YouTube's Teespring Merch Integration Is Paying Off Huge for Content Creators

We live in an age where "content creator" and "influencer" are actual answers a kid can give when asked what they want to be when they grow up. You might laugh at the way that sounds, but there's real money in this now. Especially now that the likes of YouTube are providing opportunities for content creators to monetize their work with merchandise.

YouTube in particularly is expanding its partnership with TeeSpring, via its Merch Shelf integration, into European markets like France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.

Today, we are proud to announce that the @Teespring x @YouTube merchshelf is now available for eligible creators in Europe!

Your #merch and your #YouTube content, all in one place✨

Check out more information here: https://t.co/9HAAbyLQu2 #merchshelf pic.twitter.com/SWWxhYzRij

— Spring (@spring4creators) November 13, 2018

As we detailed back in June, this Merch Shelf thing is a big opportunity for creators and YouTube alike. According to Tubefilter, YouTube said Merch Shelf click-throughs were 30 percent higher than other sources of YouTube traffic, like description box links, annotations (those annoying boxes that pop up during a video) and banner links.

Popular YouTubers have seen daily unit sales increase as much as 88 percent, Tubefilter reported. One particular user, Aphmau, sold almost 1,000 stuffed animals, pillows and blankets over the past two months. A gardening channel's income grew by 21 percent thanks to coffee mugs and apparel available on the Merch Shelf platform.

Something named Lucas the Spider, which we won't even pretend to know anything about, sold $1 million worth of plush dolls on Merch Shelf in 18 days.

Eighteen days.

Will Smith, who we do know, raised $20,000 for charity via YouTube's Merch Shelf in two days!

So, if you hear a kid say they want to be a content creator or YouTuber when they grow up, don't discourage them. They could be raising a million dollars in less than three weeks. Then who's laughing?

This also speaks to the consistent popularity of items like apparel, plush dolls and coffee mugs. They're timeless, and, as we can see here, there's constant demand.