Merch Income Report #8: My First $1,000 Month!

Hi everyone!

It’s time for yet another Merch Pursuits income report! This post has been a long time coming. As the title suggest, I’m happy to report that after just 8 short months on Merch by Amazon – I have finally hit $1,000 in [organic] t-shirt sales!

And by organic, I mean I have done zero marketing or zero social media sharing. I literally wake up, log into Merch, and see if any designs have sold.

I started Merch Pursuits in August of 2016 – the same day I started my Merch by Amazon journey. I promised to write monthly income reports from Day 1, regardless if I had a good month, a bad month, or a month that was just “meh.” My promise to you has always been the same: To be as open, honest, and transparent with you about my Merch journey. Although I’m a little late in posting this income report, I’m still posting nonetheless.

I’ll never sell you an e-book, or “how to” course. There’s plenty enough quality content regarding how to be successful with Merch that you really shouldn’t need to spend money to start making money on Merch. I’m proof of that.

And you know what? I’m proud to say I’m making 4 figures a month on Merch by Amazon all on my own accord. However, there are a certain few tools I use to get me where I am, and those can be found on my Resources page. I’ve done the hard work for you, I’ve found which tools are useful, what tips helped me the most, and I’m hoping they help you out too, without having to experiment like I did. You can probably make a lot more than I did just by reading every post on my blog!

So, let’s break down April 2017 a little bit.

Previous Income Reports

If you haven’t been following along, you should get up to speed by reading the previous income reports first.

Here they are!

Income Reports for Months 1-7

Current Month Income Report

Date Range: 4/1/17 – 4/30/2017

Tier Level: 500, 292 live

Shirts Sold: 206

Total Profit: $1,063.07

Month 8 Recap

If you remember from my most recent income report, I had just barely made it to the 500 Tier in March of 2017. My profit from just 30 days prior was $563. And the month before that was only $394. (I say only like it’s a bad thing, haha. I guess that shows how much your attitude changes once you expect a higher profit month after month.) As you can see, I’ve steadily been increased my profits since the very beginning. Tiering up has helped me almost double since the previous month!

I’m ecstatic to see these numbers. I really am. As the sole provider for my family of four, an extra $1,000 is absolutely life-changing. My goal with Merch has always been to work until I can pay my mortgage with Merch. In the past, I’ve been hesitant to post these numbers online – but, it’s come to a point where I don’t think I can avoid it any longer. You need to know how much my mortgage is, to know that I’m actually paying it in Merch money.

My mortgage payment is $1,090/month. I am so close to reaching that goal I can almost taste it. Literally within just a few dollars of achieving that goal I set for myself a few months prior. Unless something changes drastically (or I lose my Merch account), I honestly think I’ll need to come up with a new goal.

Outside Factors

As I mentioned last month, I was promoted to an IT Manager position at my company. I still work full-time, from 7-4 Monday-Friday in addition to my Merch by Amazon side gig. I officially started as IT Manager on May 1st, but to be completely honest, my brain had started several weeks prior. Between learning my new job role, taking over new projects, and managing the people that I used to be on the same level as – things certainly have been challenging. A good challenge, but a challenge nonetheless.

Regardless, I promised myself that I wouldn’t become complacent with my success on Merch by Amazon. I may not being able to upload designs everyday, and I may not be able to upload quite as many pre-made Merch designs to my store as I always been, but I will make damn sure my profits grow month after month. $1,000 is awesome, but I know I can double or triple that. I’ve got the formula down, now I just need to scale.

And – before I go any further – I really hope that talking about my personal life a little doesn’t bother any of you. How else could I be open and honest about my journey, if I’m hiding the things that are impacting my daily life? Part of being open and honest is explaining how I find time for Merch, or how I simplify the uploading process. My family is a huge part of my life. My son just turned 1 last month, and he’s learning something new everyday!

Many of you have families or kids yourself! If you fall into that category, trust me, it’s not easy. Finding free time for anything – including Merch – can be hard. Even if you don’t have kids, dedicating a small window of time every single day is hard. It takes persistence, it takes sacrifice, it takes willpower. I made my choice 8 months ago, and now it’s paying off.

I’ve gotten coworkers, friends, family, and even my wife to join Merch by Amazon! It’s truly an amazing opportunity, and I feel very blessed to have joined when I did.

It’s not too late for you, I promise.

Tips For Success

If you’re just starting out, joining Merch can be overwhelming. There’s a lot to learn, and a lot to process. I’ve written these useful guides in the past, and I hope they help you out as you start your journey.

How To get Started With Merch by Amazon

How To Do Merch T-Shirt Research

How To Organize T-Shirts on your PC

How To Write SEO-Friendly Amazon Bullet Points

How To Quickly Edit Prices of ‘Pending Removal’ Designs

What Software Tools Should I Use?

In short, I do a few things to make a few additional sales each month. If I have a best-selling design, I upload different variants of it to Merch by Amazon. For example, if I first uploaded an all-white text design, and it sold a couple times that month, I’ll upload an all-black text with the exact same brand name, title, and bullets. People like variation.

