Merch glossary
Forty terms from the merch business, each defined in two to four sentences. Where a definition gives a figure or a rule, the line under it says where that comes from and the day it was checked.
Reviewed3PL · AOV · ATA carnet · Blank · Bundle · Buy-out · Chargeback · Comps · Conversion rate · Counts in and out · D2C · DTF · DTG · Embroidery · Freight · Hall fee · Licence · Merch advance · Merch drop · Merchant of record · MOQ · Per head · Pick and pack · Pre-order · Print-on-demand · Recoupment · Repeat rate · Road case · Royalty · Sales-tax nexus · Screen print · Sell-through · Settlement · Size curve · SKU · Stock shrink · Tech pack · Variant · VAT and OSS · Vending partner
0–9
3PL
Third-party logistics: a company that stores a seller’s stock and sends out its orders. The stock has already been made and belongs to the seller, which is the difference from print-on-demand. A 3PL charges for receiving, for storage and for each order sent, usually with a monthly minimum. A survey of more than 600 warehouses put the average minimum at $517 a month in 2025.
Also called third-party logistics.
Third-party estimateA 3PL directory’s summary of an industry survey, and a 3PL’s own definition. · Source: Fulfill.com, How Much Does a 3PL Cost in 2026?, ShipBob, Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Services & Guide · checked
A
AOV
Average order value: what a store took in a period, divided by the number of orders in it. A store that took £4,000 from 100 orders, to take a sample, has an AOV of £40. It rises when customers add a second item, which is what a bundle is for.
Also called average order value.
ATA carnet
A customs document that lets goods enter a country for a time without duty or import tax being paid, on the understanding that they leave again. It lasts for up to a year and is accepted in more than 80 countries, and a tour’s instruments and equipment cross borders on one. It does not cover merch. US customs says goods intended for sale cannot be entered on a carnet and have to be declared in the ordinary way.
Also called carnet.
Official sourceSource: International Chamber of Commerce, ATA Carnet, US Customs and Border Protection, ATA Carnet FAQs, GOV.UK, Take goods temporarily out of Great Britain · checked
B
Blank
A garment with nothing printed on it yet: the plain t-shirt, hoodie or cap that a design goes onto. The blank decides the fabric, the weight and the fit, whatever is printed on it. Blanks are bought by the case. Gildan, one maker, packs its t-shirts 72 to a case in the common sizes.
Third-party estimateA wholesaler’s description of the maker’s cases, for sizes small to 2XL. · Source: Buck Wholesale, How many t-shirts are in a Gildan case · checked
Bundle
Two or more items sold together at one price, usually for less than they cost separately. A shirt with a poster is one, and so is a ticket sold with a shirt. A bundle raises what each order is worth, and it moves a slower item along with a faster one.
Buy-out
A single payment for all the rights in a piece of work, in place of a royalty on each sale. Paying a designer does not by itself buy the copyright. In the UK the person who made a commissioned work owns it unless a written agreement says otherwise, and a transfer of copyright has no effect unless it is in writing and signed. So a buy-out is a document as well as a payment.
Also called buyout.
Official sourceSource: GOV.UK, Ownership of copyright works, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 90 · checked
C
Chargeback
A card payment taken back from the seller after the cardholder disputes it with their bank. The seller loses the money for the sale and pays a fee on top. Stripe, one payment processor, charges a UK business £20 for each dispute it receives and a further £20 to contest one, and gives back only the second if the seller wins.
Filed or disclosedSource: Stripe, Pricing (United Kingdom), Stripe documentation, How disputes work · checked
Comps
Items given away and not sold, to crew, guests or the venue. They are taken out of the night’s count, so they are not counted as sold. A comp that nobody writes down turns up later as missing stock.
Filed or disclosedSource: atVenu help, Working with Counts on the web · checked
Conversion rate
The share of people who could have bought and did. Online it is orders divided by visits to the store. Shopify counts visits and not visitors, so one person who comes back three times is three. At a show it is the share of the audience that buys: 21% across the shows settled on atVenu in 2025.
Filed or disclosedEach company’s own account of what it counts. · Source: Shopify, Ecommerce Conversion Rate, atVenu, Artist Merchandise Trends of 2025 · checked
Counts in and out
Counting every item, size by size, into the venue before the doors open, and counting what is left after the show. What came in, plus anything added during the show, less comps, less what is left, is what was sold. The counts set the night’s gross, so a miscount changes what the venue is paid.
