Taylor Swift's Merch Boycott Controversy, Explained
Taylor Swift's career success has led her to have a stunning net worth. However, merchandise sales from her online store have garnered lots of criticism. The official Swift merch has been subpar for many buyers, and they haven't held back in sharing their negative experiences. Many people wait for months to receive their merchandise, if it even comes at all. There were issues with this during the 2023 holiday season.
Bravado, the company owned by Universal Music Group that handles Swift's merch, sent out an email in late 2023 apologizing to customers for shipping delays and missing items. They promised that merch supposed to arrive 10 days before Christmas that didn't make it would get refunded, and customers would still receive their items. While speaking to Business Insider, UMG and Bravado explained that "outstanding orders from that time should now have been fulfilled." They added, "To those who experienced extended shipping delays in the run-up to the holiday and into the new year, we have extended full refunds, we have sent outstanding items where available free of charge and issued store credits for any items that were no longer available."
One Swiftie on the Taylor Swift Merch subreddit experienced this because they ordered a "1989" cardigan back in October 2023 that never arrived. Since it was a limited edition, they got a refund and store credit, but not the item they wanted. "I'm very disappointed at this and UMG about this situation," they wrote.
Eras Tour merch was also poor quality
While speaking to Axios, Bravado explained how "a combination of massive, unprecedented consumer demand and seasonal shipping issues" are what caused the late Taylor Swift merch items. "We work closely with our suppliers and production partners around the world to ensure that all products meet our high-quality standards and have a commitment to replace or refund any official store-bought product that does not meet these standards," they added.
That's not fully the case. In a post on the SwiftieMerch subreddit, people described not receiving that email or receiving the email and not getting a refund. In addition, late merch or no refunds aren't the only problem. Some items are incredibly low quality.
One major Eras Tour mishap is that the Eras merch designs faded quickly after the first wash for some Swifties. According to KTLA, there used to be a page on Swift's website that mentioned the discoloring, reading, "This slight fade is related to the product's distressed, vintage look." It also told people how to launder them properly. A follow-up email was sent discussing the option of exchanges if there was "dramatic loss of pigment or ink bleeding." As of writing, the webpage KTLA linked to says there are no refunds or exchanges for tour items except in certain circumstances.
Many Swifties are turning to Etsy for merch
The bad blood between Swifties and Taylor Swift's official merch store has led them to call for a boycott. One person on a TaylorSwiftMerch Reddit thread experienced shipping delays and said they didn't want to boycott, but, "there have been far too many complaints I've seen about not only shipment times, but quality, printing and sizing issues, I just don't think the high prices are worth it unfortunately." In that thread, many others encouraged a boycott.
Similar sentiments were expressed in several Reddit threads about clothing items that arrived damaged. In a thread about a tote bag drastically different in real life compared to online, some pointed out how fan-made merch on Etsy is better quality and lower priced. "I will never buy another merch product directly from her store. Ever. Find me on Etsy, where the designs are cute and unique, price is affordable, and I'm helping out small businesses," one wrote.
The New York Post interviewed disappointed Swifties on their bad merchandise experiences, including Jacqueline Jordan, who started an X account called @TayMerchProbs. Her reason for the page was to "hold UMG accountable for their actions and activate change" because of the bad experiences. Jordan also criticized UMG for using the company Artist Endeavor for Swift's merch, which she felt wasn't large enough to handle the demand. Grace Green, another fan, told the outlet that "UMG needs to be investigated by the [Federal Trade Commission]." She even felt that a lawsuit could be in the cards.