Silly or serious, a cartoon animal playing basketball or a company logo, there’s something about stickers that strikes a chord with people all across the world. What’s more, they can be used to decorate everything from journals and calendars to laptops, water bottles, car bumpers, and more.
The universal appreciation for stickers has made them a trendy product to sell online for ecommerce entrepreneurs in recent years. If you enjoy crafting stickers, the notion of being able to earn money from your artistic creations may be very appealing!
In this article, we guide you on your way to transitioning from being a sticker enthusiast to successfully selling your works of art on the web with our top tips and best practices when it comes to launching your own sticker business.
Let’s get started!
Why make stickers to sell online?
So you know that you’re interested in making stickers to sell online, but perhaps you’re wondering if doing so is a viable business idea. In fact, launching an online store that offers stickers is advantageous for several reasons.
Demand is high
As an owner of an ecommerce business, it’s important for you to remember that as wonderful as you believe your product to be, if people don’t want to buy it, your venture isn’t going to be very successful.
Fortunately, if you’re thinking about selling stickers on the internet, you’re in luck!
An eRank study examining the top products searched on Etsy found that stickers came in seventh place in April 2022. Whether it’s due to stickers’ ease of use, ability to remind people of childhood memories, or relatively low price tag, consumers are going crazy for stickers…making this an ideal time for you to jump on the bandwagon and launch your sticker business!
It doesn’t cost much to get started
For the entrepreneurially minded artisan, it’s often easy to dream up creative ideas for what to make and sell online. However, actually turning those visions into reality and starting a business can be much more difficult, with one significant barrier frequently being the cost of creating or obtaining items to sell.
Say that you want to sell one-of-a-kind, handcrafted furniture, for example. You’ll probably need to invest a significant amount of time and effort into either crafting each piece yourself or hiring somebody else to do it for you.
With sticker creation, on the other hand, the expense is much lower. You won’t need loads of expensive supplies compared to other markets, and printing stickers is usually quite feasible for most creators. If you already have some experience designing stickers, making the leap to selling them online is relatively simple.
There’s plenty of room for creativity
If you’re interested in starting an online store but worried about stifling your creative spirit, note that there’s no need to panic when it comes to the sticker market.
There’s extensive potential for sticker makers, as you can pretty much take any idea or design and create a sticker. Add to that the option to include text and the choice to use all kinds of different shapes, sizes, and colors, and the sky’s really the limit!
You don’t need lots of storage space
Another fantastic thing about making stickers to sell online is that they’re very easy to store. In most cases, you’ll probably only need a few shelves or drawers to keep your sticker inventory organized and ready to ship as soon as a sale comes in, which brings us to the next advantage of selling stickers…
Shipping is super easy
When it comes time to send your sticker creations to a customer, you won’t have to spend lots of time searching for unique packaging designed for bulky items. Because stickers are generally printed on flat sheets of paper, you’ll likely only need a simple envelope to ship your products.
Although you should still take care to ensure that your packaging reflects a positive image for your brand and will protect your stickers during the shipping process, the ease of preparation means you’ll be able to get orders out quickly…always a great thing in the customer’s eyes!
What types of stickers can you make?
Before we get into how to actually make stickers, it’s helpful to have a decent understanding of the different options you’ll have at your disposal when it comes to this kind of creative endeavor.
Kinds of sticker paper
As mentioned earlier, the art of sticker creation allows for quite a bit of creativity…the possibilities are endless!
One of the most basic, yet essential, things to consider when figuring out what types of stickers to make is what kind of paper you’d like to use. The material that you choose will determine how the finished product will look and feel.
Each type of material has both positive and negative features, and which one you select will depend on your designs and your target market. Check out some of the most popular options for sticker paper below.
- Glossy
Available in both clear and opaque formats, glossy sticker paper offers a super-shiny appearance and decent water resistance (though it’s not water-proof).
The clear version is perfect if your stickers are meant to be layered or used on surfaces with lines or grids, such as calendars or planners.
The opaque version allows you to create really nice, professional stickers as well, but you’ll just want to think about what color background your stickers may be placed against when designing them. For instance, if they’re likely to be used on white surfaces, you might want to avoid using a lot of white in your design.
In terms of pricing, glossy paper usually has a fairly moderate price tag, causing it to be a popular choice for many sticker creators.
- Holographic
A fairly durable option for sticker crafting, holographic paper is ideal for bold designs that don’t feature too many different colors. Similar to glossy paper, the holographic version is usually water resistant.
- Matte
Although it’s the most economical option, matte paper isn’t known for its durability. What’s more, it tends to soak up lots of ink when you’re printing on it, sometimes resulting in faded, less-than-amazing-looking images.
It’s therefore best used for low-touch stickers or when you’re in need of a really cost-effective way to create decorative stickers rather than for long-lasting creations.
