• New data has revealed which celebrities have the highest merchandise costs, with Elton John named one of the top three most expensive artists 
• The findings analyzed the availability and price of items listed in the official UK merch stores of the 20 most popular global artists 
• The average celeb charges £29.91 per merch item – while singer-songwriter Elton John’s items are considerably more pricey at £40.75
• Accessories like socks and collectibles like ornaments are the more expensive items to buy, while music items like vinyl records are cheapest 

New data has revealed which artists charge their fans the highest prices for their official merchandise – with Elton John among the top three celebs with the more expensive products.

The analysis, conducted by personal finance experts Wealth of Geeks, pulled the price of all merchandise items listed in the official online stores of the 20 most popular artists worldwide to calculate who is the most expensive to support, and who is the most affordable.

And it turns out that Elton John is the second highest-charging celebrity, as a typical item in his store is 36.2% more expensive than those provided by any other artist – including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo.

With 104 products currently available in his UK store with a whopping collective price of £4,454, each works out to an average of £40.75 to purchase – compared to the average of £29.91.

The most expensive item in the singer’s store is Elton John x Oxford Pennant – Cowboy Banner, priced at a huge £450 – while the cheapest is an Elton John 1973 vinyl figure for £11.99. His music items are more affordable than accessories, apparel, or collectables.

Meanwhile, Irish singer-songwriter Niall Horan has the most expensive merchandise, as a typical item in his store is 56% more expensive at an average per-item cost of £46.53 – 14% pricier than Elton.

This is despite Horan providing multiple cost-saving bundles on his site for an average of £61.69 each – but even these are quite expensive compared to other artists, as Olivia Rodrigo’s bundles retail at an average of £34.49 each, while Harry Styles charges £46.66.

The high price per item in Niall’s store is also largely due to limited edition items like his Hello Lovers x The Show Cardigan, which retails for £90 and is available in two colourways.

The cardigan is the costliest product on his site, while the cheapest item in his store is the Meltdown – CD Single, which costs a comparatively much more modest £3.99.

The celebrities charging the most for their merchandise

The artist with the most affordable merchandise came out as The 1975, as their products retail for an average of just £21.23 – more than two-fifths (40.9%) lower than average.

Fans have a huge choice of items, with 164 listed in their online store, while the typical artist has just 65 products available. On the other end of the scale, the artist whose fans are most likely to shop elsewhere due to a redacted selection is Miley Cyrus, with just six items listed.

Also among the more affordable artists is Niall Horan’s former bandmate Harry Styles, whose products retail for £26.43 each – slightly lower (13.2% less) than the average.

Meanwhile, some artists who charged close to the average include Maroon 5 (with a per-product price of £27.88), Dua Lipa (£27.73 per item), and Miley Cyrus (£24.17 each).

The celebrities with the most affordable merchandise

Overall, the most expensive type of merch to purchase is accessories – including jewellery and tumblers – and collectables like Christmas ornaments, with an average price of £74.16, and the cheapest is music like vinyl records and CDs, with a cost of £21.80 per item.

The costliest product analysed in the study was by far Drake’s Air Drake logo blankets, which retail for a mindblowing £4,455 each – and actually resulted in the rapper’s merchandise being excluded from the analysis entirely due to its disproportionate prices.

Meanwhile, the most budget-friendly artist with the highest number of merch items priced for £10 or less is The 1975, with 27 products available, followed by Ed Sheeran with 22, and then Coldplay with 17 items, and then Harry Styles with 8 items priced for £10 or under.

Unfortunately, the most common budget-friendly merch item listed in online stores is a CD, meaning those looking for a cheap gift other than a music item this Christmas will struggle. Overall, the most common merch item came out as a T-shirt.

Speaking on the findings, Michael Dinich, founder of Wealth of Geeks, said: “For a lot of fans, owning official merchandise is a key part of showing their favourite artist support – but doing so can come at a high cost for those with little disposable income, or those who feel under pressure to purchase multiple costly products to ‘fit in’ with their peers.

“While production costs and availability will affect pricing, many celebs’ stores will look to take advantage of fans’ willingness to buy merch and may even increase prices or the number of items as the festive season approaches to capitalise on this increased demand – with some artists clearly hiking up their prices more than others.

“Fans should never feel obligated to spend money on something just because their idol has endorsed or created it and should be open to supporting small businesses alongside their artists’ products to gain access to more affordable and varied items.”