Merch By Amazon: Filler Designs And Why You Shouldnt Discard Them https

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Where dem go first of all know say OP no dey intelligent is from the tying of his /her own happiness to another person's luck/fortune.

Recipe for depression.

You probably spent your life cramming to death with hopes of sitting in ac office.

Advice, if you will take it and act on it. Get a skill that people will pay you for if you were stranded on an island.(preferably with a laptop).

Another degree will be another waste of time.

I will share content relating to this in the nearest future. For now tho, the secret to wealth is not in any pastor or lecturers hands, it's between your ears.

#comingsoon #TShirtLifestyle

Made it to T-500 organically. If you did same, join my dance here https://www.nairaland.com/4650968/amazonmerch-group

Made it to T-500

Betterchoice:
This section has been very helpful.

I am a young lawyer and on the verge of rounding off my NYSC.

I have been thinking of how to secure a good future hence have been considering migrating to Canada or the USA.


Law is not a STEM course and switching career may not be easy at all.

I am wondering if there are opportunities for Lawyers in Canada or the USA (or even New Zealand, Australia.)

I am looking at migrating via Masters degree --- that''s if I can gain a full or partial scholarship with 3.9 CGPA on a 5 point scale or migrating through Canadian FSW.


Or do I just stay back in Nigeria?

I can raise 2 million naira.

Suggestions needed please. I am tired. Seriously tired because the future looks bleak.

first, set up a fiverr account. Set up 5 gig services that you can deliver as a lawyer over the internet whether it's drawing up a simple legal contract or whatever (use your head). All this costs you $0.00, just time that you would otherwise spend chasing meaningless stuff. Then, take 150k from that 2m and spend it on digital ads all over the internet. Youd be advertising your fiverr gigs. When you start getting work, you will recoup this adspend in 3 months or less. When work starts being too much for you, come back to naira land and hire people as a thank you for this idea. Finally, as a thank you to me, send 50k as the consultation fee.

Join in www.nairaland.com/4650968/amazonmerch-group

Today is Motivation Monday: Weekly Merch Mentality Thread

Let's discuss the mindset of the Merch grind. This thread is to discuss bigger picture stuff like goals, achievements, and long-term progress.

Today is Sales Review Sunday. A weekly review thread of how well you are doing on MBA. Join the discussion using the following format.

Current Tier:

Total Live Designs:

Total Weekly Sales:

Total # of designs that sold:

Returns:

What worked?:

What didn't work?:


I will begin


Current Tier: T100

Total Live Designs: 100

Total Weekly Sales: 27

Total # of designs that sold: 5

Returns: 0

What worked?: Just two designs are bringing me some 70% of the sales. Have increased the prices on my bestsellers.

What didn't work?: Have been uploading daily, but none of the uploads from the past 2-3 weeks have sold yet.

Greetings! Today is Free Talk Friday for this group. Use this tag to talk about one-off issues, trends, memes, really whatever you'd like that concerns MBA.

Alternatively, you can send me 5k I will mail you a random design in a niche you choose.

Nothing is free in this life. Free things hardly ever last. You must work to get what you want. If you want people to see your designs then start marketing them. Put in the work in exchange for gain. If it is free resources you want then check pixabay or canva. Last last use pencil and draw what you want, then transfer to system.

1. Getting Approved
Q1. How long do I have to wait to get approved for a Merch by Amazon account?

Nobody knows. People have waited anywhere between 2 weeks to 16 months. Your best bet in the meantime is to START and get some designs created. These can be used across many different platforms outside of just Merch by Amazon.

Q2. How do I increase my chances of getting approved?

Link to your work or portfolio when signing up. Show the team that you have an audience that is willing to purchase from you. Write compelling copy in your application form. Keep your fingers crossed. It’s much like an online job application. Give them reasons to believe you’d be a good fit. If you do not have any online presence, it might be time to start creating one.

Make sure you have a bank account set up and a portfolio somewhere on the internet for the new MBA signup page. You are required to enter in your banking details and your tax information before they can make a decision on if you will be accepted. If Amazon is unable to find information about you, you will be denied so make sure to fill out the application completely.

Q3. Can I buy a Merch by Amazon account?

No. Merch by Amazon has updated their terms of service to disallow the buying and selling of Merch by amazon accounts.