If I see a design is about to be removed due to the 90-day removal policy, I’ll drop the price to hopefully snag a few quick sales. All if takes is one sale for that design to stay live on Amazon forever. You can always raise the price later on.

If I’m struggling to come up with t-shirt ideas, I always refer back to Merch Informer. Type in random words like “Leg”, “key”, or “carpet” to find the best-selling designs using these seemingly strange keywords.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I am very happy with the direction my Merch account is headed. Next month, I’m hoping to hit my initial goal of paying my mortgage with Merch by Amazon!

If I do reach my goal, I will giving away one LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP to my site , to my site Merch Ready Designs.

Thanks for reading!

Danny

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Joe

7 years ago

Congrats! I hope to reach that figure in one day. Just need to get out of the 10 tier first!

Good luck going forward.
Joe

Danny

7 years ago

You’ll get there. Just don’t give up! I promise it will pay off once you break out of the first tier.

Manol Yosifov

7 years ago

Hi, Danny! Congratulations on hitting 1K in a month! I’ve been following your blog since I found out about Merch back in October 2016 when I requested an invite. I got approved 4 months later in March and now I’m at tier 500 looking to outsource the design process. The post that I found most useful for me is the one about the pending removal shirts. I managed to save quite a few great designs by implementing your tactics.

Danny

7 years ago

That’s awesome! It’s worked out really well for me too. Thanks for being a longtime, loyal reader on MP!

Andrew

7 years ago

When I was a newbie, you taught me the basics of research and it has brought me to almost within $1000 in a month. I expect to reach it within a month or two – maybe a month shy of YOUR goal. Cheers! Looking forward to learning more from you!

Danny

7 years ago

That’s AMAZING Andrew! I’m thrilled to see I’ve helped you bring in so much extra $$ per month. You might just pass me soon 😉

Tasha

7 years ago

I love your blog and have learnt about great resources and how to best use them!

Danny

7 years ago

Thank you!

John Hayes

7 years ago

I’ve learned to dig in and to never give up. Keep plugging and you will reach your goals.

Danny

7 years ago

Motivation will definitely help you find success. Just don’t give up, it will pay off (literally!).

Patrik

7 years ago

Hello Danny,

Your Blog motivates me so much! I’m also in the 500 tier and i have a bit more desings up than you have, but by sales are lower.. around 500-600 a month. So I feel like I have to upgrade my designing/researching game.

Thanks for the motivation

Patrik

Patrik

7 years ago

I mean 500-600 bucks a month 🙂 not sales (that would be great)

Danny

7 years ago

$500-600 is awesome! Great job Patrick.

Phat Chiem

7 years ago

Hi Danny, thanks so much for putting together these income reports. The biggest lesson I’m taking here is that the growth starts slow, but if you keep with it, it will begin to scale. I’m only in the 10 shirt tier, so it’s a bit frustrating waiting for sales to happen. Do you recommend buying your way out of this first tier (i.e. buying your own first 10 shirts?). Thanks for your advice.

Niels van der Tak

7 years ago

Congratulations on hitting $1,000.

I’ve learned and put in to action your method of lowering prices of ‘Pending Removal’ Designs. Have seen more then a dozen sales after lowering so it pays off.

Michelle

7 years ago

Congrats on your success! Just tiered up to 500 and have some great selling designs from your website. Thank you!

bob

7 years ago

I liked the tip about doing a random word search

Katie E

7 years ago

This is so very encouraging! Ive just started and have the same goal. It’s honestly slow going as the learning curve feels a bit steep, but from what people say, it picks up steam!

Ive especially loved learning your bullet point technique! Id love to know what percentage of your listings actually sell? I have a few that sell but not so much with most… Thanks for your blog posts!

Kenda

7 years ago

Great article Danny! I’ve become complacent lately regarding my Merch account. I like your goal of using the income to pay your mortgage payment. Very specific and focused. After reading your thoughts I’m planning to use my income from Merch to pay my student loans. Thanks for sharing your personal story and best of luck to you!

Dawn

7 years ago

Thanks Danny, I love that your goal is to make your mortgage payment with merch money.

Cs

7 years ago

The ‘told to edit pending removal Price’s post was very helpful!

John Dorey

7 years ago

Hey Danny. Just getting started and appreciate all the useful info you give us. Congrats on breaking 4 digits in profit.

Mark

7 years ago

Danny,

Great work! My account is at a similar level to yours, but it has taken me a lot longer to get here. Thanks for the inspiration and telling the story of your growth.

Amber

7 years ago

Inspiring article! We work full time as well and also do FBA and eBay so it’s difficult to find the time for Merch. We are still stuck in the 10 tier for a couple of months now with 0 sales. Very frustrating!! Been thinking about buying premade designs since we arent great with Gimp or Photoshop. Maybe that’ll help us get some sales. Anyway, great article that gives us hope! Thanks!!

Stephanie

7 years ago

I can’t wait to get to that level. Currently, I have only sold 3 shirts, but I am not giving up!!! Thank you for the information shared, and inspiration.