Also called count-in or count-out.
Filed or disclosedSource: atVenu help, Working with Counts on the web, atVenu help, Settling a show on the web · checked
D
D2C
Direct-to-consumer: selling to fans from the act’s own online store, and not through a shop or at a venue. The seller sees who bought, what they bought and where it was sent. An act can run that store or license the right to a merch company. For the second case, one guide puts US royalties at 25 to 35% of the retail price.
Also called direct-to-consumer or DTC.
Third-party estimateA music rights company’s guide from 2021. · Source: Exploration, Merchandise Economics · checked
DTF
Direct-to-film printing: the design is printed onto a sheet of film, then pressed onto the garment with heat. Like DTG it needs no screens, so a short run is practical. It works on more materials than DTG, polyester and nylon among them, and the print sits slightly on top of the fabric.
Also called direct-to-film.
Third-party estimateA US decorator’s guide to the methods it runs. · Source: Arklavo, DTF vs DTG Printing · checked
DTG
Direct-to-garment printing: an inkjet printer lays water-based ink straight onto the fabric. There are no screens to make and no charge for each colour, so shirts can be printed one at a time, which is what print-on-demand needs. It works best on cotton and cotton blends.
Also called direct-to-garment.
Third-party estimateA US decorator’s guides to the methods it runs. · Source: Arklavo, DTF vs DTG Printing, Arklavo, How Much Does Screen Printing Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide · checked
E
Embroidery
A design stitched into the garment with thread, by a machine that works from a file. The artwork is first digitised, which means turned into that file: where each stitch goes, and in what order. The price follows the number of stitches and not the number of colours. One US decorator puts digitising at $40 to $100, paid once.
Third-party estimateSource: Arklavo, Screen Print vs Embroidery · checked
F
Freight
Stock moved in bulk by a carrier, usually stacked on a pallet, as opposed to a parcel sent by itself. A load too small to fill a lorry travels as LTL, less than truckload, and shares the vehicle with other shippers’ goods. The quoted rate is not the whole price. Extras such as a tail lift or a booked delivery time are charged on top, and one US freight company puts them at 20 to 30% of a typical shipper’s freight bill in 2026.
Third-party estimateSource: FreightPlus, LTL Accessorial Charges · checked
H
Hall fee
The share of merch sales a venue keeps for letting an act sell in its building. The rate is agreed when the show is advanced. On a settlement drawn up in atVenu, a settlement app for merch tables, it is taken from the adjusted gross and not from everything the table took: total sales, less card fees, taxes and anything agreed off the top. There is no standard rate: one 2026 survey of venue policies puts it at about 10% at the low end and 25 to 30% at major venues.
Also called venue cut or merch cut.
Third-party estimateatVenu’s own help pages for how the fee is taken, and a ticketing company’s survey of press reports for the range. · Source: atVenu help, What is a Venue Cut?, atVenu help, What is Adjusted Gross?, Ticket Fairy, Merch Cuts Under Fire in 2026 · checked
L
Licence
Permission from the owner of a name, a likeness or a piece of artwork for somebody else to use it. A licence says which products, where and for how long, and the owner keeps ownership. A merch company that prints an act’s name on a shirt does so under a licence from the act.
Official sourceThe UK Intellectual Property Office’s guidance. · Source: GOV.UK, Licensing intellectual property · checked
M
Merch advance
Money a merch company pays an act up front, against the royalties the act is expected to earn. It is not a fee: the company keeps the act’s royalties until the advance has been earned back. A tour merch advance is often returnable as well, so the company can ask for it back, in some deals with interest, if the tour starts late or draws smaller crowds than the contract assumed. It is not the same thing as advancing a show, which is agreeing the night’s terms with the venue beforehand.
Third-party estimateA music rights company’s guide from 2021 and a law firm’s. · Source: Exploration, Merchandise Economics, Gerard Fox Law, Merchandise Licensing Agreement: Royalties Discussion · checked
Merch drop
A product or a small range released on a date announced beforehand, often for a limited time or in a limited number. Usually just called a drop. It is the opposite of a catalogue that is always on sale: fans have a reason to buy now, and the seller gets one clear result to read.
Also called product drop.