2. Research
Q1. How do I see all the Merch by Amazon results?

On Amazon.com, go to the section: Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry: Novelty & More: Clothing:

Q2. What Does BSR Mean?

BSR is a metric that Amazon shows to everyone called Best Sellers Rank. This metric can be found in the product description and gives us a rough idea about how well a product is selling. This can be used to determine if a niche as a whole is something where customers are opening up their wallets and spending money. Remember, if a customer is not spending in that niche, the chance of getting a sale is low.

Q3. Can I copy best sellers?

Absolutely not. This is the fastest way to get your account banned. You can use best sellers to understand what niches are “hot” but always come to the table with unique designs that customers will love.

Q4. I see (phrase/design/idea) on Amazon, can I do it too?

Make sure during your research process you are checking TESS (trademark electronic search system) for trademark. If something is trademarked and on Merch anyway, STAY AWAY.

3. Designing
Q1. What software should I use?

There is no right answer here. Use whatever you are comfortable with. Here are some options.

Adobe Photoshop (Windows, Mac) $29.99/month
By far the most popular image editing software. More geared towards photo editing than vector-based designs. Merch by Amazon offers an official Photoshop template

Adobe Illustrator (Windows, Mac) $19.99/month
Software made for vector design and editing. Merch by Amazon also has an official Illustrator template.

GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux) Free and Open Source
A powerful and viable alternative to proprietary software from Adobe. A little less polished, sometimes glitchy, has a bit of a learning curve. It’s almost as good as Photoshop if your designs are simple. Download Merch by Amazon’s official GIMP template here.

Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux) Free and Open Source
Sort of like the open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator. It’s just as powerful and capable of replicating Illustrator’s functions. It also opens .AI files - so Merch by Amazon’s official illustrator template works fine with Inkscape too.

It is recommended that you do NOT design on mobile. However, there are some options for people that wish to:

WordSwag (iOS, Android) $4.99 one-time purchase
Popular image editing app among merchers. It’s easy to design text-based t-shirts with this one. A word of caution, WordSwag uses some proprietary fonts which may not be licenced for commercial use. You can use it for inspiration and layout, but make sure you have the rights to use every font and graphic element on your designs.

Over (iOS) Freemium
Just like WordSwag, over makes it easy to design text-based tees. This app too uses some proprietary fonts which may not be licenced for commercial use. Exercise caution and due diligence while using such apps and tools.

Other online editors
Pixlr, Janvas, etc. You should find more online. As long as it can spit out a 4500x5400 .PNG file without any watermarks, you should be fine. Make sure your designs are sharp and not blurry.

Illustrator app (iOS, Android) Free
You can design vectors using this free app on your mobile devices and transfer them to your desktop to add finishing touches. This works best if your device uses a stylus (like the iPad pro or Samsung Galaxy Note).

Q2. Where do I get free fonts?

Google Fonts
Font Squirrel
DaFont

Be careful and make sure the fonts are free for commercial use, not just personal.

Q3. Where do I get vector files?

Pixabay
Free Vintage Vectors
Open Clipart
Use caution and Google’s reverse image search to make sure you’re not infringing on anyone’s Intellectual Property. Some of these websites allow user-generated uploads, which means anyone can upload anything to these sites. It’s up to you to make sure your Merch account has a good standing.

Q4. What colors sell best?

This depends largely on your niche and design.

Q5. Someone stole my design! What can I do?

Merch by Amazon is still very much the wild west! This is an issue that Merch is actively working on correcting. You will notice that some people are uploading Disney and Star Wars designs. First check to see if those are not actually licensed products. Merch has been partnering with large content creators. You will also start to notice that some people are copying successful merch shirts pixel for pixel. While Amazon is getting better at catching these, the system is still not perfect. We know this can be frustrating, but you first must take a step back and ask yourself if it is worth your time and effort to fight this. If you were to make a political shirt, it might not be worth your time since you do not own the rights over the politician you made the shirt about.

Ideas are a dime a dozen and more often than not, you will have the same exact idea that someone else has. Before you get upset and accuse someone of being a thief and stealing your work, take some time to think that your idea for a great t-shirt design might have been obvious. If you see someone copy your design, you can either report them or you can move on. There are many successful top tier sellers in this group who focus on cranking out more quality designs instead of fighting an uphill battle.

