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How much merch to bring on tour
Updated October 7, 2026 · 3 min read
Bring too little merch and you lose your best sales nights. Bring too much and you spend the tour hauling boxes and money you could have used for gas. There is no perfect number, but there is a sensible way to estimate it.
Free templates for this guide
Download and edit these for your own tour. No sign-up, no email required.
Merch count and settlement sheet
Count in, adds, comps and count out per item and size, with sold units, gross, venue fees on soft and hard goods, and net.
Band tour budget (van tour)
Per-show math for a small band: guarantee, door, merch, gas from miles and MPG, lodging and food, with net per show and per member.
See the complete free resource library for budgets, riders, checklists and more.
Start from your own history
The best predictor is your own past sales. Look at previous shows: how many items sold per paying attendee, and which items. If you sold 30 items at a 300-cap room, that is roughly one item per ten people. Apply that to the expected attendance on the new tour.
If you have no history, start small: a couple of shirt designs and one other item. A focused table sells better than a cluttered one.
Estimate total units
Expected attendance across the tour times your items-per-person rate gives a total unit estimate. Add a buffer for strong markets and for the shows where you’ll do better than expected, but don’t double it.
Size breakdown
T-shirt sizes don’t sell evenly. Many bands find medium and large sell most, with smaller numbers of small, XL and XXL, but your audience may differ. Use your own past size data if you have it. Track sizes every night and adjust your reorder.
Ship or reorder on the road
You don’t have to carry the whole tour’s merch at once. Options:
- Ship restock boxes to a venue or hotel later in the tour (confirm with the venue first).
- Have your printer ready to ship on short notice.
- Start with less and reorder the sizes that run low.
Pricing
Price for your audience and the venue’s fee. Round numbers are easier for cash sales. Check what similar acts charge in the same rooms. Bundles (shirt plus record) can lift average sales.
Storage and transport
Pack by item and size in labeled bins so count in and count out are quick. Keep merch dry and out of the sun. Track what is in the van versus at home.
Don’t forget the table
- A display (grid wall, clips, hangers) and size signs.
- A clear price list.
- A card reader with a spare charger, and a cash float.
- Bags, a light and a table cloth.
A worked estimate (EXAMPLE numbers)
- 12 shows with an expected average of 200 paying fans = 2,400 people.
- Past rate: about one item per 10 fans = 240 items.
- Add a buffer of around 20% for strong nights = about 290 items.
- Split across two shirt designs, one hoodie and records based on past sales.
These numbers are made up. Use your own history.
When to reorder
Track sizes every night. When a popular size drops to a few days’ worth of sales, reorder or ship restock ahead. A low-stock threshold helps you see it coming.
Merch mistakes
- Too many designs, so none sells out and all take space.
- Ignoring size data from past tours.
- No card payments.
- No count-in and count-out, so losses go unnoticed.
How TRMNGR helps
Connected to Square, the TRMNGR Merch page (Production Office → Merch) shows on-hand counts per item with a size breakdown, units sold today and for the tour, and flags items at or below your Low inventory threshold, so you see a size running low before it’s gone. The connection is read-only: you manage items and inventory in Square. The Inkable Clothing logo on the Merch page links to Inkable for ordering merch.