Marijuana-infused POD merch on Amazon: can this niche get you high in the rankings?

The cannabis industry continues to gain momentum as legalization spreads across the globe. Entrepreneurs and creatives alike are exploring new ways to capitalize on this booming market.

One of the latest trends in the industry is marijuana-infused print-on-demand (POD) merch on Amazon. But if you’re a seller looking to tap into this market, you’ll need more than pure enthusiasm for the scene.

Below, we offer an in-depth analysis of the weed-inspired merch niche on Amazon Merch on Demand. We examine the size of the market, potential sub-niches to dive into, and uncover whether it’s possible to rise to the top and get “high” in the Amazon rankings.

Understanding the niche

Before we dive into the details, it’s essential to outline the approach behind our research. We utilized the features of Merch Informer to uncover precise and accurate Amazon data.

We focused on market size, popularity, competition, profitability, and other factors. Most importantly, we didn’t limit our findings to the main keyword “marijuana”. Instead, we split our efforts across other segments, like pot, weed, and ganja. Although these are all identical in terms of meaning, you’ll notice that our findings vary dramatically.

All of this will play a key role in determining the most remunerative designs, titles, and descriptions for your listing.

Let’s jump right into it.

Marijuana

From all of the associated words and phrases categorizing this plant and lifestyle, you’d think that “marijuana” ought to be the most popular one.

However, our discoveries suggest otherwise.

Market overview

The average BSR of bestsellers ranking for “marijuana” is 872,281 or higher than other alternatives on this list (equating to fewer sales). Additionally, there are 301 top-performing products in this specific niche. This number is also lower than others, like “weed”, for example. While this may indicate a weaker competition level, it also signals that the market is less developed.

Popular keywords

We can confirm the theory from above with the monthly search volumes of phrases in the space:

• marijuana hoodies for women – 2 122 – no data
• marijuana t shirts – 1 911 – no data
• marijuana shirts for women – 1 815 – no data
• marijuana sweatshirts for men – 1 797 – no data
• marijuana tshirt – 1 787 – no data

Usually, keywords that produce more than 2,000 searches per month are not to be neglected. However, other words, like “ganja shirt” land more than 6,000 monthly searches. From this perspective, the latter sub-market dominates, which makes it more lucrative for sellers.

While chart-topping merch designs in this space rank predominantly for the main keyword (marijuana), they’re commonly often optimized for:

• Funny
• Stoner
• Smoking
• Leaf
• Blunt
• Medical
• Sativa
• Indica
• Pothead
• Christmas

Yes, we noticed it too. The word “Christmas” appears on this list, which initially doesn’t relate to the topic of marijuana at all. However, this finding points us in the direction that t-shirts and other merch products in this segment make the perfect Christmas gift. You can use this information for seasonal product diversification.

The alternatives from the most frequently used words are vital pieces of data to have. They can help you enrich your listing with traffic-generating keywords and to target your product to the right audience.

Profitability

The profit-making potential of a niche is among the top factors to factor into your research when selecting a new market to enter. Marijuana merch designs typically sell for:

• Lowest Price – $13.38
• Highest Price – $34.93
• Average Price – $17.99

Interestingly, the average price of $17.99 is among the highest on this list. In other words, listings ranking for “marijuana” are usually more expensive than those ranking for “weed”, “ganja”, or other substitutes. This will yield higher royalties per sale and ultimately – more satisfactory profits.

Bestseller analysis

Let’s see how the number one listings apply all of these discoveries to their sale strategy.

The “I Took My Meds Today Marijuana Funny Weed Cannabis Sayings Short Sleeve T-Shirt” listing holds the first spot in terms of sales on Amazon in the marijuana niche. It sells for a price slightly higher than the market average ($20.99), has a BSR of 197,140, and secures around 12 sales per month.

In this case, the merchant has intelligently used grabbing words, like “funny”, “weed”, “cannabis”, and “meds” to increase the discoverability of this item. The design consists of a black background with green imagery of a marijuana leaf with white text. It’s simple, easy to read, and quickly conveys a short message.

Pot

Next up, we inspect “pot” as another piece of the marijuana puzzle on Amazon. Here, it’s important to note that the pot niche isn’t limited to marijuana-inspired merch designs. Instead, it also features planting and gardening designs.

Market overview

A quick browse through Merch Informer’s Hunter tool revealed that the market size is very similar to that of marijuana merch (295 bestseller listings compared to 301). At the same time, the average BSR is visibly lower (594,564), uncovering a higher sales potential.

