8 Clever Ideas For Custom Band Merch

Selling merchandise is one of the best ways for a band to make some extra scratch at a gig. Even a modest night at the merch booth can mean the difference between gas money coming out of the band fund rather than your pocket. Too often bands settle on shirts and CDs for their vendibles, and while you definitely should provide your crowd those options, adding smaller, less costly trinkets to your arsenal of merch can help you build up your band fund more quickly.

1. Key Chain Bottle Openers

Or just plain key chains for all ages crowds. These things are dirt cheap, portable, and come in handy when surrounded by imported beer with no bottle opener in sight. Even if you opt for the standard key-chain that can’t crack open a Heineken, almost everyone carries keys, most of which are attached to key-chains. Check out www.branders.com, they’ll slap your logo on a key-chain for about .40 cents a pop.

2. Beer Koozies

Keeping in line with the drinking theme, nobody likes a warm beer. Clubs tend to get hot, and when show-goers get warm, few things sound as good as a nice cold beer. But a cold beer in hot hands is a recipe for disaster; why not offer your fans a device to make sure that beer stays ice cold? Like key-chains, beer koozies are cheap and handy. Once again check out www.branders.com, get ‘em for .72 cents each, sell ‘em for $4 or $5 – your band makes some gas money, your fans’ beers are cool, everyone’s happy.

3. Flash Drives

Has your band released several CDs over the past few years? Even if you only have three CDs to offer, you might have a hard time convincing a customer to shell out $30+ for your entire catalog. Look into having some USB flash drives imprinted with your band logo, load all of your songs on to the drive and offer up all of your music to your fans digitally at a fair price. Not only do your fans get all of your music, they get a storage device to boot. There are a ton of companies that offer custom printed drives and many different styles available; check out www.usbmemorydirect.com, www.discmakers.com, and once again www.branders.com. Prices range from $4 each to $11 each depending on the style, size, and quantity.

4. Download Cards

Loading all of your albums on to flash drives can be a costly investment. Maybe your band is new or maybe you just don’t have much to spend. For about a $1 apiece you can offer your fans digital download cards. Your fans buy a card at your show, then take the card home and use the code printed on back to download your album from the Internet. Check out www.digstation.com/DownloadCards.aspx. 

5. Tote Bags

Everyone is more eco-conscious these days so what better way to cater to your fans’ inner tree-hugger than to offer them reusable shopping or tote bags imprinted with your band logo? It probably sounds like I’m being paid to write this article by www.branders.com, but trust me, that’s not the case. They offer a wide variety of bags ranging from .90 cents to $4. If you’re interested in something a bit fancier, check out www.promopeddler.com, they sell custom canvas messenger bags for $6 to $9 each.

6. Show Posters

If you’ve ever been to a show at the Filmore in San Francisco, then you know how awesome it is to get a souvenir poster that was designed specifically for that concert. If you have big show coming up, find a local artist to design a special poster that you can sell at the gig. Have some printed up at a good copy shop on nice paper, or even better, learn something about screenprinting (http://nomediakings.org/doityourself/howto_silkscreen_posters_and_shirts.html) and give your fans something that feels really special. If you're not especially artistic, head over to Sire Press – they'll silkscreen the posters for you (50 posters for $149).

7. Notebooks

Is your audience a little more studious than the average crowd? Let them do their back to school shopping at your gig. Slap your logo on some notebooks and take pride in the fact that you’re doing your part to further the education of your fans. Custom printed notebooks can be had for as low as $1.85 each – yet again Branders has you covered, but also take a look at www.usimprints.com. For an even more cost effective option consider custom notepads.

8. Custom Air Fresheners

No one likes a stinky car, so throw your smellier fans a bone and sell them an air freshener to replace that pine scented paper tree hanging from their rear view mirror. You know what’s coming, www.branders.com is the place to go; they sell paper air fresheners with your band’s logo on them starting at .38 cents a pop.