Merchant of record
The business that makes the sale in law. Its name is on the customer’s card statement, and it takes the payment, owes the sales tax or VAT, and answers for refunds and chargebacks. It has to be settled for the online store and for the merch table separately, because the two can be different companies.
Also called MoR.
Third-party estimateA payments company’s explanation. · Source: Paddle, What is a Merchant of Record? · checked
MOQ
Minimum order quantity: the smallest run a supplier will take. It exists because setting up a job costs the supplier the same however small the run. One US decorator’s 2026 guide puts most screen printers’ minimum at 24 to 72 pieces a design. Print-on-demand has none, because there is nothing to set up.
Also called minimum order quantity.
Third-party estimateSource: Arklavo, How Much Does Screen Printing Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide · checked
P
Per head
A night’s merch sales divided by the number of people who paid to get in. It is how tours compare one night, one room or one act with another. Across the shows settled on atVenu in 2025 the average was $10.24 a head. That is an average over every genre and every size of room, and not a target for any one tour.
Also called spend per head or per cap.
Filed or disclosedSource: atVenu, Artist Merchandise Trends of 2025 · checked
Pick and pack
Taking the items in an order off the shelf and packing them for the post. A 3PL charges for it by the order, with a smaller charge for each extra item. One 2026 guide to warehouse prices gives $2 to $3 as typical for a consumer’s order and 30 to 75 cents for each further item, before postage.
Third-party estimateThe survey behind the guide, of more than 600 warehouses in 2025, averaged $3.20 an order. · Source: Fulfill.com, How Much Does a 3PL Cost in 2026? · checked
Pre-order
An order taken, and usually paid for, before the item is made or in stock. It tells the seller how many to make, and in which sizes, before any money goes on printing. The seller has to say when it will ship, and keep to it. In the United States, a seller that cannot ship in the time it stated, or within 30 days if it stated none, must ask the buyer to agree to the delay or give the money back.
Also called preorder.
Official sourceSource: FTC, Business Guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule · checked
Print-on-demand
A way of selling in which nothing is made until a customer has paid for it. The order goes to a printer, who prints the one item, packs it and posts it to the customer. No stock is bought or stored, so none is left unsold. The price of that is a higher cost for each item than a large run printed in bulk.
Also called POD.
Third-party estimateShopify’s guide for how an order runs, and a US decorator’s price guide for the cost at volume. · Source: Shopify, Print on Demand: What It Is, Arklavo, How Much Does Screen Printing Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide · checked
R
Recoupment
Earning back an advance out of the act’s own royalties. Until the advance is recouped, the merch company keeps the royalties that would otherwise be paid. An act with an unrecouped advance is still selling merch, and is not yet being paid for it.
Third-party estimateA law firm’s guide to merchandise licences. · Source: Gerard Fox Law, Merchandise Licensing Agreement: Royalties Discussion · checked
Repeat rate
The share of customers who have bought more than once. It is counted over a stated period, such as a year. It needs customers to be told apart, which an online store does and a cash sale at a table does not. Shopify’s reports count a customer as returning from their second order.
Also called repeat purchase rate.
Filed or disclosedSource: Shopify help, Customers reports · checked
Road case
A hard, lockable case on wheels, built to be loaded on and off a truck every night. A tour’s equipment travels in them. Merch travels in them too, or in the cardboard cases it came from the printer in.
Also called flight case.
Royalty
A payment to the owner of a name or of artwork for each sale made under a licence, usually a percentage. The percentage says little until its base is known, because gross sales, net sales and net profit are very different sums. One guide puts an act’s share of tour merch at 75 to 80% of net profit, and its royalty on licensed online sales at 25 to 35% of the retail price. Those two figures cannot be compared without their bases.
Third-party estimateA music rights company’s guide from 2021 for the figures, and a law firm’s for gross and net. · Source: Exploration, Merchandise Economics, Gerard Fox Law, Merchandise Licensing Agreement: Royalties Discussion · checked
S
Sales-tax nexus
A connection with a US state that obliges a seller to collect that state’s sales tax. Selling in person creates it at once: Texas requires a permit of an out-of-state seller even when it is trading there temporarily. Selling online creates it once sales into the state pass a threshold, which each state sets. $100,000 a year is common, and Texas and California set $500,000.
Also called nexus.
