Aviation-inspired designs on Amazon Merch on Demand: Should you take your gig to the skies?
Are you ready to elevate your Amazon Merch on Demand game? One of the potential wave-creating niches to explore as a seller is aviation.
From pilots and engineers to aviation enthusiasts, this niche market is filled with passionate buyers.
But how profitable are these products?
In the following sections, we take a dive into the timeless allure of flight with aviation-inspired designs.
Let’s see if this market can take your side gig to new heights by selling merchandise that resonates with those who dream of the skies.
Market overview
Our approach to uncovering the potential of aviation-inspired merch designs consists of several stages and a must-have business intelligence tool – Merch Informer.
Using the software, we first strive to understand more about the size of the market through listing saturation.
Next, our aim is to get to know more about the sales potential of the niche via Average BSR.
The third step is to determine how attractive this segment is for shoppers by assessing the search volume of niche-related keywords.
Finally, we identify the profitability of aviation designs by looking at prices and bestsellers’ sales strategies.
Ready to get in on the details?
Here are our findings dissected.
Listing saturation
Before we share the numbers and begin our analysis, it’s important to note that setting the scenes appropriately is fundamental for your research.
In the aviation merch design space, a lot of sellers may be tempted to shorten their research and only examine “aviation” as the main keyword.
However, this market is extremely rich and diverse. A range of different words, like “airplane”, “aircraft”, “pilot”, and others also fall into this category.
The more terms you evaluate, the better informed you’ll be to make strategic decisions as a seller.
For the sake of this article, we’ve selected two main keywords – “aviation” and “airplane”. We make a few comparisons to showcase how your performance could differ based on the main phrase you select.
For example, when analyzing the listing saturation of the niche, we detected that there are a total of 340 listings that rank for “aviation”. At the same time, there are 418 that rank for “airplane”.
This is the first point of differentiation. The data suggests that airplane designs are better developed as a market when compared to aviation designs.
However, this could also mean that competing in this large niche could be more difficult, especially for beginner sellers with less experience.
Regardless, both segments can be considered attractive in terms of size.
Average BSR
Next, we delve into the average BSR of the bestsellers. This information is valuable as it demonstrates the sales potential of specific products.
A lower average BSR is a clear signal for high sales volumes, making the niche extremely lucrative for those looking to grow their Amazon profits.
According to Merch Informer, the average BSR of the top performers for “aviation” is 455,148. Compared to other merch design segments, this is a relatively high number suggesting limited sales potential.
What’s even more interesting is that the average BSR of listings ranking for “airplane” is even higher – 808,793.
The data we have so far is not enough to make any final conclusions. At the same time, there are strong indications that aviation-inspired designs may not be as rewarding as one may imagine.
Let’s move on to the next metrics to see if this theory is accurate.
Search volume
Another must-have piece of data for understanding a market is search volume.
Search volume portrays the number of searches that have been performed on a monthly basis for a specific phrase.
It showcases the popularity of certain products among buyers and is incredibly vital for listing optimization.
In the case of aviation, we found the following top five keywords:
- army aviation shirt – 5,965
- funny aviation shirts – 4,270
- civil aviation shirt – 4,127
- cessna aviation shirt – 3,105
- airplane boys shirt – 1,675
Next to each term, you can see its monthly search volume.
Right off the bat, it becomes clear that only around 6,000 shoppers browse for phrases like “army aviation shirt”.
Although this number is in the thousands, keep in mind that there are other niches, where the search volumes reach 50,000 and above.
But before we cancel out this market, let’s make one thing clear.
Slightly less popular keywords are oftentimes incredibly easy to rank for. This is because few sellers invest the time and effort to appeal to this demand, making the niche a low-hanging fruit for beginners.
If you don’t have vast experience as a seller on Amazon or are completely new to the world of aviation designs, it’s worth pursuing this opportunity further.
Profitability
Perhaps the fundamental factor that will help dictate whether or not aviation-inspired merch designs should be on your radar is profitability.
How profitable are these products and are other sellers bathing in revenue from their sales?
One of the best ways to find out is through a glance at the market prices.
For “aviation” listings, the prices you need to know about are as follows:
- Lowest Price – $12.99
- Highest Price – $29.99
- Average Price – $19.46
As you can see, rates span from around $10 all the way to nearly $30. This diversity in prices means that you can experiment to see how your performance changes based on your affordability.
The prices for listings ranking for “airplane” are nearly the same:
- Lowest Price – $10.99
- Highest Price – $29.90
- Average Price – $18.98
The real difference here is in the average price – the one that you should focus on the most.
On Amazon Merch on Demand, you can set a pricing strategy that best fits your needs, with zero boundaries. However, a best practice is to position your designs somewhere close to the average in the segment (in this case, around $18.98 or $19.37).
This approach can quickly help you gain more popularity and appear as both affordable and of decent quality.
But let’s see whether the chart-toppers are implementing this technique and what their results look like.
The bestsellers in the aviation space on Amazon Merch on Demand
Via Merch Informer, we were able to take a sneak peek into the bestsellers in the aviation niche.
For instance, the number one listing that ranks for “aviation” is “Pilot Airplane American Flag Plane Aviation Short Sleeve T-Shirt”.
Instantly, the title reveals that this creator targets other powerful keywords, like “airplane”, “pilot”, and “plane” for higher rankings. This enables the seller to get in front of a wider audience and secure more sales.
At a price of $15.95 (significantly lower than the average in the market), the listing has a BSR of 156,677. This translates into only 16 sales per month.
With per-sale royalties of $1.93, this merchant is only generating $30 per month from this design.
Let’s see how this compares against the number one listing ranking for “airplane” – “Fighter Jet Airplane USA Flag 4th Of July Patriotic T-Shirt”.
What’s striking is that this seller has also chosen to position their design at the lower end of the price spectrum at $15.99.
Their performance is also very similar. With a BSR of 143,209, this listing is landing just 18 sales per month. The per-sale royalties are identical to the previous examples ($1.93), making the monthly revenue only $35.
These discoveries point to a certain truth – aviation-inspired merch designs are not as attractive as we originally thought.
Data proves that even the most successful listings in the space are earning around $30 on a monthly basis from a design. This is a much lower return when compared to other, more lucrative niches on the platform.
Conclusion
If you’re on the lookout for a way to diversify your portfolio and earn more on Amazon, aviation is not a niche we recommend tapping into.
Based on our research on Merch Informer, the top sellers are yielding insignificant returns, making this market unfavorable for both newbies and experienced sellers.
Instead, we advise you to use Merch Informer to identify other segments with a higher profitability potential.
At just $9.99 per month, the tool can help you make all the right choices and transform your Amazon side gig.
