Fantastical Creatures and POD T-Shirts: Do These Two Go Together As Well As They Do In Books and Movies?
Fantastical creatures have been brought to life and sparked our imaginations in books and movies. From books to movies, imaginary elves, fairies, werewolves, and others have become a part of our lives.
But as a seller on Amazon Merch on Demand, is there space for you to explore this niche? And what’s more, is it profitable? This post seeks to answer these questions to help you make the most out of your print-on-demand (POD) side gig.
How big is the fantastical creatures niche on Amazon Merch on Demand?
We used Merch Informer to help us determine the size and scope of this niche. Because the term fantastical creatures is so broad, we identified some of these creatures individually and went ahead with our search to determine the market size.
Here’s what we found.
Keywords, search volume and BSR
We explored a total of 20 types of fantastical creatures by looking at their search volume and average best-seller’s rank (BSR). The results yielded the following data, which is presented from the highest search volume to the lowest.
- “Unicorn”: search volume – 208,325; BSR – 7,725,004
- “Fairy”: search volume – 154,154; BSR – 6 761 511
- “Gnome”: search volume – 151,870; BSR – 6,794,397 (33 sales)
- “Hydra”: search volume – 151,645; BSR – 3,807,122
- “Leprechaun”: search volume – 70,996; BSR – 7,317,430
- “Werewolf”: search volume – 58,598; BSR – 3,335,277
- “Vampire”: search volume – 49,731; BSR – 7,366,247
- “Mermaid”: search volume – 49,631; BSR – 7,007,130 (45 sales)
- “Pegasus”: search volume – 48,902; BSR – 5,803,041
- “Kraken”: search volume – 39,503; BSR – 4 953 744
- “Goblin”: search volume – 39,413; BSR – 2,617,031
- “Dragon”: search volume – 38,734; BSR – 6,860,983
- “Loch Ness Monster”: search volume – 36,278; BSR – 3,088,240
- “Troll”: search volume – 27,990; BSR – 3,215,951
- “Banshee”: search volume – 15,546; BSR – 2,863,232
- “Griffin”: search volume – 15,541; BSR – 4,235,298
- “Bigfoot”: search volume – 15,517; BSR – 6,708,402
- “Phoenix”: search volume – 15,256; BSR – 3,819,817
- “Minotaur”: search volume – 8,011; BSR – 6,000,728
- “Basilisk”: search volume – 7,883 BSR – 5 676 920
Despite the relatively high search volume for these fantastical creatures, we see that the highest search volume doesn’t necessarily translate into a high number of sales. However, we identified two fantastical creatures that have made 30+ sales and will explore each of these in more detail below. These are gnomes and mermaids.
Listing saturation
With listing saturation, we are talking about the keywords sellers use in their listing title to get more visibility. For the two fantastical creatures with the highest number of sales – gnomes and mermaids – the following keywords were used the most by sellers in their titles:
Gnomes
- Seed keyword: gnome (4,417), gnomes (2,055), gnomies (298)
- Occasions: Christmas (1,595), Easter (294), Halloween (249), Xmas (245), Thanksgiving (175), holiday (160), Valentine (152), Valentines (136)
- Adjectives: funny (1,035), cute (868), happy (152)
- Nouns: garden (660), gardening (165), Nordic (136), gardener (125)
- Audience type: girls (417), kids (407), boys (297), mom (258), dad (235), hippie (223), daughter (172), sister (155), son (131), friends (129), wife (110), brother (110)
- Usage: costume (390)
- Purpose: birthday (263), gifts (201)
We can gather a couple of insights from these keywords. It’s evident that gnomes are primarily used in the context of gardening but they are also used for special occasions such as Christmas and Easter.
These t-shirt types are also meant to evoke feelings of happiness because they use words like funny and cute. The audience type is quite varied and the usage is often as a costume.
In addition, t-shirts featuring gnomes are generally given as gifts.
