Frequently Asked Questions

What is Merchmake? What are your credentials? 

Merchmake consists of a comprehensive online network designed to maximize your brand’s revenue potential. We are the turn-key solution for helping brands to become their own retailers, at very low risk or cost.

Our personnel have decades of expertise in marketing, product development, licensing, online retail and distribution. Merchmake specializes in creating new revenue streams for leading brands and products online, where they never previously existed.

What is the scope of online audience reach for our merchandise range?

Merhcmake brings your product to your consumer, rather than trying to bring your consumer to your product. Direct links either to individual products or groups of products are provided to your online fan base through social media, fan sites, apps, newsletters, etc.

Our state of the art front-end solution will allow you to create an official store that is easy to setup and easy to purchase on.

Merchmake also offers up branded products through Marketplaces and third party e-tailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Ebay to name a few.

What will Merchmake do to maximize search outcomes i.e. to ensure that consumers seeking our branded goods will see them high up in the results listings?

Merchmake specializes in dropping your products right in front of your audience.  Through the Merchmake ecosystem, we work with other innovative online retailers who are great at search strategy and will prominently feature your brand.

Will consumers have to pay more in shipping and wait longer for delivery, due to the location of production?

Everything practical is done to keep shipping costs and times to a minimum, in order to maximize sales to consumers. This is why we seek to perform mfg. and order fulfillment within the same region where the products are shipped.

Apart from the product itself, can anything else be included in packages to consumers e.g. neck labels, hang tags, leaflets, to enhance their brand experience?

These are elements that physical retailers need to grab the attention of consumers and convince them to purchase. They are all discarded and ignored by the consumer after purchase. Only the external design of the branded products is really of interest to consumers.

Today, consumers shop online in a way that is ‘package-free’, where each consumer is engaged with the brand and the product; nothing else. Also, from a practical point of view, inserting these extra elements into a product to be shipped from a print-on-demand facility would add significantly to both time and costs.

Can my brand’s website address be included on the products and/or packaging?

Succinct wording can be added to product designs, along with the copyright notices.

Aside from the brand owner’s own designs for products, can consumers customize designs or create their own?

Yes. All three options are possible and to guidelines set by the brand owner.

Will consumers only be able to see individual products or could they see a range of the branded products that will be offered?

Direct links either to individual products or ‘splash pages’ of related products are provided directly to your fan base through social media streams.

If consumers have queries, is there customer service support by email and phone?

Yes. Merchmake is utilizing established vendors which provide such support.

How much adaptation of the templates would a brand owner need to make to design its product and splash pages?

The technology platform used by Merchmake facilitates brand logos and creative assets in pre-designated template windows. These templates are made available for each given product.

What types of products can Merchmake make available for our brand?

2D Printed Items – Examples include tablet/phone cases, apparel, housewares, stationery, bags, stickers, drinkware, wall art, room décor, jewelry, party supplies and more 3D Printed Items – Examples include tablet/phone cases, figurines/statues, jewelry, toys, ornaments, home décor, tools, functional items and more

Are there any quality issues with each product type?

Print-on-demand production plants use the same blank products found in traditional retail. Examples include t-shirts from Bella Canvas, Next Level, American Apparel and Fruit of the Loom. Over the past few years, direct-to-garment printing technology has greatly improved, including larger print areas. As is normal, the higher the wholesale & retail price of any product, the higher the quality. Merchmake is working with the best manufacturers in the business.

Where are the products made and shipped for each geographical area?

Wherever possible, the Merchmake network performs print-on-demand manufacturing and order fulfillment within the region where each item will be shipped. These regions include production in U.S, Canada, AUS and EMEA. When produced within the region where the order occurs, transit times and shipping costs are extremely competitive.

Can I continue to run my current web shop with licensee products and also offer these print on demand products?...

Yes. There is no need to switch or change anything you are currently doing within in the ecommerce realm.  Whether it is product or distribution, there is plenty of 'white-space' to create incremental revenue for your brand. Ultimately, Merchmake wants to help you connect your brand directly to your consumer fan base. By doing so, Merchmake increases your brands’ reach plus audience, generating new opportunities for incremental revenue. Also, your new product ideas can be market-tested via Merchmake, for little or no cost.

…If so, will consumers need to visit two checkout and payment pages or can there be just one?

Merchmake can redeem orders on the print-on-demand products under its management, but cannot redeem orders for third party products.

Which currencies can be offered to consumers for product pricing other than US dollars?

All of the major currencies can be offered, with consumers seeing the one relevant to their location. Payments are accepted with all of the usual cards including PayPal and Bitcoin.

Will consumers always feel that they are on the brand’s own web pages or will they see unfamiliar names in the URL as they shop and pay?

Your brand logo is placed at the top of the checkout page for familiarity purposes. The URLs will be relevant to the site processing the order.

If we have queries when setting up our products, Is client service support available by email and phone?

Email and phone support would be provided.

Is sales tax for each country (VAT in the UK) managed and paid?

Yes. That is not something the brand owner needs to do.

Will we receive data about consumer visits to our product pages and conversion rates to purchase?

Yes. Available data will be shared by Merchmake, subject to the usual data protection laws, in order to maximize understanding of consumer behavior and react accordingly.

Does one brand owner with multiple brands need to register each brand with the platform or can they register once for all brands?

Merchmake will manage the platform for you on a brand by brand basis, focusing on building the best campaign for each individual brand.