The Let it Burn Blog

Inspired by a short facebook-conversation from last night I decided to point out (again) the importance of merchandise for a band / musician and - more importantly - hand over a few hints how to increase merch sales.

No need to beat around the bush: The golden times of the music industry are over. A long and complex catenation of ignorant decisions, conservative behaviour, mental stagnation, ignorance and most of all greed has lead to a constant decrease of revenues from music sales. Since most record labels are thinking strictly economically this lead automatically to a worsening of deal offers for bands who are aggrieved even harder.

Usually bands have to cover recording costs, artworks, instruments, practice place rent, a tourbus, gas money, internet domains, social media tools and so on. So what can you do, apart from playing shows, to at least break even with your band? That’s right: SELL STUFF!

Noone has a better presentation area for merchandise articles but bands at shows. Noone reaches more dedicated and enthusiastic buyers and noone can react on “market demands” as fast and individually as a bands. Here’s how to make the most of it:

1. Create something great!
Before you can start selling merchandise you need to produce it. Usually it starts with a list of products you want to offer (anything goes), then you have to take care of artwork(s) (make sure this job is consigned to a professional!), sorting out lot size and finally finding manufacturers who print/create your stuff in best quality for a reasonable price. Sounds easy prima facie but there are dozens of things that can go wrong. Since this topic could make up another 1 or 2 blog entries just a quick pointer: Aim high and don’t compromise (especially not when your great ideas and concepts actually cost money, and they WILL).

2. Get organized!
Yes, running sales sheets and keeping track of your goods in stock is a pain in the ass. But at the end of the day (…or of the show) it definitely pays off to know exactly how many items have been sold, what items / sizes are left, what stuff has been given away for free and by whom and most of all how much cash you earned from your various merchandise articles.
When booking shows you should also make sure, that 1.5 - 2.0m lighted merch space is available. Most promoters don’t realize (or remember) that bands bring merchandise and need a suitable place to set it up.

3. Display is everything!
Your products are surely amazing, but cds with broken trays in a shoe box, buckled posters and crumpled t-shirts on a crate of beer will not make anyone pay attention, much less BUY. Get some cloth hangers and a rope. Bring all kinds of hooks, nails, clamps, fastenings, etc. to the shows. Every venue is a new challange to play (your merch) to the gallery.
Create some eye-catching cd-holders, print “Our New Album!” and “36 Songs On This 7inch!” info-stickers. Make a clearly laid out and transparent pricelist. Show off what sizes of your shirts are available and what textile you print on. Just try to create your own mediamarkt or h&m store, nothing is over the top as long as you arrest attention.

4. Bring a roustabout!
It’s not as cool as playing in a band but I am sure there are a lot of people in your circle of friends who are willing to go on tour with you as the band’s “merch dude”. Free entrance to the show, free booze & food and maybe even a hook-up (there’s VERY reliable statistics that merch guys get more women on tour than the drummer, the bassist and the guitar-player combined!). If you can afford to pay your mercher, do it. If not, try to decoy him with the hard facts just mentioned: booze & girls.
Seriously, you definitely need a reliable helping hand when you want to run your merch business professionally. Make sure your merch guy is involved with the creation of your products (see 1.). He has to know EXACTLY what articles you sell, how many items you have in stock and how much they costs (wholesale & resale).
The merch table has to be built up before the doors open (start early, take all the time you need) and it has to be watched while you are on stage. Your merch has to be (un)loaded and packed without causing any damage (on a 3-week tour every cardboard box sooner or later tears apart, so you better get metal boxes and other durable gear) and nothing must be left at the club after the show (sounds weird but it happens all the time).

5. Design a comprehensible price policy!
This is the boring business part, so I will cut this short. Offering your goods too expensive is bad (especially since the profit margin of t-shirts for example can easily be up to 200-300%). But offering your stuff too low-priced is even worse. It will make your whole merch table appear like a sleazy junk shop. Here’s a rough outline for prices:

• T-Shirt (1-color): 10,00 - 12,00 EUR
• T-Shirt (multicolor): 12,00 - 15,00 EUR
• Longsleeve: 15,00 - 18,00 EUR
• Hooded Sweater: 25,00 - 30,00 EUR
• Hooded Zipper: 30,00 - 35,00 EUR
• CD/LP: 10,00 - 12,00 EUR
• Pins, poster, sticker, patches: 1,00 EUR or free with another purchased item

(These prices refer to regular club shows in most European countries. They do NOT work at big festvials or shows on other continents such as North America)

6. Make special offers!
People LOVE making good bargains, so satisfy them! You can give discounts (“Buy 2 CDs and get a shirt for free”) or built merch-packages (“CD+Shirt for 20,00 EUR”), but there’s no limit to your creativity. Set a time limit for your special offers and keep track which ones acutally work and which don’t. Also make sure you display them well at your merch tabel (see 3.).

7. Advertise and promote!
Make use of every chance to tell people about your awesome merch and where it’s available. Post your shirt designs on Facebook and Twitter a couple of days before the tour/show. When on stage tell people to come by your merch table, grab some free stuff (stickers, posters, etc.) and hang out with you. Make sure your merch guy (see 4.) is an open minded, friendly and charming person. Simply try to make “buying a shirt” an awesome “shopping experience”.

Last advice: Since moste bands do not play more than 40-50 shows per year I also suggest you put up an easy to use online-shop such as bigcartel or a simple paypal-store. In so doing your merch is not dead capital and you can make some bucks inbetween the shows.

Best wishes for your continued success and a prosperous merch business!

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