If your design is very original with a unique idea, you always have the option of filing a copyright on the design and getting a trademark on the wording/phrase. This costs a few hundred dollars per trademark and months worth of time so make sure this is worth it to you.

Before you go after anyone that has copied your shirts, take a look at the BSR (best sellers rank) to see if that shirt is even selling. If it is not, it is probably not worth your time.

If after all of that you still want to report the listing to Amazon, please use this link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/reports/infringement

4. Outsourcing
Q1. Can I hire a designer? How much should I pay?

Of course you can hire a designer! Many of them will even be hanging out in this group! Starting with me. There are many places you can find designs such as Upwork.com, Fiverr.com, peopleperhour.com. Pay people what they are worth. On the very low end, you can expect to pay $3-$5 per design up to $100 or more for very intricate design. (I charge between 5 to 7k). Not all designers are going to be what you are looking for so make sure to test each designer with a few images before you start giving them bulk work.

5. Uploading
Q1. My design is stuck in ‘started processing’. It’s been days! What’s wrong?

Official response: We are aware that some t-shirts may show a processing status on the Manage page of the dashboard. While they remain processing, you will not be able to delete the shirt or edit the description. We are continuously working to complete publishing of these t-shirts. We will detect these t-shirts automatically and work to resolve each one.

What can you do? Nothing, just wait and it will soon go away. If you’re out of slots and desperately need to edit/delete that slot, make a post on the official forums.

Q2. Can I upload variations of my existing designs?

Sure you can! You are allowed to upload anything that you have 100% rights to and does not violate Amazon’s content policy. You should upload different color options, re-designs, or variations of your best sellers if you have the slots.

6. Rejections & Copyright
Q1. How many times can I get rejected before losing my Merch account?

Short answer: Don’t risk it.

Long answer: Aim for zero rejections. If you slip up and get one strike calm down. It’s important to stop whatever it is you’re doing and breathe. Now that you’re composed, go through your designs and delete every single one that might be considered risky. To answer your question, Amazon hasn’t officially announced a number - however, within the community, most people believe why you were rejected is more important than how many times. If you upload designs that hint at Disney / Stranger Things/ marijuana, or intentionally trying to game the system - you could be out in one strike. If it’s an innocent typo on your designs - they may just ask you to fix it and re-upload.

Q2. There are many other merchers using this trademarked keyword. Why was I rejected?

In a perfect world they would be banned too. We don’t live in a perfect world. You don’t want to compete to see who can outsmart Amazon’s system - in the long-term nobody is a winner at that game. There’s no reason to compete in a niche with many trademarked keywords - you could search this subreddit for niches, spend 5 minutes and come up with thousands of safe niches. Merch is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t try to game Amazon.

Q3. Is it fair to use this TV/Movie quote?

No. It’s never fair to rely on the popularity of another franchise to help you sell shirts. Even though technically it’s not covered under USPTO - there is such a thing as leeching off of someone else’s marketing or production dollars. This isn’t a grey area, this is IP theft and is frowned upon by Amazon. They often actively delete such designs.

Recommended reading: The Siren Song of IP infringement

Q4. Can I hint at this famous person without explicitly mentioning them on my listing?

Please don’t. If your design requires someone else’s copyrighted work to contextualize it - it’s IP infringement and against Amazon’s content policy. It will be taken down and you may lose your account over it.

Q5. How do I check for trademarked words?

USPTO – This is the only place you should be doing your original trademark searches. Make sure to navigate to TESS (trademark electronic search system)

Q6. I have the permission to use someone else’s copyright/TM/IP. Should I just upload my design?

No! First write a mail to merch support and share your documentation demonstrating that you have the rights to use the content - A confirmation letter from the intellectual property rights holder, the publish date if you believe the design is your own, or a copy of the applicable license. Also share the contact information of the rights holder - email and phone number.

Merch will contact them and verify. Once this is done, you will be approved to use that on your Merch designs.

Do not upload the copyrighted designs without prior approval from merch.

Q7. Can I . . . ?

No you can't! Stop looking for loopholes. If you have to ask, don't do it.

7. Tiers
Q1. Why was I not tiered up?

Tier-ups are not just based on your sales. Amazon accounts for their own production capability before deciding whether or not to upgrade your account. Amazon also considers the kind of designs that you’ve uploaded - too many low-effort text-only designs and you might be skipped for a tier-up. On the flip side - if you have excellent designs and have almost met your tier-up target (80-85% depending on who you ask) they would upgrade your account.

