Why newsletter merch lives off Substack
Substack is a subscription business. At the time of writing it keeps 10% of paid subscriptions, with Stripe fees on top, and it sells subscriptions only: no products, no one-off purchases, no store tab. The editor has buttons, images and embeds from a fixed list of services, with no field for custom code.
Writers who sell merch link to a store somewhere else: a Shopify store with a print-on-demand app, a creator merch platform, or a pre-order form and a box of shirts. A tote with the newsletter's name or a tee with a line readers quote is an easy gift; the setup is the obstacle.
Merch5 is the store. Sign up, upload the masthead or a line from an issue, pick products and prices, and put the link behind a button. Readers order on their phones straight from the email, and we print each order in their region and ship it.
How to sell merch on Substack in four steps
Live before your next issue. No code, no store to design.
Sign up and upload art
The masthead, a pull quote, the running joke in the comments. 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 a button to your posts
In the Substack editor insert a Button, choose a custom one and paste your store link. Add the same link to your welcome email and About page, and mention the store at the end of each issue.
We print and ship
Each order goes to the production partner nearest the reader and ships with tracking to 100+ countries. Your margin lands in your balance.
Shopify behind a button vs. a Merch5 store behind a button
| Shopify with a POD app | Merch5 store | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Shopify Basic from $39/mo | $0 |
| Apps | A POD app such as Printful or Printify | None. Printing is inside |
| Per order | Shopify payment fees; the POD app'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 reader pays |
| Shipping | Handled by the POD app | Produced in the reader's region, tracked to 100+ countries |
| Product photos | Your own or the POD app's mockups | Generated for every design and color |
| Setup | Store, theme, products, shipping, tax | One link |
| Where readers tap | A button in your post | The same button |
Substack's fees and editor features are set by Substack and change; support.substack.com has the current ones. Running a Shopify store already? Keep it. The Merch5 link can sit next to it.
What Substack writers use for merch
Three common routes and where each one stops.
A pre-order and a box
A form, a spreadsheet and a bulk print run. Cheap per shirt; then you pack and post every one, and guess the sizes for latecomers.
Shopify with a POD app
A full store from $39 a month for Basic, a print-on-demand app on top, and a button in your posts. Fine for a media brand; heavy for a newsletter.
Merch5
A store on its own link with printing, shipping and checkout inside. One button, no monthly plan, no fee on the shirt.
Free to set up. Paid out of orders you already received.
Substack keeps taking what it always did on subscriptions; 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
Which newsletters sell merch this way
Newsletter with a paid tier
Thank annual subscribers with a prepaid gift link; they pick the size and the address. Gifts and rewards
Podcast on Substack
Episodes and posts in one place, and a shirt with the line listeners quote. Merch for podcasts
Writer with a website
The same store embedded on your own site, and linked from every issue. Embed it on your website
The same store works on every channel you have
One catalog, one production network, one dashboard — pick the channel your audience is already on.
Substack merch questions
Not natively at the time of writing. Substack sells subscriptions. A button or link in a post can point anywhere, which is how a Merch5 store reaches readers.
No. Substack does not accept custom code in posts, so use a button that opens the store on its own link.
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. Send a prepaid gift link, single-use or capped at a number of claims. Subscribers pick size, color and address, and you pay only for gifts that are actually claimed.
No. The sale happens in your Merch5 store, not on Substack, so Substack's fee applies only to subscriptions.
Nothing. The store, the product mockups and the hosting are free, and the Substack 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 readers open every issue. Put a shop one tap away.
No Shopify, no code, no inventory.