Why a Linktree merch store usually needs a second store behind it
Linktree is where an audience lands from Instagram, TikTok and every other app that allows one link. At the time of writing, its paid plans run from Starter at about $6 a month on annual billing to Premium at about $30. It sells digital products on Pro and Premium in some countries, and its Shop tab is built for affiliate products from other retailers.
For your own physical merch, Linktree shows products from a store you already run, such as Shopify or Spring. The printing, the catalog and the checkout live in that store, along with its plan or its margin.
Merch5 is that store, with nothing to connect. Sign up, upload a design, pick products and prices, and you get a mobile-first store on its own URL. Add it to Linktree as a link, move it to the top, and we print each order near the buyer.
How to sell merch on Linktree in four steps
Live before your next post. Nothing to connect, no plan to upgrade.
Sign up and upload art
A logo, an inside joke, a line your audience quotes back at you. The app places it on the products and renders the photos; no sample order, no photoshoot.
Pick products and prices
Choose from the catalog, set your retail price per item. Production cost is shown next to it, so you see the margin before you publish.
Add the link to your Linktree
In the Linktree admin press Add, paste your store link and title it something people tap: Shop the tee beats Merch. Move it to the top while the design is new.
We print and ship
Each order goes to the production partner nearest the buyer and ships with tracking to 100+ countries. Your margin lands in your balance.
A connected store vs. a Merch5 link in your Linktree
| Linktree with a connected store | Merch5 link in your Linktree | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need | A Shopify or Spring store, plus the integration | One link |
| Monthly cost | Shopify from $39/mo, or the platform's margin on Spring | $0 |
| Linktree plan | Depends on the feature you use | The free plan is enough |
| Per order | Store fees plus the POD app's or platform's base price | Printing and shipping taken from the order, about $12 for a tee. No platform fee |
| Inventory | None with a POD app | None. Each item is printed after the customer pays |
| Shipping | Platform dependent | Produced in the buyer's region, tracked to 100+ countries |
| Time to first sale | After the store is built and connected | Minutes after sign-up |
Linktree plans and features vary by country and change often; linktr.ee/s/pricing has the current ones. Already connected a store? The Merch5 link can sit right next to it.
Linktree Shop, Spring, Shopify: what each actually gives you
Three common routes and where each one stops.
The Linktree Shop tab
Built for affiliate links: products from other retailers, with commissions for eligible US accounts. Useful, and not a way to print your own shirt.
Spring or Shopify connected
Your own products shown on your Linktree. The store, its fees and its catalog live on that platform; with Shopify you also add a POD app.
Merch5
A store on its own URL with printing, shipping and checkout inside. One link in your Linktree, no platform margin, no monthly plan.
Free to set up. Paid out of orders you already received.
Linktree keeps charging you what it always did, or nothing; Merch5 adds nothing on top of it. Printing and shipping are charged from the order itself, and everything above cost is yours.
Need branded packaging and inserts, or a custom setup? That lives on the paid plans. Everything described on this page does not.
What a t-shirt actually costs
Who sells merch from a Linktree
Instagram creator
The bio holds one link, the Linktree holds the rest. The shop goes on top the week a design drops. Merch from Instagram
TikTok creator
Answer "where is that shirt from" with the link in bio, and let the Linktree do the sorting. Merch from TikTok
Podcast
Episodes, the newsletter and the shop behind one link listeners can remember. Merch for podcasts
The same store works on every channel you have
One catalog, one production network, one dashboard — pick the channel your audience is already on.
Linktree questions
Yes. The Merch5 store is a regular link, and every Linktree plan can add links.
No. The Merch5 store has its own catalog, cart and checkout, and we print and ship. Nothing to connect to Linktree.
Yes. Most people tap from an app, and the store opens in the in-app browser in under a second, remembers the cart and checks out without an account.
Yes. Put it in your bio, your video descriptions and your newsletter. One store, one dashboard, every channel.
Nothing. The store, the product mockups and the hosting are free, and the Linktree side costs exactly what it costs you today. Printing and shipping are charged out of an order after your customer has paid for it; there is no platform fee on top.
Everything in the Merch5 catalog: tees, v-necks, tank tops, hoodies, kids and infant sizes, plus accessories and print items. Each product is printed per order, so you can list the whole range without buying any of it.
We do. Each order goes to the production partner closest to the buyer and ships with tracking to more than 100 countries, so delivery times stay sane even when the audience is not in your country.
Your margin on every completed order adds to your balance in the Merch5 dashboard. Request a payout whenever you want it. There is no minimum amount. You set the retail price, so you decide what that margin is.
Your audience already taps your Linktree. Give them a shop.
No connected store, no inventory, no platform taking a cut.