To get started you just need to sign up with one of the sites listed above: https://www.boostmybudget.com/selling-t-shirts-online/#Best_place_to_sell_shirts_online

But I have to warn you, this is not for you if you need money urgently. It’s not a ‘job’ and you don’t get paid for the hours you put in. It can take time to start earning, and earnings are not guaranteed. I recommend you find a different job to pay the bills and maybe do this on the side if you have time.

Hi Hannah! Selling T-shirts is a great side hustle for teenagers, especially if you want to be an artist. The only catch is I believe you have to be 18 to set up an account on Amazon Merch due to the payment and tax requirements etc. But if you can get a parent or other adult to set up the account for you and handle the financial stuff, you can still create and upload designs yourself. And you can check the age requirement on other POD sites such as Printful too. Amazon Merch is my favourite platform but other POD sites such as Printful and Zazzle have a larger range of products you can design, which might be good for you as an artist. Good luck and follow your dreams!

Hi Peggy!

Thanks for your comment. With your and your husband’s skills, this sounds like a great fit for you.

I bet goats/dairy farming could be a good niche to create Merch in? You obviously have the insider knowledge to come up with ideas, and you probably have access to a community you could promote to. If you have an email list and/or social media following for your businesses you could start by creating merch that would appeal to them and share with your followers (if that would be appropriate and not spammy).

To advertise to a new audience: the free (but slower) route is to build up a social media following around your niche. Try Pinterest, Facebook page/group, Instagram or Twitter. Start by posting memes/useful info/quotes and then start to share your merch too. To shortcut building your own following, you can find existing popular accounts/influencers and approach them to share, either in exchange for free merch or payment, depends how big the influencer is and how many requests they get.

You could also try paid Facebook ads, paid Pinterest pins, or promoting your listings on Amazon. Amazon gives certain accounts the option to promote but I’m not sure if it is rolled out to all accounts yet. I don’t have any experience with paid advertising myself.

Also, even though selling T shirts on Amazon gives the potential to reach millions of customers, don’t forget you can also just concentrate on selling locally. I have heard of many Merch sellers approaching local businesses e.g. restaurants, bars, or even churches etc, and offering to create custom shirts for them that they can then share with their clients/members. This is smaller scale and obviously not as passive but a good way to hit the ground running and start selling shirts fast.

Blogging is also a great option to make passive income online! I think it takes longer to build up than selling merch, but the earning potential is greater in the long run.

My blog makes money primarily from affiliate links (when somebody makes a purchase after clicking through to a retailer from a link on my blog, I get a commission) and adverts. I also occasionally take sponsored posts, when relevant companies approach me. Other bloggers make money by selling their own products such as ebooks and online courses.

You can read more about how I make money blogging in these posts:

https://www.boostmybudget.com/how-to-start-a-blog-to-make-money/
https://www.boostmybudget.com/becoming-a-full-time-blogger/

Hope this helps, and good luck with your businesses and new ventures!

Becca

Sooo… I have been looking at doing something for passive income so I can concentrate on my businesses. I love creating and my hubby is a graphic designer and web designer. So I think this is a great way to help our situation.

Where is the best way to advertise our products?

Great job on the blog? I am also interested in blogging. How do you make money doing it?

Thanks a ton

Hi Jill! That’s just their fancy way of saying you need to apply. On the Merch page at the time of writing there is a blue button on the right hand side (and again at the bottom) that says ‘request invitation’. Then you can fill in the application form and join the waiting list. From my friends’ experience, some people are invited within days and others have to wait several weeks – I’m not sure why that is, but best thing is just to get your application in as soon as possible. While you are waiting, you can get started on other POD platforms such as Zazzle or Redbubble. You can then list the same designs on Merch once you’re in.

Hi Rachel! I was surprised how well my text-only designs sell. Sometimes simple is best!

Don’t worry too much about copyright laws, just be sure to run any phrases through the copyright databases I linked in the post. Even if you did inadvertently use a copyrighted phrase, I think mostly likely you’d just have the shirt rejected by Amazon, and if it happens multiple times you’d lose your account. I think you’d be very unlikely to get into legal trouble because Amazon will block the shirt from being sold before it gets to that.

Hi Lynn, that’s awesome! Congrats for getting your first products out there!

Where are you based? I had this issue too and turns out it’s because I live in the UK but when I searched on the US Amazon, it only shows products that will ship to your address (and the Merch shirts don’t ship internationally). To get around this you can turn off location settings or put in a random US address as your shipping address. Hope this works for you 🙂