- Vinyl
The most expensive kind of sticker paper in this list, printable vinyl tends to work well for nearly any type of design and results in a very high-quality finished product. Generally waterproof or at least water resistant, this material allows you to create thick, durable stickers. For this reason, it’s often used to make stickers for car bumpers, skateboards, and laptops.
Kinds of sticker cuts
In addition to the various kinds of sticker paper available, you’ll also be able to choose how you’d like to cut your stickers. For this, you’ll likely be selecting either a die cut or a kiss cut.
- Die cut
With this option, your stickers will be cut in a way that adjusts to their exact shape. Depending on your design, this could result in simple shapes or those that are more complex. Both the sticker and its backing will feature the same form.
- Kiss cut
Kiss-cut stickers differ from their die-cut counterparts in that the cut is made through the top layer of the paper only, i.e. the sticker itself, and not the backing. It’s used when you want to print multiple stickers on a single sheet of paper, where you peel off a single sticker at a time.
Keep in mind that depending on the types of sticker products you plan to sell and the needs of your customers, you might opt to use one of these methods or both in combination.
How to make stickers
We now arrive at the fun part…how to make your own stickers to sell!
Although stickers are relatively simple to make compared to other items you might sell online, you’ll still want to take your time during each step of the creation process to ensure a great result.
Gather the necessary supplies
Making stickers has the benefit of not requiring a ton of materials, but you’ll still need a few things to get started.
As described previously, sticker paper is an important element of sticker creation. If you’re unsure of what type of paper is the best for your project, don’t hesitate to purchase small quantities of several kinds of paper to test them out. Once you determine the right one for your creations, you might consider buying it in bulk to save money as your business grows.
In addition to paper, drawing tools are very helpful in bringing your design ideas to life. The app Procreate or programs like Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, and Canva are just a few of the options that can make the design process go all-the-more smoothly. You might also think about getting an iPad and an Apple Pencil for added ease.
Next, if you’re going to print your stickers at home, you’ll want to ensure that you have a great printer on hand. Whether you opt for an ink-jet printer or a laser printer will depend on your individual preferences and budget. Ink-jet printers are often more affordable, but laser printers can usually print more sheets of stickers before you need to replace the ink.
Finally, you’ll also want to have some decent cutting tools at your disposal. Scissors might be okay in the beginning, but it’s a good idea to invest in a device that’s a bit more advanced as your sales increase. A high-quality cutting machine will allow you to create stickers much more efficiently.
Design your stickers
The next step involves tapping into your creativity and designing the stickers that you want to sell. While you might already have a few ideas in mind, it may be beneficial to run through this checklist to guarantee that you’re on the right track.
- Decide on a niche
It’s definitely understandable if you’re impatient to get started with making your stickers. However, if you want to sell your creations online and be successful, it’s crucial that you take your time when determining what you want your stickers to look like and who the members of your target market are.
Stickers are a popular commodity in ecommerce, and you’ll need to find a way to make your products stand out from the competition.
You may want to start by identifying your own interests and favorite sticker styles. Love cats and watercolor painting? Or perhaps striking designs featuring powerful quotes or affirmations are more your thing?
Above all, it’s essential to find a theme that inspires you. This will help you to maintain the passion to keep going with your business long after the excitement of launching your online store has worn off.
Don’t forget to also check out what kinds of stickers are already available on the internet and in demand with shoppers and see how you might be able to
add your own special twist on these creations. Deciding on the right niche for your business involves combining your own interests and fulfilling a need in the market.
- Create your designs
Once you’ve found an excellent niche for your sticker business, you’re ready to begin creating your designs!
As already stated, there are various apps and software programs available today to help artists create their sticker designs digitally. If you prefer to go the non-digital route, you can opt to create your designs on paper and then scan them into a computer program to convert them into stickers for your business.
In order to achieve the best quality for your stickers, it’s imperative that you upload high-resolution images (at least 300 DPI). Your design should be the same size as you plan to have for the final printed product or larger. Furthermore, be sure to save the file using the CMYK extension, as this will result in a print that most accurately resembles your design in terms of color and quality.
Print your stickers
Once your sticker designs are ready to go, you’ll need to find a way to print them for your future customers. As with many factors concerning sticker making, there’s quite a bit of flexibility regarding how you choose to print your designs. When deciding on the best option for your business, think about your budget, workspace, and personal preferences.
- At-home printing
If you’d like to have maximum control over the quality of your designs, printing your stickers at home may be ideal. Although you’ll need to invest in a good printer, this method allows you to easily produce stickers on demand as well as experiment with different paper styles or new designs whenever you’d like.
With the variety of sticker paper options available, it might take a little time to find the right one to make your designs shine. Just be sure that your chosen paper and printer are compatible!
After you’ve printed your sheets of stickers, you’ll then need to cut around the stickers using a cutting machine to obtain the finished product that you’ll send to the customer.
