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The Fall and Winter holidays are approaching fast, and it's never too early to start preparing. Holiday sales from November to December totaled more than $180 billion in the US alone in 2020. If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to open a Streamlabs merch store.
Luckily, opening up your own merchandise business doesn’t need to be complicated. Here at Streamlabs, we handle printing, shipping, and customer service. All you have to do is upload your logo (Streamlabs Logo Maker is now FREE) or creative design to any of our products, and that’s it! There is no cost to you.
That leaves you to create the content and present it to your audience. Wearing your merch while you stream is the best way to promote your brand and sell merchandise. However, indicators point to longer lead times and higher shipping costs as we approach the holiday season. This means that it is critical to start creating holiday merchandise now.
Here are several questions all streamers should consider when selling merch.
What are the Best Times to Sell Merch?
- November 24 — US Thanksgiving
- November 25 — Black Friday
- November 26 — Small Business Saturday
- November 29 — Cyber Monday
- December 17 — National (US) Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
- December 18— December 26— Hanukkah
- December 24/25 — US Christmas
- December 26 — Boxing Day
When Should You Order Your Merch
It’s crucial to have your merchandise ready before your audience needs to place their order. Many shoppers this year plan to shop early to avoid receiving items too late and higher shipping costs. This means you need to be even more prepared.
We recommend creating and ordering all Merchandise by the end of November. If ordering after November 29th, we recommend selecting expedited shipping when available.
With the Streamlabs store, Streamers can make Merch and order it themselves while hiding items from their public store until they are ready to unveil it for their audience.
Cut-off Dates for Holiday Merch
You and your viewers will need to order by that date if they want to receive your merch before Christmas. The cut-off time for the US this year is December 7th for all items. For global (non-US) orders, the cut-off time is November 29th for all items.
It is also important to offer items that make good gifts during the holiday season. 2020 holiday data shows that certain products sell better than normal during the holiday season. Consider creating one or all of the following items:
- Wooden Ornaments
- Throw Blanket
- Pajama Pants
- Hoodie
- Apron
- Mug
- Pillows / Pillow Cases
- Laptop Cases
- Canvases
- Bags (totes, duffles, and backpacks)
If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Streamlabs
Founded on the belief that we want to help creators make a living do what they love, Streamlabs provides a robust suite of features to help creators better engage with their fans, grow audiences, and improve monetization. Building on this mission, Streamlabs is expanding its product with 1) Melon, our browser-based streaming studio, 2) Willow, an all-in-one bio link tool, 3) Oslo, a video review and collaboration tool. And 4) Cross Clip, the easiest way to convert Twitch clips to videos for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.