Even if it sometimes doesn’t seem so, no two bands are totally alike but what they all have in common is that they release music to please themselves and others. But here’s the thing, if you’re an indie musician, you know that the biggest problem isn’t with the music you make, but the bills you have to pay. We gotta earn!

Aside from selling CDs and whatnot, one way you can get good revenue is by selling your very own custom merchandise.

Now, a question comes to mind: “What merchandise sells fast?” We have compiled the top three options you can choose from if you’re planning to release your own custom merch for your rock band. Make sure you know the best types of merch before you contact your custom merch maker so read this article until the very end.

#1 CUSTOM SHIRTS AND OTHER APPAREL

You may have already guessed this would be top one on the list, yes? Of course it would be. Custom shirts may be the most common merch to ever be sold by any band or business but that’s because it sells well. And you know what’s cool? It’s not only a merchandise, it is also a tool for promoting you and your rock band.

Apparels can be worn anywhere and everywhere. Fans can wear them during work, meet up with friends or family members, and even in your concerts or live performances like concert t-shirts. There are many types of apparels. There are apparels for the trunk and limbs, like dresses, shirts, pants, and skirts, and apparel as covering for the hands, like gloves, feet, like shoes and socks, and head, like hats and caps.

When choosing on what kind of apparel you want to sell, you might need to think of your fans’ demographics and preferences, as well as in what season you plan to release and sell your merch. Fans’ preference on apparels is the best way to gauge if a certain kind of apparel you will release would sell well to your fans. Another thing is the season. If you plan on selling them in the summer season, it would be best to pick sleeveless shirts or snapback caps instead of hoodies or long sleeve shirts. If it’s in the winter season, socks, bonnets, or sweaters would be better, don’t you think?

Here are some of the best custom t-shirts for rock bands and other apparel manufactured by custom merch makers:

#2 BAGS

Bags are a big hit to students and yuppies. The most common type of merch bag is the backpack and the tote bag. Since these bags can be brought almost anywhere you go, it would be best to also use this as another tool to promote your band and the album you have released.

If you want to deviate from the common backpack and tote bag, then you can try having the trendy fanny packs such as cross-body bags, waist fanny bags, etc., Other types of bags you can design and sell are drawstring bags, clear vinyl bags and shoulder bags. You may even design and sell merch suitcases if you want to go a bit extra.

If you’re thinking of having suitcases, bear in mind that it’s a risk so be think about it twice. But you also have to take note that this is a very rare idea so it would be best to make the design for this very attractive and eye-catching so that many people would actually dig their pockets to buy it.

Here is a custom merch bag and suitcase for your inspiration:

#3 PHONE CASES

The last one but definitely not the least on this list of custom merch is the phone case. Phone cases can be a great promotional tool especially since everyone’s glued to their phones these days (actually, always have and always will be).

Phones are a necessity which in turn made phone cases a very necessary accessory. Plus, what

I’m sure you have seen many phone cases with band-related designs being sold around these days. Almost all of these phone cases are designed by fans of these bands. With this fact right here, we can already conclude that phone cases are very much in demand. Even if the fans know that it was fan-made, they still buy them, so imagine selling your very own official merch phone cases. It will surely be sold out.

Here are some awesome band phone case designs:

Selling band merch isn’t at all expensive or tedious these days especially now that there are print on-demand services. All you have to do is come up with a design, do a mock-up, and post them on your web store.

Which of these custom band merch are you willing to try first?