Merch by Amazon: How It Works and How to Get Accepted

Merch by Amazon is Amazon's print on demand program, now officially called Amazon Merch on Demand: you upload a design, and Amazon prints it on shirts, hoodies and other products, lists it on Amazon, ships it and pays you a royalty on each sale. Getting into Merch by Amazon starts with a free request that Amazon reviews, and not every request is approved.

That combination, no upfront cost but a gated door, is why so many beginners search for it. This guide covers what happens after you apply: how the review works, how tiers limit your uploads, what the royalties really look like, and the content rules that end most accounts. Everything is as of 2026 and based on Amazon's own Merch pages, which change often, so check them before you plan around a number.

What is Merch by Amazon and how does it work?

Merch by Amazon is a marketplace-style print on demand service: Amazon is the seller, and you're the content creator who supplies the artwork. You upload a design, choose product types and colors, write a title and description, and suggest a list price. Amazon creates the product page and handles printing, shipping and customer service.

A few things follow from that setup:

• No inventory and no upfront cost. Amazon prints after each order and takes its costs out of the sale.
• Amazon owns the customer. You can't run discounts, message buyers or build an email list. Amazon's FAQ says that since it is the seller, you can't directly influence the purchase price, only edit the list price.
• Several marketplaces. Amazon's royalty page lists examples for the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan stores.
• Non-exclusive. You can sell the same original design elsewhere.

If the print on demand model itself is new to you, read how print on demand works first. Merch is one channel among several, and our step-by-step print on demand guide explains where marketplaces like Amazon fit next to running your own shop.

How do you get accepted to Merch by Amazon?

You sign up with an Amazon account, submit a request, and wait for Amazon's decision by email. Amazon's FAQ says applications are typically processed within 14 days, and you can check your status by logging in to the Merch portal.

What Amazon doesn't publish is its acceptance criteria. Its FAQ is blunt: it can't approve every application and won't give specific reasons for a rejection. Two rules it does state matter a lot:

• A rejected request can't be resubmitted. You effectively get one attempt per person.
• One account per person. You can't hold a second Merch account, and anyone whose previous account was terminated for violating the terms isn't eligible again.

How to prepare before you apply

Because there is no second try, treat the request like a job application. These are our recommendations, not Amazon's published criteria:

1. Use accurate legal details. Amazon's payment FAQ says your name must exactly match your bank account, and payments go only to bank accounts in supported countries, not by check. Mismatched details are an avoidable problem.
2. Have original work ready. If the form lets you describe your work or link a portfolio, point to designs you created yourself, not trending phrases or fan art.
3. Read the Content Policy first. Amazon itself recommends reviewing its resource pages and Content Policy while you wait.
4. Never buy an account. Selling or transferring Merch accounts is prohibited under Amazon's Services Agreement, and a bought account can be terminated for its previous owner's history.

How do Merch by Amazon tiers work?

New accounts begin at Tier 10, which means you can have a total of 10 published designs. You move up as your designs sell.

According to Amazon's FAQ, tiers are calculated from both the number and the percentage of products and designs sold in the last 12 months. Tier levels go 10, 25, 100, 500, 1,000 and so on. Two details make the limit less tight than it sounds:

• A design counts once. Publishing the same design across several products and marketplaces uses one slot.
• Daily limits are separate. You also get a daily cap on new products, shown on your dashboard. It resets at midnight Pacific time and can drop when Amazon's capacity is limited.

The practical lesson: at Tier 10, ten unsold designs leave you stuck. Choosing a niche carefully, and checking that Amazon shoppers already search for it, matters more here than on open marketplaces.

How much do Merch by Amazon royalties pay?

Your royalty is the product's offer price minus applicable tax and Amazon's costs, with a multiplier based on your royalty group. Amazon's costs include materials, production, fulfillment, customer service, returns and fraud prevention, so the royalty per item is small.

Here are Amazon's own US examples for the base Creator group, as published on its royalty page in 2026:

Notice how fast the royalty shrinks at the low end: a few dollars of price is most of your margin. Prices outside the US have their own tables.

Royalty groups in the US store

For US sales, Amazon now uses three royalty groups based on how much of your sales you drive yourself through "non-organic" traffic, such as ads on or off Amazon and social media:

• Creator: standard rates, as in the table above.
• Plus: 2x the Creator rate, for creators who drive at least 15% of unit sales with non-organic traffic.
• Premium: 2.16x the Creator rate, for at least 35% of unit sales from non-organic traffic.

To qualify for Plus or Premium you must sell at least 10 units a month in the US store, and Amazon updates your group monthly. In plain terms, Amazon pays more to sellers who bring their own buyers. If you plan to rely only on Amazon search, budget with the Creator rates.

Example (hypothetical): you have five designs on standard T-shirts priced at $19.99, and together they sell 20 shirts in a month, all from Amazon search. At the Creator rate of $2.44, that's about $48.80 for the month. Many new accounts sell less than that, especially early on; this is an illustration, not a forecast.

When you get paid

Amazon pays monthly, about 30 days after the end of the month in which the product shipped. In the US, payment by electronic transfer is made when your balance is above $0.00; wire payments in other countries have a $100 (or equivalent) threshold.

What does the Merch by Amazon content policy ban?

Anything you don't have the rights to use, plus offensive content and misleading listings. Amazon applies the rules to the design and to the brand name, title, description and bullet points.

The points that catch most beginners:

• Trademarks and copyrights. You need documented permission to use a brand, team, character, or a person's name or likeness. Amazon's FAQ says its policy may be more conservative than your own lawyer would be.
• Copycat designs. Reproducing, resizing or recoloring another creator's artwork is strictly prohibited. Designs with the same idea are allowed; copying the artwork isn't.
• Outsourced designs. Allowed, but Amazon warns that bought designs may break its rules or be sold to others, and you are responsible for them.
• Detail page rules. No URLs or contact details, no review requests, no mentions of shipping or Prime, no charity claims, no keyword stuffing, and no inaccurate descriptions.
• Low-quality artwork. Blurry files, low resolution and misspelled words are not allowed. For T-shirts, Amazon asks for a 300 dpi PNG with a 15 x 18 inch printable area.

The consequences escalate. Amazon's FAQ says violations can lead to a suspension of about 30 days, and continued violations after a suspension lead to termination. Content Policy breaches can also lead to removed listings or withheld payments.

If you use AI to make designs, the same rules apply, and you still need to check that the output doesn't copy a protected character, logo or artist's work.

Is Merch by Amazon worth it?

It can be worth it for designers who want Amazon's built-in buyers and zero fulfillment work, and who can accept small royalties and strict rules. It's a poor fit if you want to build a brand, set your own promotions or talk to customers.

Most sellers don't rely on one channel. The usual pattern is to use Merch alongside an upload marketplace or your own shop. Our comparison of the best print on demand sites puts Merch next to Printful, Printify, Gelato and Redbubble, and is Redbubble legit covers the closest upload-only alternative while you wait for a decision.

Next steps

Read Amazon's Content Policy and royalty page today, prepare a small set of original designs in one niche, and only then submit your request, since you get a single attempt.

• Learn the whole model, from niche to first sale, in our guide to making money with print on demand.
• Compare channels in best print on demand sites.
• See how print on demand stacks up against other paths in our guide to making money online.