Merch 101: Moving Your Inventory

Lesson #6: OLD MERCH


A lot of the artists that I talk to want to get new merchandise but feel the need to get rid of the old before they start with the new. Although I can completely understand the feeling of throwing money down the toilet by essentially giving up on your old merch; sometimes bringing in something new before the old stuff is gone is a great way to jumpstart sales.

If your fans have come to a show but have already purchased one of your "old" shirts or hoodies or what have you, chances are they aren't going to want to buy another one. However, adding something new to your merch display may entice them to buy something sooner rather than later. And let's not forget the fact that the more people a band has buying merch, the more people are going to want to buy merch, so it could even enduce sales of old stock.

Investing in merch seems like an arbitrary thing to some artists. Why should I have to buy new merch when I still have merch left over? It's better to have merch that will sell and continue to sell than merch that is just going to sit around and collect dust while you wait for it to move. If you had a previous merch order and already sold half of it but it isn't moving as fast as you like, you should probably consider trying a new design. It seems like a waste of money, but there is no law that says you can't sell the old merch too and still look professional and it may be worth the additional money if it means sales, after all you are making a profit off of your merch, aren't you?

If you sell ten shirts at a $10 profit per shit then that's $100 of profit, but if you have 20 old shirts that may have been cheaper to make (say a $15 dollar profit, instead!) but have only sold 2 pieces, you've only made a $30 profit. So what is the best option for you and your band?

As always, mrchgrl offers free and cheap consultation sessions with new and old bands in regards to profits, merch management, inventory, budgeting, price points and merch touring. Please feel free to email me at mrchgrl@gmail.com to set up a consultation with your band today!