How To Make and Sell Your Merch on TikTok [Actionable Guide]

Do you have a growing TikTok account and dream of launching your own merch?

Selling on TikTok has surged in popularity, with more creators turning their influence into thriving businesses.

With TikTok Shop, users are almost twice as likely to buy products they see on the app, making it the perfect time to turn your followers into customers.

In this article, you will learn how to make and sell your merch on TikTok in 5 steps! Let’s get started!

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Make and Sell Your Merch on TikTok in 5 Easy Steps

1. Set-Up Your TikTok Shop

In September 2023, TikTok introduced TikTok Shop, which lets users buy products directly from videos without leaving the app.

Since its launch, TikTok Shop has seen rapid growth, with its global Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) soaring to $50 billion in 2024.

To sell through it, you’ll need to apply under one of these categories:

Seller – Sell your own products.
Creator – Earn commissions by promoting products.
Partner – Collaborate with brands to sell items.
Affiliate – Promote and earn from various products.

To sell your own merch, you’ll need to register as a seller through the TikTok Seller Center.

This platform allows businesses and individuals to list products, manage inventory, process orders, and track sales, all within TikTok.

Let’s check how you can do it:

🔵 Step 1: Sign up & choose a business type

Select your country (available in select regions) and choose whether you’re setting up as an individual or a business. If you’re registering as a business in the USA, you’ll need legal details like an EIN.

🔵 Step 2: Verify your information

To complete the verification, upload the required documents:

Individuals – Provide a passport, national ID, or driver’s license.
Corporations – Submit a government-issued ID and business registration documents.

🔵 Step 3: Set up your shop & address details

Enter your warehouse or pickup address, along with a return address (which can be the same). You’ll also need to provide a contact name, phone number, postcode, and email. Once you’ve agreed to TikTok’s terms, click “Start Your Business” to proceed.

🔵 Step 4: Link a bank account

To receive payments, navigate to Link Bank Account in the Seller Center and enter your account details:

Account holder name
Bank name
Account number
Bank address

Make sure the account name matches the registered individual or business name.

🔵 Step 5: Start selling

Once your shop is approved, you can start adding products and begin selling!

📌 Note

For now, TikTok Seller Center is available in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Ireland, and Vietnam.

2. Select a Niche

To build a loyal TikTok audience, you need to be authentic and consistent and create content that reflects who you are.

Once people resonate with your personality and trust your content, selling becomes a natural extension of that relationship.

That’s why most creators choose a niche that naturally fits their content. For example:

As an artist, you may sell prints or artsy hoodies.
If you’re a fitness coach, offer gym gear or motivational water bottles.
As a comedian, you might turn your funniest catchphrases into witty t-shirts.

A niche also shapes your entire marketing strategy. TikTok thrives on communities built around specific styles, interests, and aesthetics.

Once you carve out your space, it becomes easier to:

Create relevant content that engages your audience.
Collaborate with other creators in the same niche.
Attract customers who are more likely to make a purchase.

📌 Example

A notable example of a TikTok creator who successfully identified a niche and developed products to match is Hyram Yarbro.

Known for his skincare advice and product reviews, Hyram gained a massive following on TikTok by focusing on affordable and effective skincare solutions.

Recognizing the demand within his niche, he launched his own skincare line, “Selfless by Hyram,” in collaboration with The Inkey List.

3. Create a design

Before you start, consider the vibe you want your merch to have. Is it bold and edgy, fun and playful, or sleek and minimal?

Your design should reflect your brand’s personality, just like your niche does.

Here are four ways to get the perfect design:

Use Your Own Design

Your original artwork makes your merch one of a kind and helps you stand out.

Whether it’s a hand-drawn sketch, painting, or digital design, you can turn your creativity into t-shirts, phone cases, and more.

Take, for example, Sana and Will Saleh.

This couple launched Lala Hijabs during the pandemic, turning a creative tie-dye hijab project into a thriving business.

With no prior entrepreneurial experience, they relied entirely on TikTok for marketing, and it quickly became their most powerful tool.

A single viral video led to an overwhelming response, prompting the couple to invest their life savings into officially launching the brand.

Today, 60% of Lala Hijabs’ total sales come directly from TikTok, driven by organic engagement and strategic content.

Use AI Design Tools

AI-powered tools can significantly speed up the design process, making it easier for professionals and beginners to create compelling visuals.

Platforms like Midjourney, DALL·E, and stable diffusion-based apps allow users to generate custom images simply by entering text prompts.

For those who don’t consider themselves skilled graphic designers, these tools can be invaluable for brainstorming or refining visuals.

For example, you can try Microsoft Bing Image Creator, which allows you to view 15 free images a day.

This tool will create an illustration based on your text.

📌 Note

Even though AI design is rising in popularity, it is important to know that it still has some limitations:

Limited creativity – AI generates designs based on patterns but lacks true originality.
Contextual Constraints – It struggles to fully grasp emotional, cultural, and brand-specific nuances.
Data dependency – Outputs are restricted by the quality and diversity of training data, leading to potential biases.
Precision limitations – AI lacks the fine-tuned control required for detailed and highly customized designs, necessitating human refinement.

Find Free and Paid Design Assets

If you don’t have the time to create a design from scratch, don’t worry!

