Don’t Press the Wrong Merch: What 1,680 Bandcamp Bestsellers Reveal

Every week, tens of thousands of fans vote with their wallets on Bandcamp about the merch they want from their favorite indie musicians.

I analyzed 1,680 bestsellers on Bandcamp across 596 and 22 genres to figure out what the data says about the merch choices you should be making as an artist in 2025.

The quick takeaway: if you're getting started, your first merch bet is clear: tees if you’re in punk/metal, vinyl if you’re in hip-hop, CDs if you’re in jazz. Everything else is a distraction until you’ve proven fans will buy.

Sure, knowing that nugget is useful. But knowing when and where that pattern breaks down (and why) can make the difference between cash in the bank or unsold boxes in your garage.

So, let’s break this down. In this guide, I'll walk you through what the bestseller charts actually measure, how different merch types stack up by genre, what fans are really paying, and how to turn those numbers into the safest first merch bet for your own release.

Methods and Limits

Before diving in, a few caveats:

First, this dataset covers only vinyl, CDs, and T-shirts. There are plenty of other merch types like pins, figures, posters, and so on, but Bandcamp doesn't feature those in their data.

(And of course, merch isn’t your only lever for fan revenue. Patreon tiers can give you recurring income that cushions those upfront costs. Here’s our guide to setting up effective Patreon pricing tiers for indie musicians.)

Second, these rankings span a 7-week window between July and August 2025. Sales trends can and do change over time, so keep that in mind.

And third, these are ranked appearances in Bandcamp’s bestseller lists, not units sold or revenue.

Which means, you can't use this data to estimate market size or sales volumes, but you can use it directionally to understand demand trends.

The Big Picture

Across this snapshot, the distribution of bestseller entries looks like this:

• T-shirts: 346 entries (38.3%)

• Vinyl: 285 entries (31.5%)

• CDs: 273 entries (30.2%)

At the platform level, T-shirts have the largest presence. But genre fit, not platform average, should guide your first move.

Format by Genre

Some formats dominate within specific scenes:

Which format dominates in your genre? Distribution of bestseller entries by format

Don't forget product minimums!

T-shirts can be produced print-on-demand, with almost no upfront risk.

Vinyl and CDs require cash, lead times, and minimum pressing runs -- often in the hundreds for vinyl.

For instance, Bandcamp's own vinyl pressing service has a minimum of 250 vinyls, and lead times can run 5 to 6 months.

That makes tees the practical “first bet” even when another format slightly leads in the data.

Which Genres Over-Index

The Fit Index shows which genres lean harder into each format compared to the platform average (baseline = 1.0):

• Vinyl: Hip-hop/rap 1.87, experimental 1.37, electronic 1.25, jazz 1.24, folk 1.19

• CDs: Ambient 2.07, jazz 1.73, folk 1.38, experimental 1.10, alternative 1.09

• T-shirts: Metal 1.54, punk 1.43

If your genre is above 1.25 in a format, that’s the lowest-friction first bet.

Who Actually Fills Each Category

Looking at which genres drive each category:

Vinyl (above): Rock 17.2%, electronic 17.2%, alternative 16.1%, metal 10.5%, punk 8.4%

CDs (above): Alternative 16.5%, rock 16.5%, metal 13.9%, electronic 13.2%, ambient 7.3%

T-shirts: Metal 28.0%, rock 15.9%, punk 13.3%, alternative 13.3%, electronic 11.3%

It's worth noticing that regardless of the type of merch item, it's just a few genres that drive most of the sales.

The relative popularity (which genre is first versus second and so on) might be specific to Bandcamp, but this long-tail effect probably still applies wherever you monetize, regardless of platform.

When to Expand Formats

Most albums appear in only one format:

• Albums offering one merch category: 574 albums

• Albums offering two merch categories: 165 albums

• Albums offering three merch categories: 0 albums

The most common combos:

• T-shirts only: 346 albums

• CDs + vinyl: 165 albums

• Vinyl only: 120 albums

• CDs only: 108 albums

Rule of thumb: releases usually succeed in one format. If two formats show up, it’s almost always CDs plus vinyl.

Pricing Benchmarks

T-shirts

USD only (above): 215 entries; median $25; mode $25; mean $26.51; IQR $21–30; min $1; max $50

All currencies converted: 417 entries; median $26.25; mode $25; mean $27.17; IQR $22–32.50; min $0.55; max $58.50

By genre medians (USD-converted, N ≥ 10)

• Electronic: $31.90

• Alternative: $28.38

• Rock: $26.25

• Metal: $25.00

• Punk: $25.00

• Pop: $23.40

Break-even reality check: To price tees at $25 sustainably, your target cost should be under $10–12.

Vinyl and CDs demand higher upfront cash and breakeven runs in the hundreds, so plan those only if your fan base is already primed.

Try pre-selling before you commit to an order. Drip-feed those fans incentives along the way (like exclusive content or custom videos) so that they don't get frustrated with the long lead times for vinyls.

Playbooks by Genre

• Metal & Punk: Tees dominate (59% and 55%) and over-index (1.54, 1.43). Launch tees at $25 first; consider vinyl only after strong demand.

• Hip-hop/Rap: Vinyl rules (59%, Fit Index 1.87). Prioritize vinyl; tees are a poor bet (12%).

• Electronic & Experimental: Vinyl leads (40–43%). Start with vinyl; tees secondary.

• Jazz & Ambient: CDs dominate (52%, 63%). Prioritize CDs; tees are weak in jazz (9%).

• Rock, Alternative, Pop: Balanced splits. Test two formats in small runs, scale the winner.

Decision Aids

Checklist before committing

• Do I have reliable fulfillment? (Check out platforms like Fourthwall rather than trying to handle fulfilment yourself.)

• Does my genre over-index in a format?

• Can I price sustainably (tees under $12 landed, vinyl minimums realistic)?

• Do I have a scarcity or bundling plan?

Decision tree

• If Fit Index ≥ 1.25 in your genre: start there.

• If balanced: start with the lowest-effort format (usually tees).

• Expand only after your first format holds bestseller presence for multiple weeks.

Next Steps

The data makes one thing clear: you succeed by betting on a single merch format first, and only expanding once fans prove they’ll buy.

But what if you’re looking to grow merch sales, or to safely test demand for a new format like vinyl or CDs?

Paid ads can help, but not with the spray-and-pray approach that most musicians take.

Target your core fans with preorder campaigns, retarget casual browsers who’ve already shown interest, and use those ads to keep buyers engaged while waiting out long production runs.

Done right, ads aren’t just promotion, they’re a way to validate demand, cover your costs upfront, and sell out faster.

Too many artists blow their budget on the wrong ads and end up right back where they started, with wasted money and unsold stock.

De Novo’s social media ads packages have helped hundreds of artists prevent exactly that. Check out our proven strategies to turn the right fans into buyers, without gambling your hard-earned cash.