Best Merch Design Websites for Creators and Influencers

If you're a content creator, influencer, musician, or another type of creative artist, two of your ongoing challenges are increasing your audience engagement, and finding ways to monetize your content so that you can continue making more of it. One effective way to do both of these things is by creating and selling your own custom merchandise.

Selling custom merch not only generates additional income, but also helps creators build a stronger connection with their fans. Let's look at the key aspects to consider when choosing a merch design website, and dig into some of the best options available - from Printful and Printify to Teespring, Society6, and Fourthwall - to make your merch goals a reality.

How to Choose a Merch Design Website

When selecting a merch design website, creators should evaluate several important factors to ensure they choose the best platform for their needs. By carefully considering these aspects, content creators can choose the best merch design website that aligns with their goals and helps them effectively monetize their content and engage with their audience. Here are five essential aspects to consider:

Customization

Customization options are crucial for creators looking to offer unique and personalized merchandise. The platform should provide a wide range of design tools and templates that allow for creativity and flexibility. Look for websites that offer various printing techniques, such as screen printing, embroidery, and direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, to cater to different design preferences and a wide range of merch types. Fourthwall is an excellent choice, as they offer everything from premium print on demand products to screenprinting, cut and sew, and embroidery, and even custom knitwear.

Product Quality

Good quality custom merchandise helps maintain the trust and satisfaction of your audience. Choose a platform that partners with reputable manufacturers and uses high-quality materials. Review samples of your custom products if possible (if you're not happy with it, chances are your customers won't be, either!), and pay attention to customer reviews and ratings related to product durability, print quality, and overall craftsmanship.

Ease of Use

The platform you choose should be easy to use on both sides - for you as a creator designing and managing your custom merch, and for your customers to easily be able to shop and purchase items. A user-friendly interface is a great start; a good merch website should also offer intuitive design tools, easy navigation, and straightforward processes for uploading designs and setting up your store. Additionally, consider platforms that provide helpful resources, such as tutorials and customer support, to assist you along the way.

Features

Evaluate the features offered by the merch design website. Look for platforms that provide robust ecommerce capabilities, such as customizable storefronts, design tools, analytics, and integration with social media and other marketing tools. Other useful features might include order management, sales tracking, and automated fulfillment services to help streamline the entire process. Fourthwall offers a plethora of features perfectly suited to designing, marketing, and selling your custom merch, including all of the above and much more!

Costs

Make sure you understand the cost structure of the platform you're considering before committing. Some websites may charge a monthly subscription fee, while others might take a commission on merch sales; watch for additional add-on costs for design services, premium features, specialty custom products, or higher quality materials. Balancing costs with the features and benefits provided is key to maximizing your profit margins and overall satisfaction with the platform.

Top Ten Merch Design Websites For Creators

1. Fourthwall

Fourthwall is a powerful platform designed specifically for content creators to choose, customize, and sell their merch. It offers a big selection of products from T-shirts and hoodies to phone cases and notebooks, plus more unusual options like customizable knitwear (sweaters), plushies, canvas shoes, flags, and AirPod cases. With easy-to-use design tools and extensive customization options, creators can easily upload their artwork and create a full line of unique branded merchandise. Fourthwall also integrates with social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok Shop, making it easy to sell and ship products and offer memberships directly to fans; and you can even add special features like video thank-you notes to your customers and supporters.

2. Threadless

Supporting independent artists by letting them offer their designs on a variety of custom products, Threadless is a well known and more quirky ecommerce print on demand site  It provides a collaborative environment where creators can participate in design challenges and engage with a larger community, and lets you open your own Artist Shop to sell your designs. One nice Threadless feature is that you can upload a design and immediately drag and drop to place it on a variety of different products all at once; Threadless also handles all printing, shipping, and customer interactions.

3. Printful

Allowing creators to design and sell custom products without worrying about inventory, Printful helps you create your print on demand custom merch with their Printful Design Maker program, which lets you experiment with text, images, and clip art designs to put on your products. Printful offers a wide range of those products to make your own with customization, including apparel, accessories, and home decor. Printful also integrates with many ecommerce platforms, providing seamless order processing and fulfillment; they fulfill almost all orders at their in-house facilities in North America and Europe, giving your merch global reach.

4. Redbubble

Redbubble is a global marketplace for independent artists to sell their designs on various merchandise items. Creators can upload their artwork to over 75 custom merch products, choosing from a range of items like clothing, stickers, and wall art. Redbubble handles all production, shipping, and customer service, making it a hassle-free option for creators; you can get started for free on Redbubble, as it requires no upfront investment outside of your time; and the setup processes for your Redbubble merch and site are quick and easy, including a mockup generator so you can see how your merch will look.

5. Spreadshirt

Spreadshirt is a little different in that in addition to the usual print on demand methods, it also offers its "Templates" feature, which lets you automate some of the steps of designing and selling custom merchandise, like color selection and scaling. It provides various customization options and a broad selection of products. You can also select your product models (people wearing or using your customized merch) which is another way that Spreadshirt is a little different from its competitors. There's no order minimum, and your customers can do exchanges or returns within 90 days. 