Mermaids
- Seed keyword: mermaid (5,302), mermaids (472), merman (134)
- Occasions: Halloween (161), Christmas (138)
- Adjectives: cute (578), funny (361), awesome (151)
- Nouns: love (336), beach (321), sea (252), ocean (130), princess (122), seashell (102), shell (100), bra (90)
- Audience type: girls (642), girl (502), family (425), women (260), mom (236), dad (178), kids (134), sister (118), mama (108), friend (107), daughter (105), men (104), brother (101), mommy (94)
- Usage: costume (345), outfit (174)
- Purpose: birthday (2,403), party (1,087), gifts (312) parties (132)
With mermaids, the situation is slightly different. The audience type is primarily girls and women, although some men may wear a shirt with a seashell bra as a costume. This is perhaps why the main occasions this fantastical creature is linked to is Halloween followed by Christmas.
In many cases, these t-shirts are also used as costumes and the main purpose is gifts and party accessories.
Pricing
Our search process wouldn’t be complete without looking at the lowest, highest, and average prices in these two categories of t-shirts featuring fantastical creatures.
Here’s what we got from Merch Informer:
Gnome
- Lowest price: $13.38
- Highest price: $29.99
- Average price: $17.67
Mermaid
- Lowest price: $3.99
- Highest price: $25.99
- Average price: $17.82
It’s interesting to note that the lowest price for mermaids is virtually unprofitable at only $3.99. Meanwhile, the average prices for both fantastical creatures is virtually the same with a few cents’ difference between them.
What are some of the bestselling merchants doing right?
We now address some bestselling merchants in this niche for gnomes and mermaids. The gnomes seller is Three Hippie Gnomes, Peace Gnome for Kids, Adults with a product title “Three Hippie Gnomes, Peace Gnome, Funny Retro Tie Diy Design T-Shirt”. It’s made 33 sales and has a BSR of 76,283. It sells just under the average of $16.98.
As for mermaids, the bestseller we identified here is Mermaid Sea Shell Bra Costume Tops By Gigi. The title of their listing is “Mermaid Sea Shell Bra Costume T-Shirt”. This shirt is priced at $16.98, has a low BSR of 51,256, and it has sold 45 times.
Keywords
In terms of best practices when it comes to creating a listing title, sellers should aim to use the full character limit. However, neither of these two bestsellers have done so. Instead, they have opted for a clean and simple title, which features the seed keywords “gnome” and “mermaid” and then provides a brief explanation or description of the shirt. In the case of gnomes, it’s “funny, retry, tie diy design” and in the case of mermaids, it is “sea shell bra costume”.
Pricing
Interestingly enough, both sellers have priced extremely close to the average, which is possibly one of the reasons why they’ve generated so many sales.
The average price for both of these types of designs hovers around the $17-mark.
Designs
Both designs are quite simplistic yet effective, funny, and cute. The mermaid t-shirt features two sea shells in the place of a bra. The gnome t-shirt features three cute gnomes with vivid colors that literally look like hippies, which is another keyword that is used in the listing title.
What is the profitability in the fantastical creatures niche?
To explore the profitability within this niche, we looked at the price and multiplied this by the number of sales. Here are the results of our calculations:
- Three Hippie Gnomes, Peace Gnome for Kids, Adults: 33 x $16.98 = $560.34
- Mermaid Sea Shell Bra Costume Tops By Gigi: 45 x $16.98 = $764.10
Overall, the bestsellers in this niche are making in excess of $500 per month with their products, which indicates scope for profitability.
Our recommendations
To make it in this niche, you’ve got to choose the right fantastical creatures to target. In this case, it’s gnomes and mermaids. Here’s what we recommend when you embark on your sales process:
- Keywords: keep your title simple but descriptive. Make sure you feature the name of the fantastical creature you’ve chosen.
- Pricing: always strive to price as close to the average as possible. In this case, we are talking about the region of $17.
- Design: your design doesn’t have to be overcomplicated but it should complement your title and it should also be relevant. A mermaid’s bra, for example, can be visualized and designed in multiple ways and colors. Be creative.
The bottom line
Despite the fact that there is a high search volume for a wide range of fantastical creatures, you should only focus on those making sales. Gnomes and mermaids are your go-to here.
And once you’ve figured this out, it’s time to get down to business with your in-depth research process. To this end, Merch Informer is an invaluable tool that can help take your side-gig to the top of the ladder.
