How far will humor get you: exploring the ‘fun’ niche on Amazon Merch on Demand
Amazon Merch on Demand is many things and offers sellers plenty of niches to choose from. But one area that’s underexplored is the humor or so called “fun” niche. Funny t-shirts and apparel are great conversation starters between friends and strangers alike. They’re also a great way of helping people express their personalities.
But what does the humorous niche on Amazon Merch on Demand offer sellers that can make others laugh? Quite a lot, it seems.
In order to take a closer look at this niche, we explored its overall size on Amazon, looked at some bestsellers and their profitability, and drew on some bestselling practices that you can emulate.
How big is the fun niche on Amazon Merch on Demand?
Kicking off our exploration process, we used Merch Informer’s “Products” module to determine the size and scope of the market. In order to do this, we selected some seed keywords and looked at their associated best-sellers rank (BSR).
Here’s what we found:
- “Humor” (6,740,253)
- “Fun” (6,632,368)
- “Funny” (6,533,787)
- “Humorous sweatshirts for men” (6,368,938)
- “Joke” (6,274,359)
- “Hilarious” (6,217,803)
- “Humor t-shirts” (1,496,793)
- “Humorous t-shirts” (344,570)
- “Prank” (1,849,557)
- “Humorous t-shirts for men” (77,896)
- “Humorous t-shirts for women” (4,148)
From the above, we can deduce that there’s quite a broad range of keywords. Although the obvious “humor”, “fun”, “funny”, and others have a high BSR, it’s also apparent that being much more specific with one’s keyword usage produces significantly low BSRs. These range from around 77,000 to an impressive low of 4,148 for “humorous t-shirts for women”.
This could perhaps be an indication that women are the larger target market for fun-themed shirts. However, we’ll get more conclusive as our research continues below.
Keywords, search volume, and BSR
Continuing our research and digging even deeper, we also explored the related keywords for the fun niche as well as its associated search volume and BSR.
- “Humor seriously“: search volume – 34 632; BSR – 53,466
- “Humor for men“: search volume – 32 080; BSR – 1,792,188
- “Humor shirts“: search volume – 29 774; BSR – 962,285
- “Humorous“: search volume – 19 074; BSR – 897,857
- “Humor s“: search volume – 15 506; BSR – 962,285
- “Humor t“: search volume – 15 262; BSR – 6,915,138
- “Humor“: search volume – 7 034; BSR – 6,738,835
- “Humor & entertainment“: search volume – 6 242; BSR – 6,392,865
- “Gun humor“: search volume – 4 950; BSR – 365,946
- “Bad humor“: search volume – 4 871; BSR – 940,735
- “Humor hoodies“: search volume – 4 731; BSR – 962,285
- “Humor hoodie“: search volume – 4 351; BSR – 6,717,743
- “Humor women“: search volume – 3 907; BSR – 3,917,571
- “Humor kids“: search volume – 3 462; BSR – 1,092,426
The broad variety of search volume for funny and humorous t-shirts on Amazon Merch on Demand indicates that there certainly is demand for such products.
However, also based on the search volume, we can conclude that there are numerous micro-niches in the humor category such as “gun humor”, which sellers should take into account.
Listings saturation
Listings saturation is another important aspect to consider when entering a niche. We headed over to Amazon.com to determine how many listings appear for various search queries. The reason for this kind of research is to determine whether the market is under- or oversaturated.
We found the following:
“Funny t-shirts for men” and “funny t-shirts for women” brings back 60,000 listings each. Changing the search query a little bit, we also played around with the keywords and included “humor” in the search. “Humorous t-shirts for women”, for example, brought back 10,000 listings, as did “humorous t-shirts for men”.
It becomes apparent that both men and women’s search queries and listings saturation are quite equal. This means sellers can target both genders as part of their sales strategy.
Pricing
Our analysis would be incomplete without exploring the prices that sellers are charging for their funny t-shirt products.
We found that the lowest price is $13.07, the highest $31.46, and the average price in the “humor” niche is $18.24.
What are some of the best-selling merchants doing right?