6. Teespring

You can design and sell custom merch on Teespring with no upfront costs or monthly fees; the site is free to use. They also offer their own design tool and a selection of products (although it's a smaller selection than most of their competitors), and they integrate with social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube so you can promote your custom merch to your followers. In addition, Teespring has a built-in marketplace where you can sell your custom products, so if you're looking to drive new traffic to your merchandise line, Teespring makes for a good base of operations.

7. Gelato

Gelato champions branding, which makes it a great place to design and sell merch for content creators and businesses alike. Creators can design and sell products like posters, apparel, and mugs, and the Gelato site also offers a design editor for creating your own distinctive product line; you can upload designs you've already made, or create brand new merch using the text, layouts, and Shutterstock imagery accessible through Gelato. Gelato's extensive network of local print providers ensures faster delivery times and reduced shipping costs.

8. Society6

Society6 empowers creators - heavily skewed toward artists - to sell their designs on an array of high-quality products to a global audience of art lovers. From apparel to home decor, Society6 manages all aspects of production and fulfillment, ensuring that creators can monetize their art effortlessly. In addition to selling your designs on custom merch in Society6's marketplace, you'll also get opportunities to participate in wholesale and trade programs with Society6's network of retail and hospitality partners. And Society6 handles all printing, shipping, and customer service tasks so you can focus on your art and your custom merch.

9. Bonfire

With a strong focus on T-shirts (they do have a few other products, but T-shirts are probably the most created products on the site), Bonfire is an ecommerce print on demand platform that specializes in custom apparel, and they also handle all printing, shipping, and customer support. In addition to being able to customize your own products and merch store, you can also become a verified Bonfire creator to unlock access to premium custom merch products. Bonfire is also a good choice for creators looking to fundraise or run limited-time campaigns. 

10. Design By Humans

Design By Humans is a community-focused platform that allows artists and creators to showcase and sell their work. Design By Humans also offers a more unusual feature among print on demand platforms - it hosts art/design competitions and collaborations to help creators gain more visibility. The products on Design By Humans are fairly basic, ranging from T-shirts and sweatshirts to wall art prints, phone cases, stickers, and mugs; but you can get started quickly and Design By Humans handles all of the back of the house processing so all you have to do is make designs and promote your store.

FAQ

How do you design top-quality merch?

Of course you'll want to create high-quality, unique designs for your custom merch. But how do you get to that end goal? There are a couple of avenues to take to get there - the first being to sit down and think about what you enjoy creating, and what represents you and your brand. What kind of images, colors, words, sayings, reverberate with who you are and what your store represents? What kind of designs and products would you enjoy wearing and using?

Now think about your customers - your target audience. What types and styles of products do you think they'll appreciate? If you already have fans, you can browse through your socials for some ideas of what they respond to best; you can also directly ask them what kind of merch they would enjoy via surveys, or even just chatting about it on a live stream. Then, use the tools that appeal to you most for designing, and start matching your design ideas to products that make sense - for instance, if you're a gamer, a branded mousepad with your channel logo would be great; if you stream cooking or baking, try designing a branded chef's apron with a nod toward your favorite ingredients or catchphrases. 

What tools should I use to design my merch?

If you're already well-versed in a design program like Adobe Photoshop, Corel, or Canva, then it's probably best to work with what you know, as you'll be more easily able to adapt your design skills to designing merchandise. If you're new to creating your own designs, never fear - many print on demand merch sites offer built-in design tools and mockup generators. 

Platforms like Fourthwall, Printful, and Teespring provide user-friendly interfaces to create your shop and customize your merch. If you do create art but it's not digital, you can always take photos or have your art scanned to turn it into digital files that you can then convert over to suit your merchandise layouts.

Is selling merch online profitable?

Yes, selling custom merch online can definitely be profitable - and can also create great extra engagement with your fans/customers - if you put the effort in. This includes creating interesting, collectible, appealing designs; researching your audience so you get a better idea of the types and styles of merch that will sell; marketing your products so your fans know they exist; and choosing the right ecommerce print on demand platform to create, host, produce, and ship your designs in a professional and high-quality way.

What type of merch makes the most money?

Popular basic items like T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, water bottles, and phone cases tend to sell well. But it's important to choose merch that aligns with your brand and your style, so make sure that the designs you create match up well with the merchandise you're putting them on. Limited edition items, super collectible items, seasonal or special event drops, and exclusive designs can also drive higher sales for your merch and create a sense of urgency among buyers.

Design and Sell Your Merch With Fourthwall!

Perfect for content creators, influencers, musicians, and artists, Fourthwall lets creators design high-quality merchandise, with hundreds of items to choose from. With this wide product range and features like their website storefront builder and mockup generator, creators can create their stores and visualize how their merch designs will look on different products, ensuring they make the best choices for their brand.

You can sell print on demand merch, screenprinting, cut and sew, or embroidery; you can bring in products that you've created on your own; and you can also sell digital products and services. Fourthwall provides a huge wealth of choices, so you can sculpt your ecommerce store into exactly what you want it to be! And when those sales start rolling in, Fourthwall also provides great customer service and efficient ecommerce tools, so you can manage merch orders and track sales - and you can get started for free, as there are no monthly fees or upfront costs. What are you waiting for?