall also helps creators connect with popular dropshipping services for more unusual items, plus other custom merchandisers for all varieties of apparel that creators generally want to sell.

What you're looking for in a platform is a place that will offer the best print qualities for YouTube merch and print on demand (POD) products. When choosing a merch maker, you're choosing who you trust for your merchandising quality. The most important factors are product cost, product quality, shipping costs, and shipping times. Here are six ecommerce platforms to consider:

1. Fourthwall - Fourthwall integrates smoothly with Printful and other manufacturers, offering a big catalog of merch products at competitive prices while managing customer support for your orders. This makes it an ideal choice for YouTubers seeking an all in one solution for their YouTube merchandise needs. Additionally, Fourthwall enables you to set up a YouTube Product Shelf, allowing you to showcase your favorite products from your merch store directly beneath your videos. This integration enhances product visibility and simplifies the purchasing process for your viewers, driving sales and boosting your brand’s presence on both YouTube and your online store.
2. Teespring (now Spring) - Once a pioneer in merchandise creation, Spring (formerly Teespring) now offers limited customization options and higher product prices compared to other platforms. This can make it less appealing for those seeking extensive customization and more cost-effective solutions for their merch.
3. Redbubble - As a product marketplace, Redbubble exposes your YouTuber merch to a broad audience but also shares your fans with other sellers; this marketplace model means that while you drive traffic to Redbubble, your audience might explore and purchase merch from other creators' shops, potentially reducing your sales.
4. Spreadshop - Similar to Redbubble, Spreadshop functions as a marketplace where your merchandise is competing with products from other sellers. Although it does offer a variety of items, such as shirts and phone cases, this marketplace model can, again, dilute your brand's visibility.
5. Printful - Printful is a popular print on demand service that allows creators to design and sell custom merchandise without handling inventory or shipping. However, Printful doesn't provide a storefront, so you'll need to pair it with platforms like Fourthwall or Shopify to showcase and sell your merch.
6. Printify - Similar to Printful, Printify is a print on demand platform that simplifies the process of selling custom merchandise. They offer a wide range of merch products, aggregate on demand manufacturers and shipping carriers, and integrate with popular ecommerce platforms. Like Printful, they also don't offer a storefront that YouTube creators can use to sell online.

Ultimately, the best platform for YouTuber merch depends on your specific needs, such as customization options, product quality, and ease of use. While Fourthwall and Shopify are preferred by many top creators for their comprehensive features and integration options, selecting the right merch platform requires aligning with your brand and community goals.

To see what kind of merch ideas and products are available to you for your YouTuber merch store, browse the Fourthwall product catalog here!

Take Advantage of Live Shopping

Live shopping on your YouTube channel allows creators to showcase their merch, answer viewer questions, and demonstrate product features in an interactive format, creating a sense of urgency and excitement around their merchandise. This real-time interaction lets viewers watch a segment about a merch product, and then purchase it directly from within YouTube.

Utilizing Live Shopping can boost viewer engagement, foster a stronger connection with your fans, and increase conversion rates by making the shopping experience more immediate and personal. Leveraging live shopping also increases the visibility of products, potentially leading to more merch sales and greater brand loyalty.

Create Pro Mockups of Your Merch

Both Printful and Fourthwall have a native product rendering engine, so you can easily create a mockup of your favorite products. 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 YouTube channel merchandise.

Some of the most popular categories that creators sell and generate mockups for are:

• Shirts, T-shirts, Sweatshirts, and Hoodies
• Stickers
• Mugs
• Hats
• Phone cases
• Tote Bags

Fourthwall's engineering team has invested over four years in building custom photogrammetry software to ensure that your merch store mockups are as perfect as possible. This is true across techniques like print on demand, screen printing, sublimation, and embroidery.

For example with this Fourthwall pint glass (below), you can see how the shadows and UV lighting are perfectly rendered using Fourthwall's mock up generator, giving your potential customers a great look at exactly what kind of merch they're going to get!

Spotlight: Some Great Creator Merch Stores!

Let's look at a trio of impressive creator YouTube merch stores, and how merch plays an important part in each YouTuber's branding strategy. 

The Elaborate MrBeast

Check out popular YouTuber MrBeast's shop at mrbeast.store, where he features a clothing line including MrBeast T-shirts, hoodies, and hats, plus more unusual custom items like MrBeast stickers, basketballs and shoelaces.

The DIY Designer Orly Shani

Check out Orly's shop at store.thediydesigner.com. Her online store offers a wide range of T-shirts and hoodies, as well as custom tote bags and backpacks.

The Tech Guru MKBHD

Check out tech review expert MKBHD's (Marques Brownlee) store page at mkbhd.com. where you'll find Marques' hoodies, shirts, water bottles, and more merchandise items, including several featuring his distinctive logo.

The New York Magazine Shop

And as a final example, browse the New York Magazine boutique merch shop at shop.nymag.com, which includes their classic logo collection of merch plus mugs and baseball caps.

‍How to launch your merch line or clothing brand

Merch stores offer creators an exciting opportunity to monetize their branding, engage with fans, and express their creativity through their merch ideas. Both the most popular YouTubers and many up-and-coming YouTubers are choosing Fourthwall to launch their shops! It's the easiest way for creators to launch their merch lines with great print quality, no inventory management, and excellent customer service. Creators also keep full brand control from their domain to their logo to their data. 

Whether you're in the gaming community on YouTube, the cooking crew, the science makers, or any other kind of content creator, once you're ready to launch your unique brand for your audience, get started on your best ecommerce merch option - Fourthwall! 

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