SE.Merch FAQ

Table of Content

1. What products can I sell?
2. Will there only be these 8 products?
3. What are the sizes of items?
4. What kind of design do I need?
5. What are the print dimensions?
6. How do I change an item’s design?
7. How many items can I add to my store?
8. How do I change the placement of my design on the item?
9. Will we have back prints, sleeve prints, all-over prints?
10. Will you offer large mousepads, hats, skateboards, and/or other specialty products?
11. What kind of Seasonal stuff do you have?
12. How do I enable merch alerts on my stream?
13. How much does it cost to use SE.Merch?
14. How come you have the highest profit margins?
15. How does shipping work? Do you ship internationally?
16. What about customer service, refunds, returns?
17. How do I change pricing?
18. How do I get paid?
19. What about taxes?
20. Will I be able to customize my storefront, add timed sales, limited collections, discounts?
21. Why does my shirt smell like vinegar?
22. What material is the mousepad and mug made of?
23. I want to know about the ethics of this operation.

1. What products can I sell?
   

   The are currently 8 basic products and the best profit margins available 🤑
   
   • Premium T-shirt (Bella Canvas 3001, recommended price $25, your profit $11.10)
   • Premium Pullover Hoodie (Independent Trading Company SS4500, recommended price $45, your profit $19.10)
   • Mug (11oz, recommended price $15, your profit $6.50)
   • Stickers (3x4'', recommended price $3, your profit $1)
   • Mousepad (7.79x9.25'', recommended price $15, your profit $6.60) 
     
   • XXL Mousepad (36"x18", recommended price $25, your profit $4.50)
   • Premium Tank Top (Bella Canvas 3480, recommended price $25, your profit $8.10)
   • Phone Cases (Samsung and iPhone, recommended price $20, your profit $5.01)
   • Minky Blanket (50"x60", recommended price $39, your profit of $10.50)
   
     Note: You can set any price you want and any extra profit goes to you. Premium as used above means we are spending more of the production cost to get a high quality product for you. 
    

2. Will there only be these products?

   No, we’ll have a full catalog of items. We decided to start with the best sellers and be as hassle-free as possible. We understand that every community is different and might want different items. There are big plans going forward, we’re just getting started. 
    

3. What are the sizes of items?

   Here are the sizing charts for the T-shirt and hoodie.
   Do note that the US sizing is one size smaller then the EU sizing.
   Bellow charts show in inches and centimeters and how to get measurements
   To get the right size, we recommend to find your favorite T-shirt or hoodie. Measure the same areas on that and compare to this sizing list. 
   
   
   
   • Mugs - 11oz / 335ml
   • Mousepads - 7.75"x9.25" / 19.7cm x 23.5cm
   
    

4. What kind of design do I need?
   

   Printing on fabric requires high resolution and high quality designs. Each item has different requirements in resolution and dpi. To make life easier we recommend a single design 4000x4000 px at 300 dpi. We will resize and re-cut it automatically to fit all the different items. 

   We understand not everyone has high res designs on hand, so we can work with any size above 2000x2000. When we get a sub-optimal size design we will attempt to slightly reduce the printing area to fit the quality standards. 
   
   Printing of products is done in the CMYK color-space. Because of this, some colors are more difficult to print than others. What you see on your monitor is in RGB (a lot more colors are possible than in CMYK). We recommend staying away from neon colors and 3D glow effects due the high chance that it will cause printing issues. 

   • Resized Item:

   

   If the design is too small we might lock an item until you upload a higher resolution image.

   • Locked item:
     

      

5. What are the print dimensions?

   Each item has a certain area that is available to print on. We recommend you adjust your design to these dimensions before uploading to get the best print possible.
   
   
   • T-Shirt: 4500 x 5700 pixels
   • Hoodie: 4500 x 3300 pixels
   • Mug: 5371 x 2000 pixels
   • Mousepad: 2500 x 2115 pixels
   • XXL Mousepad: 7300x3700 pixels
   • Tank Top: 3600x4200 pixels
   • Sticker: 825x1125 pixels
   • Phone Cases: These vary, largest is 1181x2047 pixels
     
   • Minky Blanket: 4600x5600 pixels

6. How do I change an item’s design?
   

   Click directly on the item to navigate to the Edit page. Another way is to hover of the item's menu and click Edit. Once inside, you’ll be able to change an item’s design, pricing, color options and name.
   
   

7. How many items can I have in my store?

   Currently, a total of 24 items.
    

8. How do I change the placement of my design on the item?
   

   You can edit the placement on the front of a shirt and hoodie by simply clicking on the items in the dashboard and then clicking on the "Design" tab on top. You can make the design smaller or bigger, move it around, use the auto placement options as well. After you are done, make sure you click on "Save" at the bottom right.
   
   For more information check out our blog post here: Item Editor Blog Post
   
   Do note that we are working on adding the editor for mugs, stickers and mousepads, but no ETA can be given at the current moment.
    

9. Will we have back prints, sleeve prints, all-over prints?

   Yes, these are all coming. No ETA for now.
    

10. Will you offer large mousepads, hats, skateboards, other specialty products?
    

    We added XXL Mousepads! For all other planned items, check out the roadmap.
    Have any cool ideas? Suggest them here!
    
    

11. What kind of Seasonal stuff do you have?
    

    We have created a Winter Merch Bundle with several design options for you to choose from. You are able to put your own phrase onto the designs and put them live in the store.
    We have plans on releasing bundles for future seasons and holidays as well :)
    
    

12. How do I enable merch alerts on my stream?
    

    Just go to the Engagement tab in the SE.Merch dashboard and use the Merch Alert feature:
     
    Alternatively you can just add the Merchandise Alert Box to any overlay via the overlay manager, like so:
    
    
     

13. How much does it cost to use SE.Merch?
    

    Nothing. Like all StreamElements services - this is absolutely free. No subscriptions or fees or commitments needed. Set up your store and start selling, no strings attached.
     