There are multiple factors that play into this, not just the sales numbers.

Q2. How many upload slots do I get at different tiers?

As of August 1st, 2018, Amazon has temporarily throttled uploads as follows -

Tier 10: 1 per day
Tier 25 and 100 : 10 per day
Tier 500: 50 per day
Tier 1k: 80 per day
Tier 2k: 120 per day
Tier 4k: 160 per day
Tier 6k, 8k and 10k : 200 per day and above

Q3. Do my sales from previous tiers count towards my future tier-ups?

Yes they do! For example, if you’ve made your first 10 sale on Merch and have been tiered up - you only need to make 15 more sales to qualify for the next tier-up (Tier 25).

Q4. Can I skip a tier if I’ve already made the number of sales that qualify me for the next tier-up?

There has never been an official word from Amazon on this. A couple of users have reportedly skipped some lower tiers - but these are unverified reports.

8. Pricing
Q1. How much should I price my standard t-shirts?

You must test out different price points in your niche. What works in one niche may not work in another. Test out and see where you can make the most sales. Competition, niche, design, and trend/seasonality all may have some affect on sales and your price should reflect that.

Your keywords will get you seen. Your designs will get you sales.

Read these threads and decide for yourself.

9. Getting paid and taxes
Q1. I’m not from the US. How do I get paid?

You can set-up a bank account in one of the merch-supported countries. If your country is not on that list, ask your local bank if you’re allowed to open an account in one of the supported countries through your local branch. You may also use third-party services like Payoneer.

Q2. I’m not a US citizen. How do I manage taxes?

You can enter your national TIN (Tax Identification Number) with Merch and they will withhold anywhere between 0-30% of your taxes. This is based on your country’s trade agreements with the US. If you do not provide any TIN, Amazon will withhold 30% of your royalties by default.

You can also set up an EIN with the US Government. Read about that here: https://merchinformer.com/avoid-30-tax-witholding-non-us-amazon-sellers/

It is important that you pay taxes in the country you reside. Please contact an accountant and discuss it with them.

If you want to learn what I do personally, it will cost you and there is no guarantee of similar results. If you are on the MBA wagon comment below and let's discuss our journey.

Join the discussion if you are familiar with MBA. You might learn a thing or two.

Walahi

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BEYOND THE BARGAIN

By Chimdi Michael

Published by BadCreative Books


Description
A child’s faith, a woman’s grief, and a man’s search for an heir.

Lolo Nwakaego is a woman who had everything but what mattered most in a pre-colonial, pre-christian society, a male child. Her three daughters Uzo, Azuka, and Bunwa, however pleasant, are unable to lessen the social stigma suffered by her high-status husband.

Maazi Osondu, a prolific fisherman and well to do member of the Umunta community, feels at loss with his peers without a male child to inherit his fortunes, and looks to take another wife to remedy this.

Faced with the prospect of a failing marriage, Lolo looks to the world of the supernatural for help and is eventually granted her wish. Or is she? When the fortunes of the family begin to change for the worse, Lolo and her family must do battle with a malevolent supernatural force that seeks to cash in on a Faustian bargain.

A gripping yet delightful tale of a family torn between two lifetimes of wealth and desolation, Beyond The Bargain will challenge you with the timelessness of the gospel and the healing love of the Savior, which spans centuries and transcends all trials and tribulations of evil.

From Amazon best-selling Christian thriller author Chimdi Michael comes another page-turner keeping readers up way past their bedtime. Beyond The Bargain is a non-stop Christian supernatural suspense thrill ride, with memorable characters you will love and a world you will not easily comprehend.

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The Bitcoin fever is almost over, or is it? Who can say for sure? Seeing as its prices keep falling. Personally, I didn’t bother with it, because by the time I became aware of its existence, it already cost too much for me to invest in. I also didn’t know how or where to buy, or much less mine it...
..
(Continued here)
https://gestvlt.com/2018/02/25/144/

The Bitcoin fever is almost over, or is it? Who can say for sure? Seeing as its prices keep falling. Personally, I didn’t bother with it, because by the time I became aware of its existence, it already cost too much for me to invest in. I also didn’t know how or where to buy, or much less mine it...
..
(Continued here)
https://gestvlt.com/2018/02/25/144/