Merch design under review how long năm 2024

I was at T2000 making a few hundred dollars a month and at Christmas time, bringing home a little over $4000. I had right around 600ish shirts live and was well on my way to jumping into another tier. I had been on Merch by Amazon for almost 3 years, when after Christmas I logged into my Merch account to the screen of death. See below. It might seems contradictory to give advice on growing your account while mine was terminated. But hey, I played their little game and figured out some really helpful strategies. Feel free to reach out if you want some more clarification on anything I wrote below.

TLDR; Skip below to read my 10 tips for growing your account and avoiding termination.

How I got terminated

So before I get into the tips, let me just give you a little back story. I had been around long enough to know what keywords to avoid and what designs weren’t acceptable. I had quite a few rejections early in my Merch account a couple years ago and learned to be a “good boy” and obey the rules. However, if you have had the good fortune of making it into the upper tiers (there are tiers obviously much higher than mine), you can now upload 250 shirts or more a day. That means I could upload a lot of shirts at once…standard, premium, hoodies…etc. So at any given time, I could upload in the UK, US and Germany, which meant I could have 15+ designs being reviewed at a time. A bit long winded…sorry. SO, you might be able to see where this is going.

The mistake

I had a shirt design that was selling 20–30 every couple days. I was making great money off of it. So, per my strategy, I would make every variation of that shirt as possible…to avoid someone taking my number one spot. So I decided to make one more variation using all of the shirts, hoodies, tanks available and in both US and UK. I mean, I had already submitted the shirt and it was approved — so what could go wrong? Lots. If you’ve been around, then you know that if your submissions stay in the “Under Review” status for more than an hour (give or take), then you know you’re in trouble. This is exactly what happened to me. 24 hours later, I got 17 rejections! Yikes. Like I said, I had been good but I got lazy. I didn’t check my keywords. 24 hours after that, I got the above screen when logging into my account. Yep, I had a panic attick.

Nail in the coffin

I immediately tried to contact someone. I sent emails to every email they had, appealing their decision. They had no phone number. So two, slow and painful days later, after 5–6 pathetic emails asking for my account to be reinstated, I got my final notification. They said their decision was final. No personal message or anything like that. Just an impersonal, canned response. Did I mention I had $3k in royalties waiting to be paid out? Nope. That’s withheld. Yeah, it was a rough couple days. BUT you live and learn, and Amazon considers you a number and you have to look out for yourself and your account. So I decided to take my losses and move on and continue selling on some other POD sites. Meanwhile, there are other ways to sell on Amazon. So if you’ve made it this far — thanks. I hope my story helps you avoid the same mistakes. Read below for my top 10 tips for growing your account and avoiding termination.

10 Tips for Growing Your Merch Account and Avoiding Termination

1. Growth: In the lower tiers, make quality and unique shirts. You only have 10–50 shirts live at a time. Depending on your tier. You have to make them count. Spend a little extra $$ and get a good design or spend a little more time designing and make it good!
2. Growth: If you can, learn to design yourself! I’m a designer by trade and I made every single design. You can jump onto trends immediately and before everyone else has a chance.
3. Growth: Save all of your posts. That means designs and their respective product information: brand name, title, product features. Reusing designs and especially your product information saves you time! Especially if you have other products in the same niche.
4. Growth: This is probably one of the most important tips. If you think you have a good idea, immediately start thinking about all of the possible alternatives and variations. I made this mistake early. I had a design that sold 20 Per day for three days and suddenly dropped. I went and looked at the design and someone else had made five other versions of my shirt. A couple days later my design was making no money at all.
5. Growth: Advertising. If you are not advertising right now, you need to stop reading this post and sign up for Amazon advertising. If you want to own a niche, you need to spend a little money and put your products ahead of everyone else’s. Caveat: make sure your design is actually better than the others. Or close.
6. Avoid termination: avoid at all costs anything that can be mistaken for a big name brand. You might make a little money for a while, I did, but eventually those brands will find you. Amazon has no problem retro actively taking down designs. This may be the biggest offense. If you have been making lots of money on a design, even if Amazon didn’t catch it, when a big name reports your design. That can be a disaster. Amazon doesn’t want to be sued, and terminating your account is just flipping a switch to them.
7. Avoid termination: this one is important because this is likely why I got terminated. No matter what, always, always double check your product information for trademark and copyright. Even if a design and product info was successfully submitted before. Copyright and trademark can change constantly. Have a little patience and make it a part of your process before uploading.
8. Avoid termination: never ever try to make money off of a tragedy. Believe it or not, not all submissions are approved automatically or through a machine. A manual review means that someone is personally looking at your submission. It’s one thing to get dinged for copyright, it’s another thing if it looks like you have no ethics or morals. So just don’t try.
9. Avoid termination: This one should be a part of your process too. It’s bigger than you think. As you get higher in the tiers, you can upload more shirts at a time. If you do have a design that you’re not sure about, then upload one version of it. Wait until you see it is processing and then upload the rest of your shirts. That way if it gets rejected it’s only one rejection and not 17. Read my story above if you need an example.
10. Avoid termination: Let my experience be a lesson to you, if you think it’s questionable then just don’t. There will be a point where you start to make money that you can count on. It’s so easy to try and make money off of trends, but if you have even the slightest feeling it could get rejected, find a new idea. The name of this game is quantity and quality and the more you sell overtime the more the more chances you’ll have to tier up. Not every design will sell and not every design will be a homerun, but once you get to a higher level, statistically you will make money by just having lots of designs live. So don’t try and cheat or cut corners. Build something that will last for years.

If you have any questions about my process and are looking for more details, feel free to reach out. I may overtime write more posts on the subject. Meanwhile, I may look to collaborate with a few other friends and family that have Merch accounts and see where things go from there. Most importantly, if you can relate with this post, remember there are lots of opportunities to make passive income out there. Don’t quit because some big name corporation cut off your stream. Find another. Hope you’ve found this post useful.

What does under review mean on merch by Amazon?

Under Review: A design in “Under Review” status is being reviewed by our team to ensure compliance with the Amazon Merch on Demand Content Policy. Please allow time for the team to review your submissions. You will receive an email if a product is rejected.

How much do you make with Amazon Merch on demand?

Standard T-Shirt Examples – US.

Is merch by Amazon worth it?

So, is Merch by Amazon worth it? If you're willing to put in the initial work, then the answer is yes. Our review shows that it can be a great way to earn extra income by selling custom products via Merch by Amazon without having to deal with the hassle of managing shipping, customer service, and production.

How does merch by Amazon work?

With Amazon Merch on Demand, you can make money through the sale of branded products designed by you. You earn a royalty for every product sold with no out-of-pocket cost to you. Amazon Merch on Demand is built on Amazon.com's worldwide sales, distribution, logistics, shipping, and customer service.