You can find premade designs on various online platforms, whether you need stock photos, vector graphics, or illustrations.

Here are the top free design websites:

✅ Unsplash – A vast collection of over 6 million free, high-resolution photos for personal and commercial use.

Unsplash’s license prohibits selling unaltered copies on physical goods, so to use their images, you must significantly modify them or add creative elements to comply with their terms.

✅ Pexels – Free stock photos and videos, perfect for creative projects.

✅ Pixabay – More than 5.3 million free illustrations, vectors, and photos available for download.

✅ Freepik – Offers over 247 million ready-to-use stock assets, including photos, vector graphics, and icons, offering free and premium options.

If you want to get premium quality designs, you can go with:

💲 Shutterstock – Leads the industry with over 469 million stock images, providing a broad array of professional-grade photos, illustrations, and vectors.

💲 Adobe Stock – Offers a collection of over 200 million high-quality assets, including photos, illustrations, and templates, integrated seamlessly with Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

Hire a Designer

A professional designer can save you time and ensure a polished final product.

Freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and 99designs offer access to thousands of designers with various styles and skill sets, from minor tweaks to full branding overhauls.

Graphic designers in the U.S. usually charge between $24 and $35 per hour.

However, rates can range anywhere from $20 to $150 per hour, depending on experience, location, and project complexity.

4. Make High-Quality Mockups

Once your design is ready, it’s time to create high-quality visuals that showcase your product in the best light.

If you’re looking for a quick and affordable way to generate professional mockups, Dynamic Mockups lets you generate up to 100 mockup variations in just 10 seconds!

Here is how:

✨ With Advanced Editing Tools, you can effortlessly customize colors, mix and match Printful and Printify combinations, and adjust every detail in the print area. Rearrange, fine-tune, and make it truly yours!

✨ Product Library offers over 1,000+ high-quality product templates for free, so you can easily maintain a cohesive brand style by selecting product images that align with your visual identity.

You can choose from T-shirts, hoodies, wall art, pillows, tote bags, mugs, phone cases, sweatshirts, and more.

✨ While plain product images on a white background are standard, dynamic and realistic mockups can make your merchandise more tangible and appealing to potential buyers.
Dynamic Mockups AI Generator lets you do just that do just that.
You can describe the perfect background in Background Prompt and quickly produce backgrounds or scenes that match your brand narrative, even if you’re not a professional designer.

💡 Note

You can try out these and many more Dynamic Mockup features with a 7-day free trial. Here are some important information to know before you begin:

A valid credit card is required to initiate your trial.
You may cancel at any time within the 7-day period to avoid charges.
If you do not cancel, your subscription will automatically renew according to your selected plan.

5. Promote Your Merch

To sell your merch on TikTok, you need to do more than just grab attention. You need to convince your audience to buy.

Show how your product solves a problem, improves your audience’s life, or makes them look good.

Here are the best ways you can present merch to your audience:

✅ Live shopping – Going live consistently to showcase new products, answer questions, or offer limited-time discounts builds urgency and excitement.

Between November 13 and December 2 alone, 2024, TikTok hosted almost half a million live shopping events, adding up to more than 660,000 hours of interactive shopping.

✅ Behind-the-scenes content – Show the process behind your merch by sharing design sketches, production steps, and packaging orders.

Transparency builds trust, and viewers love seeing the real people behind a business.

✅ Influencer partnerships – Collaborating with other TikTok creators who align with your brand can significantly boost awareness.

Giveaways, unboxings, and honest reviews from influencers create credibility and can convert their followers into your customers.

✅ Engaging giveaways & contests

Encourage engagement by asking users to comment, tag friends, or post duets featuring your brand. Free merch or store credit as a prize entices participation and spreads brand awareness.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to make and sell your merch on TikTok, it’s time to put it into action.

Your audience is already there, scrolling, engaging, and ready to buy, but only if your merch grabs their attention.

That’s why every detail matters, from your designs to your product presentation.

The good news?
There is no one better at creating high-quality product mockups than Dynamic Mockups!

Additional Dynamic Mockup Features to Help You Make and Sell Merch on TikTok

Trusted by over 3,000 top brands and platforms like Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and Amazon, Dynamic Mockups lets you create unlimited high-quality mockup variations in seconds!

Here are some of the additional features:

✨ Embeddable iFrame Mockup Editor

Embedding our mockup editor into your website creates a seamless design experience, allowing users to create high-quality mockups without leaving your platform.

It simplifies the workflow, reduces errors, and ensures a more efficient process, all in one place, without switching between platforms.

✨ Design Library

Keep all your design files in one place, so you never have to waste time searching through folders or cloud drives again. From there, you can easily find what you need and make updates whenever necessary.

✨ API Functionality

API functionality makes it easy to automate mockup generation or integrate mockups into existing systems, which is especially valuable for growing brands.

Automated processes for creating product images help maintain consistency across platforms, ensuring a cohesive brand presence while saving time and effort.

✨ Seamlessly integrate with eCommerce platforms like Etsy and WooCommerce.

Get started with Dynamic Mockups for free and create professional, high-quality mockups for your TikTok Shop!

Start creating for Free!

Showcase your E-commerce products like big brands, without costing a fortune

How To Make and Sell Your Merch on TikTok [Actionable Guide]

Start creating for Free!