Merch Informer’s “Products” module is a great way of helping sellers find out who their competitors are and what they are doing to get in front of an audience. This is why we explored some of the bestselling listings on Amazon Merch on Demand and extracted what they’re doing right to sell more.
Vintage/retro: Fun with chloroform
First up, we explore The Summoning Shirt Co. and its product titled “Fun With Chloroform Funny Dark Humor Shirt Funny Adult Humor T-Shirt”. This relatively ne item has a nice and low BSR of 217,704 and has sold nine times at a price of $18.89.
Gun rights? It’s about dads with pretty daughters
Next, there is the “Mens Guns Don’t Kill People Dads With Pretty Daughters Humor Dad T-Shirt”. This product also has a low BSR of 144,169 and has sold 18 times at $18.98.
So, what have these sellers done right to get in front of an audience? Here are some crucial takeaways:
Well optimized titles
As a starting point, we looked at the titles. They contain the words “fun”, “funny”, “dark humor” “funny adult humor”, “humor dad t-shirt”, and others. Incorporating the right keywords in the title in an effective and unstuffed way is an essential element in your listings optimization strategy.
Proper descriptions
The two sellers’ descriptions are also highly detailed. They indicate who the product is ideal for: dads, as a gift, gun lovers, retro and vintage fans, those with a dark sense of humor, etc.
Writing clear descriptions that signal to your audience that you’ve put in the effort is an important way of drawing them in, giving them as much information as possible about your product, and ensuring that you gain their attention.
Thematic design
Furthermore, both sellers have jumped on hot topics in American life. Gun rights is a massive and controversial topic in society, but the second seller above has used this serious topic to turn it into something funny. It’s not about guns; it’s about dads with pretty daughters.
Meanwhile, the first seller mentioned above relies on dark humor and a vintage design to make light of another serious topic.
Pricing around the average
Finally, both sellers have priced around the average of $18.00 to gain more sales. This is an important strategy to follow if you don’t want to alienate your customers by overpricing your t-shirts.
What is the profitability in the fun niche?
Given the above research, what is the feasibility of you making a profit in this niche with your own unique designs? We give you some estimates that can help guide you further.
For example, the “Fun With Chloroform Funny Dark Humor Shirt Funny Adult Humor T-Shirt” product has made nine sales at a price of $18.89. This translates into turnover in the region of $170.01.
Meanwhile, the “Mens Guns Don’t Kill People Dads With Pretty Daughters Humor Dad T-Shirt” has sold 18 times at $18.98. This item has obviously touched a nerve among its audience and has led to a turnover of $341.64.
As a result, your potential for profitability in the funny or humorous niche can reach a few hundred dollars if your sales strategy is executed correctly. But how should you do this? We discuss this in more detail below.
Our recommendations
Our recommendations for sellers seeking to enter the humorous niche on Amazon Merch on Demand involve a few key considerations.
- Study your competitors and explore their listings in terms of titles and descriptions. Be sure to use low competition, high search volume keywords in both areas. Don’t forget to select the right keywords in the seven keyword slots which Amazon allocates you when uploading your listing.
- Choose an interesting theme and make it funny. It’s not always easy to achieve a great punchline in just a few words but sometimes images can help you express yourself just as well. The “Fun with chloroform” t-shirt is a great example of a design carrying the seller’s sense of humor. You don’t always need to rely on a lot of text. As long as it’s short, witty, and punchy.
- Pricing is another crucial consideration. And our advice is to always price as close to the average as possible. Wondering how to find out what the average is? Don’t worry. You won’t have to manually calculate it one by one. Merch Informer’s “Products” module gives you quick and easy pricing insights at your fingertips with just a click of a button.
Concluding remarks
If one thing is clear, that is that sellers on Amazon Merch on Demand have a sense of humor. And so do their customers. Being successful in this theme will necessarily mean that you pick a thematic topic and convert it into something humorous.
Yes, it’s true that not everyone has the same sense of humor and will enjoy your joke. However, the more universal appeal you offer your audience, the better results your sales efforts will yield.