Official sourceThe Streamlined Sales Tax board’s chart lists each state’s threshold. · Source: Texas Comptroller, Fairs, Festivals, Markets and Shows, Texas Comptroller, Remote Sellers, California CDTFA, Use tax collection after the Wayfair decision, Streamlined Sales Tax, Remote Seller State Guidance · checked
Screen print
Ink pushed through a mesh stencil onto the garment, one colour at a time, with a separate screen for each colour. The screens cost the same to make for 12 shirts as for 1,200, so a small run is expensive for each shirt and a large one is cheap. One US decorator’s 2026 price guide puts the set-up at $15 to $30 a colour.
Also called screen printing or silkscreen.
Third-party estimateUpdated in June 2026. The same company’s other guides give wider ranges for the set-up. · Source: Arklavo, How Much Does Screen Printing Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide · checked
Sell-through
The share of a run that was sold: units sold divided by units bought, as a percentage. It sets the real cost of bulk stock, because the unsold shirts were paid for too. Take a sample: a shirt that costs $6 to print costs $8 for each one sold at a sell-through of 75%. One guide for retailers calls 70 to 80% healthy.
Third-party estimateShopify’s guide for retailers, for the formula and the range. The $6 shirt is a sample, not a price. · Source: Shopify, Sell-Through Rate · checked
Settlement
The account drawn up between a tour and a venue at the end of the night: what the table sold, the tax and card fees that come out, and the venue’s share. It is worked out from the stock counts and not from the till. In atVenu’s words, the physical counts determine the gross sales, and the only way to change the gross on a settlement is to change the counts.
Filed or disclosedSource: atVenu help, Settling a show on the web · checked
Size curve
The share of sales that each size takes. Sizes do not sell evenly, so a run bought in equal sizes leaves the smallest and the largest unsold. One US wholesaler puts large at 30% of shirts, medium at 28% and extra large at 20%. An audience has its own curve, and its first few counts will show it.
Third-party estimateGeneral figures for group orders in the United States, not for concerts. · Source: The Adair Group, Shirt Order Size Distribution · checked
SKU
Stock-keeping unit: the code for one exact thing that can be sold. One design in one colour and one size is one SKU, so five designs in six sizes is 30 SKUs to buy, carry and count. The number of SKUs, more than the number of shirts, decides how much work a range is.
Also called stock-keeping unit.
Stock shrink
Stock that has gone without being sold: stolen, damaged, miscounted, or given away and not written down. Usually just called shrink. At a merch table it shows as the gap between what the counts say was sold and what the till took. US retailers reported an average shrink rate of 1.6% of sales for their 2022 financial year, which is a figure for shops and not for merch tables.
Also called stock shrinkage.
Third-party estimateA trade body’s survey of US retailers. · Source: National Retail Federation, National Retail Security Survey 2023 · checked
T
Tech pack
The document a factory makes a garment from. It holds the flat drawings, the measurements, the materials and how the piece is put together. A factory quotes, samples and produces from it, so whatever it leaves out is left to the factory to guess.
Third-party estimateA tech-pack software company’s guide. · Source: Techpacker, What Is a Tech Pack? · checked
V
Variant
One version of a product in an online store, such as a medium in black. Customers see one product page with a choice of options, and the store keeps stock for each variant separately. Shopify allows a product up to three options, such as size and colour, and up to 2,048 variants.
Filed or disclosedSource: Shopify help, Adding variants · checked
VAT and OSS
VAT is the sales tax of the UK and the EU. A UK business has to register once its taxable turnover passes £90,000. A seller based in one EU country charges the VAT of the customer’s country once its sales to consumers in other member states pass €10,000 a year. The One Stop Shop, or OSS, lets a seller register in one member state and report the VAT due in all the others on one return; its import scheme does the same for parcels from outside the EU worth up to €150.
Official sourceSource: GOV.UK, VAT thresholds, European Commission, The One Stop Shop · checked
Vending partner
A company that runs the merch table for a tour. It supplies the sellers and the till, counts the stock in and out, and settles with the venue each night. A venue that sells with its own staff is doing the same job, and its hall fee is partly the price of it.
Also called vending company.
Third-party estimateA music rights company’s guide from 2021 for what a venue’s sellers are paid from, and atVenu’s help pages for the work. · Source: Exploration, Merchandise Economics, atVenu help, Settling a show on the web · checked