14. How come you have the highest profit margins?
    

    It’s our mission here at StreamElements to generate new revenue sources for streamers. We don't believe in making money from streamers.
    • We’ve researched the market and partnered with the right suppliers
    • We negotiated the prices to the lowest in the industry
    • We take the lowest margins and only from the production side
    • While it's up to you to set the price point that's right for your community, at standard pricing, most of the sale price goes to you, the streamer. As it should be.
      
      

    Wait, so how does StreamElements make a profit?

    For every item sold a small flat portion from the production side goes to us
    • This amount doesn’t change if you decide to charge more for your merch
    • The biggest cut is always to the streamer
    • If you decide to price the items higher, every extra dollar goes to you
    • Our goal is to make this massive and succeed through volume
      
      

15. How does shipping work? Do you ship internationally?

    Flat shipping rates for domestic/international. Tracking included. 
    Orders from the EU are manufactured in our EU facilities. This means lower shipping costs, dramatically lower shipping times and no worries about duties and customs for shipments made inside the EU! This is currently available for:
    • T-Shirts
    • Hoodies
    • Mugs
      
      
    Do note that some sizes like the 3XL shirt and some color variations ship from USA towards EU.
    For colors specifically, if its shipping from USA, it is due to shortage with the EU vendor. Currently, the following items are only produced in the USA: XXL Mousepads, Mousepads, and stickers. 
    
    While we have done everything we can to reduce the chances of a customs or duties charge, these are in the end at the decision of local customs. StreamElements is not responsible for these fees and are unable to add them into the shipping costs. Please be aware of your countries relation and duties and customs taxes before ordering as once the item enters production (within 12 hours of order creation), we are unable to offer a refund (see next question). For reference, the UK is no longer a part of the EU so this will likely result in a fee that needs paid.
     

16. What about customer service, refunds, returns?
    

    Our Legendary Customer Support specialists handle everything. If a customer is unhappy with the print quality they get a refund/reprint. If an item gets lost in the mail - we will reprint and resend it, after 21 business days. For any issues, please use this form.
    
    Upon a customer making an order, there is a 18 hours pending period before we send the order into production. In those 18 hours they can request for the order to be cancelled and refunded, or if they ordered 2 mugs instead of 1 - we cancel and refund so that they can reorder again.
    After we send off the order to production, if the customer wants to cancel before its shipped, we will try our best to get in touch with our fulfillment center and vendor to cancel the order, but there is no guarantee we can cancel the whole order. Depending on the situation, we can then determine the amount that can be returned.
     

17. How do I change pricing?

    Go to the Edit page for the item you want to update. You'll see a slider with some pre-sets, and a custom price box you can set. The price will affect your profits only - you decide to have as much or as little as you’d like. Even 0 profit if you want. The minimum is production cost and every extra dollar goes directly to you.
    
    
     

18. How do I get paid?

    Go to the Payments tab on your SE.Merch dashboard. You will see a list of all your sales and your due profits. Click on the Withdraw button and the payout is on the way. Processing of payments will happen through our payments partner Tipalti. On your first payout request, keep an eye out for an email from us so that you can set up a new account with them. You will then be able to select from a multitude of payout options (ACH, wire transfer, and PayPal to name a few). Once you complete your account and any required documentation, your payment will be sent. On future payouts, these will be processed as soon as approved by our team. 
     
     

19. What about taxes?

    Just like tips and other income content creators generate, we leave it up to you to report to your local taxation authorities according to your local laws and procedures.  
     

20. Will I be able to customize my storefront, add timed sales, limited collections, discounts?

    For sure! All these features - and many others - are on the roadmap.  
     

21. Why does my shirt smell like vinegar?

    When unpacking a new shirt or hoodie with a direct-to-garment (DTG) print, you might notice a vinegar-like smell or an off-white residue. Don't worry, that's not unusual - it's from a fixation agent applied during the printing process and it's not permanent.
    
    Fixation agent (sometimes known as pre-treatment) is used for all DTG prints across the industry. It helps the ink bond with the fabric, and without it, the ink would flake off the garment.
    
    To remove the smell, we recommend washing the shirt and hoodie as follows:
    • inside out with cold water
    • low tumble dry setting.
    
    With proper care, prints will usually last for years to come.
    Hot water and high dryer heat are not recommended.  
     

22. What material is the mousepad and mug made of?

    The mousepad is made of high density neoprene with a smooth fabric layer. They are white, so if you submit a transparent image, the background color will be white. Stain-resistant and easy to clean.
    
    The mug is made from quality ceramic, sports a comfortable handle. It is microwave and dishwasher safe.
     

23. I want to know about the ethics of this operation.

    • Is the merch made in a developing country?
    All the printing centers we use are in the USA and Western Europe, which are heavily regulated. Our source products are Bella Canvas and Independent Trading company ( Bella Canvas & Independent Trading Company).
    • How are those facilities checked for ethical working conditions?
    All of our manufacturers are checked prior to joining our vendor network. Upper management in charge of manufacturing have personally visited a good number of the facilities and no issues were noticed and any visit afterwards.
    • Are the product environmentally safe ?
    Our apparel vendors use vegetable-based offset inks directly to the garment -- which are just as vibrant and reliable -- to replace their old, petroleum-based counterparts. Vendors also require that all of their papers come from responsibly forested land and focus on adding garment stock that contains recycled content.