Amazon Merch on Demand in 2026: How It Works, What It Pays and Whether It is Worth It

Amazon Merch on Demand is Amazon's print-on-demand program: you upload a design, Amazon prints and ships each order, and you earn a royalty on every sale. There is no sign-up fee and no inventory to buy (AMZ Prep). Since 1 June 2026 the royalty also depends on how many of your sales you bring in yourself, so guides written before that date show the wrong numbers.
This guide covers how the program works, what it pays now, how to get approved, and whether it is worth your time.

Amazon Merch on Demand is a print-on-demand service where Amazon is the seller and you are the designer. You supply the artwork. Amazon makes the product after a customer orders it, ships it, and handles customer service. Because Amazon is the seller, you cannot run sales or discounts on your products.
The program launched on 30 September 2015 as Merch by Amazon and was renamed Merch on Demand in June 2022. Both names mean the same program.
Amazon's royalty tables cover seven stores: US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. The FAQ covers t-shirts, sweatshirts, long sleeves, PopSockets, phone cases, throw pillows, tote bags, and tumblers.

1. Apply. Submit an application with your Amazon login and complete the tax interview. Amazon typically decides within 14 days.
2. Upload artwork. Files must be PNG, at least 485 x 485 pixels and under 25 MB. Scripts for bulk upload are not allowed.
3. Choose products, colors, fits, and a price. Amazon prints with DTG technology and water-based inks. After a product is live, you can add colors and fits, but you cannot remove them.
4. Publish. Amazon reviews every design against its content policy. A design moves from Under Review to Live or to Rejected with the reason shown on the Manage page.
5. Get paid. Amazon prints and ships each order, and royalties are paid monthly.

If you are outside the US, the tax interview collects an IRS Form W-8. Until Amazon validates it, US-source payments can face 30% withholding, and a lower treaty rate requires a tax ID number. The program is non-exclusive, so you can sell the same design through another website or manufacturer.

From 1 June 2026, the royalty depends on how much of your sales come from non-organic traffic. Amazon defines that as any traffic it identifies as driven by you, including ads on or off Amazon and social media. Amazon calculates each royalty from the offer price, minus tax and Amazon's costs, then applies the multiplier of your royalty group. The costs include materials, production, fulfillment, customer service, returns, exchanges, and fraud prevention.

Plus and Premium also need at least 10 units a month in the US store. Amazon updates your group every month from a trailing two-month average, and a new rate takes up to two business days to apply. The groups apply to US sales only. Rates in other stores did not change.
Here is what that means at 100 sales a month on the $19.99 standard tee: $244 at Creator, $488 at Plus and $527 at Premium. To reach Plus, 15 of those 100 sales have to come from your own traffic. Premium adds only $39 a month over Plus at this volume, so Plus is the realistic target for most sellers.
The royalty also depends on the product and the price. A standard tee pays $0.96 at $15.99 and $4.66 at $25.99 at the Creator rate. These are other Creator-rate examples from Amazon's tables:

A Creator sale pays half of a Plus sale, so sellers who upload designs and wait earn the lowest rate. Sellers who post on TikTok or Pinterest, or run ads, can move up. Amazon also notes that group definitions and rates are subject to change.

New accounts start at Tier 10, which means 10 published designs. Tiers run 10, 25, 100, 500, 1,000, and higher, based on the number and share of products and designs you sold in the last 12 months. One design published across all products and stores counts once.
Upload tiers and royalty groups are two separate systems. The tier caps how many designs you can have live. The royalty group sets how much each sale pays.
There is also a daily publishing limit shown on the Dashboard. It resets at midnight Pacific time and can drop when Amazon is short on capacity.
Amazon keeps designs live only if they have received at least one order in the last 18 months, and an account with no sale for over a year may become inactive.

Amazon typically processes applications within 14 days. It does not give reasons for a rejection, and a rejected applicant cannot apply again. Each person can have one account, and a person whose earlier account was terminated is not eligible.
Read the content policy before you apply, because most problems come from the designs, not the application:

• Use original artwork. Resized, recolored, or slightly edited copies of someone else's art count as copycat designs and are prohibited.
• Get documented permission for any name, likeness, logo, or trademark, including in titles, brand names, and descriptions.
• Be careful with outsourced art. A designer may sell the same file to several customers or ignore Amazon's rules, and your account takes the penalty.

A design that breaks the rules can lead to a suspension of about 30 days. Continued violations after a suspension lead to termination.

It is worth it if you can send your own traffic and treat it as a design business. As a purely passive channel, it pays the lowest rate.
What works in its favor. You pay no upfront or monthly fee, you hold no stock, and Amazon handles printing, shipping, and support. Your designs appear in up to seven Amazon stores.
What works against it. Amazon is the seller, so you cannot run a sale. A Creator sale pays half of a Plus sale. You start with 10 design slots. Designs with no order for 18 months are removed, and Amazon can change the royalty rules, as it did in June 2026.
If passive income is the goal, compare Merch with other options in our guide to making passive income on Amazon.

The main difference is who owns the sale. On Merch on Demand, Amazon is the seller, so the customer relationship stays with Amazon, and you cannot run promotions. In return you get Amazon's search traffic without building a store.
On an Etsy shop or your own store with a print-on-demand provider, you set prices, run discounts, and collect your own customer list. You also have to bring the traffic yourself. Because Merch is non-exclusive, many designers run both with the same artwork and compare which design sells where.

Pick a narrow niche first, then design for it. Our list of niche product ideas and the best-selling products on Amazon show which categories already have steady demand.
A niche you can reach through social media also helps you qualify for Plus. Trends travel fast there, as the list of viral TikTok products shows. Before you commit to a design, check how a product sells on Amazon.