Popular keywords

When we dug for popular keywords, we noticed a wide array of planting-related suggestions. If you’re competing in this segment, it’ll be vital to clearly position yourself. This can be done not only via your design but through the use of wording for your titles and descriptions.

The two most trending phrases that we registered are:

• pothead shirt – 14 521 – no data
• pot tshirt – 5 841 – high

Luckily, “pothead shirt” doesn’t have much competition, making it easier to rank for. On the other hand, “pot tshirt” wouldn’t be a good choice. It can create confusion about the relevancy of the listing (due to the planting niche) and it’s also highly competitive.

Just like in “marijuana” listings, some of the most commonly seen words in successful listings are sativa, indica, weed, and more. But the ones that stand out are:

• CBD
• Edibles
• THC

Based on this data, we can assume that pot merch designs can be merged with themes like THC, CBD, and pot edibles.

We also made another astonishing detection –  “women” is used more often than “men” in listing descriptions and titles among the top performers. This positions this audience at the top of the list as your main target.

Profitability

When exploring the market prices, we realized that the lowest and highest rates are identical to the listing ranking for “marijuana”.

• Lowest Price $13.38
• Highest Price $34.93
• Average Price $18.53

However, the average price for pot merch designs is the highest of all other alternatives. If you plan to follow the golden rule of entering a market with a price around the average, this will matter to you. At the same time, remember that this isn’t an obligatory pricing strategy.

Bestseller analysis

Out of all the competition, the “Dopest Mom Cannabis Weed Leaf 420 Pot Stoner Mother Day T-Shirt” holds the first spot in this niche. It’s priced at $17.98, with a BSR of 263 512 and around 6 monthly sales.

You’ll notice that other words from this list are interchangeably used in the title, like “weed” and “cannabis”. This is completely normal, as they all represent the same topic. Yet, they each carry different weights for your rankings and performance. Additionally, the target audience here is moms, who are part of the women group we mentioned above.

All of these title optimization practices, tied in with a price that is just under the market average, position the listing at the top of the charts.

Weed

We’ve mentioned “weed” plenty of times as a word dominating top-selling titles. As a niche of its own, it’s the most well-formulated one, with the highest number of bestsellers.

Market overview

With a total of 411 chart-toppers, “weed” appears as one of the most attractive words to choose. Yet, the average BSR of top performers is higher than the rest (928,858), revealing а lower sales potential.

Popular keywords

Nonetheless, weed-based phrases create impressive amounts of search queries:

• weed sweatshirts – 5 508 – high
• weed tshirts – 4 415 – high
• weed tshirt – 3 904 – high

What you need to keep in mind here is that all of these phrase discoveries have high competition. Gaining momentum in this branch will be harder, especially for new entrants. One way to overcome this obstacle is to find other, less popular phrases with low competition.

Profitability

What instantly becomes apparent when examining the prices in the market is that weed merch designs have the lowest market prices:

• Lowest Price $5.00
• Highest Price $34.93
• Average Price $17.82

What’s important, their average prices are similar to most others. Put otherwise, your royalties won’t take a hit if you choose to rank for weed-related phrases.

Our analysis of the most popular words used in dominating listings exposed that they are identical to the ones used for “marijuana”, and “pot” merch items.

Bestseller analysis

The “I’m A Simple Man I Like Doobies And Boobies Weed 420 T-Shirt” merch design is the one that stands above all else in this segment. Again, the price is near the market average of $17.82 ($16.91). The BSR is 158,205, landing roughly 16 sales per month.

What’s interesting here is that we see “420” for the second time. It was also present in the “Dopest Mom Cannabis Weed Leaf 420 Pot Stoner Mother Day T-Shirt” listing from the previous section. Given that two top sellers have optimized their titles for this smoking occasion, it’s safe to say that this wording boosts relevance and visibility, and attracts more traffic.

Ganja, cannabis, and other niche-related words

So far, we’ve outlined the step-by-step process of researching different branches of a niche. As the marijuana segment is extremely diverse and populated with a vast range of industry-related words, it’s impossible to cover every detail in a single article.

What’s important is that we’ve established that there is a money-making opportunity in this niche. We’ve also shown you why it’s fundamentally important to strategically select your keywords and designs for maximum results.

While marijuana and weed appear to be the same thing, research proves that they perform differently.

In summary

Overall, we’d recommend this niche to any seller looking to expand their portfolio and tap into a new market. It’s diverse, creative, and undoubtedly popular among shoppers.

Leave the guesswork out of your decision-making process and make data-based choices. Merch Informer is at your fingertips to help you pave the way to success.