Michelle

7 years ago

Congratulation, Danny! My job and recent role-change has kept me from doing much too. You are always my inspiration to never quit even when I still haven’t done one sell yet! I know I’ll get there too because you did it! 🙂

Marcel

7 years ago

Congrats, impressive hitting $1K so quick after starting.
Great info on this site, thanks for sharing.

Danny

7 years ago

You’re welcome. And thanks!

Lisa

7 years ago

Congratulations, my husband and I are on week 3 of merch. We tiered up from 10 to 25 last week (yay) and would have been lost without your blog. Thanks for sharing!!!

Danny

7 years ago

That’s awesome!! These are my favorite comments. I love being able to inspire others.

Kai

7 years ago

I just found out about Merch last week so I’m a newbie newbie. 🙂 I’m really trying to take advantage of the down time while I wait for an invite and your site has already been so helpful in these first steps of my journey.
Thanks so much for being open and honest about your experience. Sometimes people can get get a little wonky when money is involved in the discussion so you really was a breath of fresh air. Thank you

Danny

7 years ago

You’re welcome.The last thing I want to do is become a “Merch Guru”. I’d much rather provide free tips and tricks that work for me, and hopefully they work for you too.

Ryan

7 years ago

Way to go! Love the motivation

Danny

7 years ago

Thanks Ryan!

MRD

7 years ago

Your site has helped us a great deal as well. Appreciate your openness around your strategies and success!

Danny

7 years ago

Glad to hear it!

Kim Harris

7 years ago

Thank you so much for the wealth of information given. I suffer from the after affects of a brain aneurysm and emergency surgery I had in Feb. 2017 and had not done much with my account prior to reading your blog. Since ready your blog, I have hope that I too have a chance making income. My primary goal is to pay off medical bills using Merch income. Again thanks for the helping hand.

Danny

7 years ago

Anyone can become successful with Merch. Just stick to your goals, and you too will find success. I wish you the very best of luck!

Jeannette

7 years ago

Congrats! I am so inspired. Just getting started.

Danny

7 years ago

Thanks!

Lisa

7 years ago

Congrats! I loved reading this especially since I’ve had a very similar Merch journey. I also started in April and it looks like I will be hitting over 900$ for May. I can just imagine what this Q4 will be like!!

Danny

7 years ago

Incredible. Great work, I love hearing other success stories!

Nikki

7 years ago

Congrats! Thank you so much for all of the information you have given us. It’s very helpful and inspiring!

Danny

7 years ago

You’re welcome!

Heather

7 years ago

Congratulations. I’ve been at the 10 level for a month now. Have yet to sell a shirt to someone other than myself. Hoping for a Father’s Day bump!

Danny

7 years ago

Thanks Heather! I typically avoid holidays, but I hope you’ve been able to make a few quick sales.

Ben

7 years ago

This is amazing Danny! I’m literally growing with you month by month, and to see your passion beyond your main job (and promotions) is so encouraging, as I’m sure many other readers are feeling the same. Keep it up!

Danny

7 years ago

Thanks Ben! That’s super exciting that we’re growing at roughly the same pace. I appreciate your kind words!

Garry

7 years ago

Congrats Danny! Love your Blog and joined Informer before the price goes up. I have 10 designs up for almost a month now. No sales yet. Just optimized them all based on your Bullet Point tips. Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Thank you for all that you share – though it’s addicting, I read over and over and over- and just want more.

Thanks again and I’m sure your insight and sharing that is helping many many many…….

Danny

7 years ago

You’re welcome Garry. Getting out of the first tier is the most frustrating party of the whole journey. You’ll get there! If you aren’t making sales, it’s probably your keywords.

Lin

7 years ago

Thanks for this! I really enjoy reading and comparing our results! I’m not quite that high yet. But I’m working on it! Great job 1,000 a month makes HUGE difference.

Danny

7 years ago

Thanks Lin! You’ll get there. It feels SO awesome once you hit that 1k milestone.

Gary W

7 years ago

Congrats on all the success, your hard work has clearly been paying off. I just hit the 100 tier limit and your monthly case studies have definitely been a contributor to that. Hope to eventually hit the $1K/month mark as well!

Stuart John

7 years ago

WOW!

Great achievement. I was following this blog from the last two months and found very much resourceful for MBA. Hope to get started my own.

Good luck, keep your business up and sharing with us.

Thanks!

Danny

7 years ago

Of course, I plan to keep sharing!

Hong

7 years ago

Congratulations. I’ve been at the 10 level , I just have 1 sold yesterday. I love your blog, and learn a lot from your blog. Thank you for sharing great article!

Danny

7 years ago

You’re welcome! I’m glad I could inspire you to get started.

John

7 years ago

Can i ask how you can make monthly report like that ? In my merch account, it is only 7 day. Thanks.

Danny

7 years ago

I use a Chrome Extension called Merch Analyze. You should also check out MerchTools for more detailed analytics!

jesse

7 years ago

That’s great man, you are an inspiration. I can’t make 1 damned sale!

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I'm a full time father of 2, IT Manager, and Merch by Amazon seller.

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