Manage your Merch shelf

The Merch shelf allows eligible creators to showcase their official branded merchandise on YouTube. If a channel is eligible, the shelf may surface on their videos’ watch pages, but may not show for all videos.

Learn how you can get started with the merch shelf here.

Organize your Merch shelf

The Merch shelf will display up to 30 products to your viewers. The display order of your Merch items is automated based on various factors, such as price, popularity, and availability. If you want to organize your merch shelf to display in a certain order, you can:

• Arrange your merch items for your entire channel, or
• Arrange your merch items for specific videos

Organize your Merch shelf for your entire channel

To arrange your shelf for your entire channel

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Monetization.
3. Click the Merchandise tab. This option will only show if your channel is eligible.
4. Click “Select manually” if you’re changing the default selection for the first time. Otherwise click ”Customize” to change the previous selection on the Products card.
5. Drag, drop, and order up to 30 items.
6. Click Save.
   • If you’ve previously ordered items for specific videos, there will be 2 options:
     • Display in store tab and videos that use channel selection: The new arrangement will be saved to videos where you haven't customized the order of your Merch.
     • Display in store tab and all videos: Will overwrite any video-level arrangements and set the newly organized shelf as the standard arrangement for the entire channel.

To go back to automatic arrangement

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Monetization.
3. Click the Merchandise tab. This option will only show if your channel is eligible.
4. Click “Use auto selection”
5. Click Save.

Organize your Merch shelf for individual videos

If you’ve rearranged your Merch shelf for your channel, by default individual videos will use the same items and follow the same order. If you want to change this for a specific video, you can select up to 30 items and rearrange their order for that video.

If you don’t choose a specific item order for individual videos, your Merch will be arranged in the same way as your channel.

To arrange your shelf for an individual video

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Content.
3. Click the video where you want to customize your Merch shelf.
4. In the left menu, click Monetization.
5. Click the Merchandise tab. This option will only show if your channel is eligible.
6. Click “Customize" on the Products card.
7. Drag, drop, and order up to 30 items.
8. In the top-right corner, click Save.

To go back to channel-level arrangement

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Content.
3. Click the video where you want to remove video-level customization of your Merch shelf.
4. In the left menu, click Monetization.
5. Click the Merchandise tab. This option will only show if your channel is eligible.
6. Click “Use channel selection" on the Products card and save the displayed selection.
   1. Note: Saving an empty selection will turn off Merch for a video.
7. Click Save.

If you want to go back to automatic arrangement, you can do this at the channel level.

Showcase Merch beyond the shelf

Store tab in the channel homepage

All channels live with the merch shelf and with at least 1 item eligible to be displayed on the shelf will automatically get a Store tab in their channel homepage. This tab will showcase all of your items currently displayed on the merch shelf. You can link out to the 'Store' tab from comments, description and Community posts by simply copy and pasting its URL.

Pin an item on your live stream

If you stream and you’re eligible for the merch shelf, you can promote one item at the top of your live feed.

Pin your merch during a live stream

1. Start a live stream using the Live control room.
2. Click the Merchandise tab below the live stream preview.
3. Select one merch item you’d like to promote click or drag it to the “Pinned merchandise” panel click Pin Merchandise.
4. Your merch item will now be seen at the top of your live stream.

 Unpin your merch from a live stream

1. Go to the Live control room.
2. Click the Merchandise tab below the live stream preview.
3. Click Unpin.

If a user clicks on merch from the pin or any other merch features for channels that have Teespring turned on, and then makes a purchase on Teespring during a channel’s YouTube live stream, this will trigger a live purchase notification inside the live chat.

Get more out of description links to your store

If your channel is using the merch shelf, you can add a link to your official merch store in video descriptions and when users click on the link, they get a preview of your official merch items directly on YouTube. This way, viewers can browse your official merchandise without interrupting their watching experience and, once they are ready to buy, they can click again to go to your official store and complete their purchase.

Feature merch on end screens

If you’re eligible for the merch shelf, you can add merch to your end screens. Follow these instructions:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, select Content.
3. Find the video where you want to add merch to an end screen click Editor.
4. To add merch:
   • If the video already includes an end screen, click on an empty slot click Merchandise.
   • If the video doesn't have an end screen, click Add an end screen choose your template.
5. Place your merch end screen at your preferred time and place on screen.

Merch shelf FAQs

How do I get my Merch items displayed on the shelf?

Once you create or modify your merch items with your official merchandise retailer and submit them to YouTube, the items will be reviewed for compliance with our policies. This review typically takes a few business days.

How do I know if my Merch items are under review?

To find out the status of the product review for your merch items:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Monetization.
3. Click the Merchandise tab. You'll only see this option if your channel is eligible.
4. Click Organize on the “status card.”
5. In the “Organize items” panel:
   • Items which are under review will be marked as “Under Review”.
   • Items in the panel without this label have been reviewed and are available for display on the shelf.

Note: Any changes to a merch item (including, but not limited to title, description, or image) will trigger a new compliance review of the item. This review typically takes a few business days.

I can’t find some of my Merch items in YouTube Studio

If you have questions about specific merch items not appearing in the “Organize items” panel, please reach out to your merch retailer.

The Merch shelf doesn’t show on my video, why?

The Merch shelf won’t show if:

• Your video’s audience is set as made for kids
• Your video already shows Ticketing or Donations
• Your video has a copyright claim against it
• Your viewer is not in a country/region where the Merch shelf is available
• Your viewer is watching your video on a mobile browser, smart TV, or game console
• You have no approved, in-stock Merch items
• You have saved an empty selection for display