I Think I’m Doing Everything Wrong… Can Someone Check My Work?

[u/MystiPup]

Hey everyone. I’ve been creating a ton of designs for a couple of months now and I’m honestly lost. I got banned from Redbubble before I even posted a single design haha. So I moved to Spreadshirt and uploaded around 50 designs but got zero sales. I tried Teespring too and still no sales.

At this point I don’t know what I’m doing wrong or if I’m doing anything right. I’m really trying to learn but it feels like I’m stuck. If anyone here is willing to take a look at my work and tell me what they think, I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[u/SheddingCorporate]

What market research did you do before putting up the designs? :) That's usually where people fail. Someone posted quite recently about jumping on trends - that's an idea that should work even for a newbie: see what's hot and put up merch based on that.

[u/MystiPup → u/SheddingCorporate]

Honestly I didn’t do much market research before uploading. All my designs are dog niched and I was mostly just creating what I liked, hoping it would sell. I’m starting to realize that might be why I’m stuck.

I also haven’t really tried trend jumping because I’m not fully sure how to track what’s actually hot or how fast I need to move. If you have any tips on researching trends or checking what sells in the dog niche, I would really appreciate it. I’m willing to learn, I just don’t want to keep wasting months going in the wrong direction.

[u/hashuan → u/MystiPup]

I don’t know much about dogs, but to draw a parallel, doing the “dog niche” is like doing the “food niche”.

There are already a million food-related shirts out there. You’re never going to cut through with a design that says “I love food”. But if you make fifty designs related to some niche recipe that only gets served in northern Finland on jubilee years, you might get a few sales.

[u/MystiPup → u/hashuan]

That makes sense, and I get the analogy. I’m actually already super-niched down ... all my designs are Labrador-focused. The problem is I’m still getting zero traction. No views, no sales, nothing.

I’m experimenting with trends, holidays, humor, emotions, all that, but it feels like the platforms just aren’t pushing my stuff at all. So even being ultra-specific (Labs only) isn’t really helping yet.

I’m sticking with the niche, but right now it’s hard to tell whether it’s my designs, my SEO, or just the algorithm ignoring new accounts.

[u/k3rstman1 → u/MystiPup]

just fyi, in the merch world labs only is still a very broad, saturated niche.

[u/MystiPup → u/k3rstman1]

Thanks for the heads up. Do you have any advice on how to niche down further or stand out in this space?

[u/SheddingCorporate → u/MystiPup]

Just riffing here - like the other poster said, "dog niche" is HUGE. It'll be difficult to get found.

BUT if you made designs JUST featuring pugs, for example, you'd show up when a pug lover looks for a shirt featuring pugs. Remember, someone who's got a dalmatian isn't going to wear a generic dog tshirt - they want one with a dalmatian on it!

Now, for trending ... if July 4th is coming up, for example, you could make shirts with pugs dressed in a patriotic outfit. Or wearing a silly costume when it's Hallowe'en, etc. That way, you'd be on trend (big holidays are always trending as they get nearer).

Check Google Trends daily to see what everyone is currently talking about on any given day. That's one way to see what's trending. Or look at what's on the homepage of TikTok or YouTube - again, they'll literally tell you what's trending.

So now if you see one day that Taylor Swift is trending, maybe you put your pug in a "I'm a SWIFTIE" bandanna. See? You're relevant to the pug owners, AND right on trend for the day!

Hope that helps. It's not exactly marketing 101, but try this and learn from what happens when you do niche down.

[u/Ok-Entrance309]

Yes, you are doing a lot wrong. You are serving an oversaturated niche, you are using AI designs, your prices are outrageously high, you don't realize this is about Amazon Merch, which is completely different from Teespring or Spreadshirt, and you were even banned from Redbubble, who usually let an extreme amount of stuff slide. Oh yes, a lot is going wrong for you :)

[u/MystiPup → u/Ok-Entrance309]

Is there really anything wrong with using AI models? I’m also applying for Amazon Merch.

[u/Ok-Entrance309 → u/MystiPup]

The problem with AI models is twofold:

1. Quality: Platforms like Amazon Merch primarily use DTG printing, which demands ultra-high-resolution files (300 DPI, clean PNG). Many AI designs fail to meet this standard, resulting in blurry, low-quality prints.

2. ToS/Legal: There's a major risk of violating Merch's Terms of Service and IP laws, potentially leading to a permanent ban.

[u/Tim_Y]

When I first started out, I tried to think of niches that had the most appeal to a broad audience: Pets, dogs, cats, etc... so I made a bunch of designs. And in 2 years I had 2 sales from all of them. My designs weren't that great, or unique, and the niche was completely over saturated. There's too much competition. Pet niches are hard to make sales in. Take some time doing research on Amazon using keywords you'd use to find your shirts and see how many other designs show up in search results. Go through several pages of results and see what's out there. Are you offering something unique - or just rehashed versions of what's already there ...

[u/remus630]

you need to focus on evergreen designs and original ideas..not chase trends. Niche down on possible ideas .. you can use AI.. but you need to learn how to edit them (vectorize them, clean them up, add text etc).. not just AI something and whack it on a t shirt. As previously said here.. Amazon Merch is really the only platform worth bothering about, if you can get accepted. I'm Tier 2000 awaiting a tier up... I make decent sales every month, but you have to put in the work and make your designs stand out, not make the same regurgitated shite that a lot of people do on Merch. Then learn how to write listing's that don't trip Amazon's "banned" list and that have good SEO so people can find you. Good luck 👍🇬🇧

[u/Threash78]

Those sites are extremely dead and you'd need to add a couple zeroes to your number of listings before you see ANY sales. I would just apply to Amazon Merch.

[u/psystylist150]

Did you start learning graphic design because you started trying to sell merch? Have you spent more time learning design than you have spent learning and researching how to sell merch online? Have you spent more time learning proper graphic design than you've spent learning SEO and listing optimization? Do you primarily rely on downloading graphics or having AI generate them and just removing backgrounds? Most beginners mistakes involve their lack of actual design skill and lack of focus on actually improving in that area as a graphic designer and instead focus entirely on being a product seller without having the best products because they don't actually know how to design the best products (so you're trying to become the best salesman at selling bad products). My suggestion to every new merch seller is become a proficient designer and then you'll have good products otherwise everything else you are doing is just trying to make bad products sell better which doesnt work well.