Merchandise sales have emerged as an important component to a successful career in the music business. Selling CD’s, shirts, stickers, hats and posters is a great way for an artist to get free advertising from the people who buy and can be a real moneymaker when done correctly.

It does take up front money to get the merchandise designed and printed. The first step to getting a merchandise effort established is to get a screen print set up for the design or designs that will be used. Once the screen print is set up it is time to get price quotes from multiple screen printers. The variables that determine the cost of getting merchandise made include the type of merchandise ordered, quality (100% cotton vs. 50/50 t-shirts for example), quantity and number of colors used in the printing.

A 50% profit margin is a good benchmark for setting a retail price (if it costs $10 sell it for $20). Bundling items together is a good way to increase sales, for example if CD’s and shirts are both $12 bundle both together for $20. Keeping tight records of the merchandise sales and inventory level can be the difference between making and losing money in this effort. Make sure to only give merchandise away for free to people who might help create a buzz by wearing it or are very influential in the music business.

The standard deal for the person manning the merchandise section of the club is 10% of all sales. If $200 worth of merchandise were sold $20 would go to the person selling the merch as a courtesy. Some venues will provide a merch person if the artist doesn’t have their own for the show.