- Third-party printing
Another way to go about printing your stickers is to avail of the services of a company that can take care of it for you. You can go with a custom-printing online vendor such as Sticker Mule, StickerYou, Sticker Guy, StickerApp, or StickerGiant, or visit a local company if you happen to have one close by.
When using this type of service, you’ll send your designs to your vendor of choice, and the company will print your stickers, cut them, and mail the final versions to you. While you’ll of course have to pay the vendor to do this for you, this can be an excellent strategy if you don’t want to buy the necessary equipment for at-home printing or if you just don’t want to spend your time on this part of sticker creation.
The trade-off is that you’ll have less control over what the final result looks like. In addition, the prices of this service tends to vary depending on the quantity of stickers that you order, with smaller volumes being more expensive than larger batches. This makes it riskier if you want to test out a new design or less practical if you have a certain sticker that you don’t need a lot of.
Keep in mind that even if you start with at-home printing, you may soon discover that as your business gets bigger, paying another company to manage this step for you is much more efficient.
- Dropshipping printing
Finally, a third option for your sticker-printing needs is to use a dropshipping or print-on-demand (POD) service. This method is similar to that of third-party services described above, taking care of your stickers’ printing and cutting, but a dropshipping service will go a step further and mail the item directly to your customer.
Although this strategy certainly makes things a lot easier for you, it offers you the least amount of control. After you send your designs to the dropshipping company, you won’t see your finished goods before your customers receive them. For this reason, it’s definitely advantageous to ask for samples from the company beforehand and check regularly for quality control.
What to consider when selling stickers online
After you have a strategic plan in place for transforming your sticker ideas into actual products, you’ll be ready to start working on getting them to the masses and earning a profit with your creativity!
To better set you up for success with your new ecommerce business, here are a few factors that you’ll need to take into account.
Sales channel
First, it’s important to determine where you want to sell your stickers on the web. With this kind of product, you’ll have several options when it comes to selling channels, such as various marketplaces or your own online store.
With a marketplace that specializes in unique and creative items like Etsy, your stickers will have the benefit of being on a platform where many members of your target market are likely to already be. In addition, with Etsy you won’t need to do a ton of work on your storefront, as you’ll receive a standard storefront when you sign up and can immediately list your products.
Although there’s very little to do on your end to set your storefront up on Etsy, your customization opportunities will be limited…making it difficult to distinguish your business from others on the platform. In terms of fees, the platform charges a listing fee (fee charged for each item that you list, regardless if the item sells) and a transaction fee (percentage of your sale).
Another option is to go with a dropshipping marketplace such as Redbubble. With this site, you’ll simply upload your designs, and Redbubble will print the sticker and ship it to your customer for you. Besides creating your artwork and uploading it to the site, there’s nothing else for you to do to begin selling.
However, you’ll have very little control of your stickers after uploading the design, as you won’t even participate in the creation of the finished product. What’s more, because Redbubble handles most of the process for you, this can really cut into your profits.
If control over your business is important to you and you want your activity to be sustainable and as profitable as possible for you over the long term, you’ll want to have your own ecommerce site.
When you build your own online store with the WiziShop ecommerce platform, you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of design templates to create a site that’s aligned with your vision for your brand. You’ll also have access to 400+ handy features to help make the process of selling on the web easier and more enjoyable!
In addition, our SEO-powered solution includes 50+ technical SEO optimizations. These assist your site in climbing up Google’s rankings, which can in turn do wonders for boosting your traffic and sales.
We also offer the services of our Business Coaches, who are ready to help you with any question you may have concerning your online store; free training on a plethora of ecommerce topics; access to powerful artificial intelligence to generate a plethora of text content for your site in seconds; and a 7-day free trial to test the platform.
If you’re ready to launch your own sticker business and become your own boss, why not give WiziShop a try today?
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Sticker pricing
Determining the best prices for your stickers can be a little tricky, as there are numerous factors to take into account. For instance, you’ll need to consider the cost of your equipment and materials to create your stickers; the time and effort required to make each item; and other costs related to your business, such as packaging, advertising, etc.
Factors like the sticker’s size, quality of materials, and level of intricacy also play a significant role in how much consumers will be willing to pay for the item.
Furthermore, judging your own art in terms of how much to charge for it can seem like an impossible task. However, there’s no need to stress too much over this part of getting your sticker business started!
Begin by listing the various costs associated with creating your products and deciding on the profit margin that you’d like to achieve. Don’t hesitate to also do a bit of investigating to see what your competitors are charging for their stickers.
Order packaging
Once you’ve launched your business and start seeing those sales come in, you’ll need to find a way to package and ship your stickers to get them to your customers safely (unless you work with a service that’ll take care of this for you).
Packaging your creations will be pretty simple, as stickers fit in inexpensive mailers that are readily available at most stores that sell shipping supplies. Not just any mailer will do, though. Rigid mailers are ideal, as they’ll help to protect your stickers as they make their way to the customer.
You might also think about adding special touches to your packages, such as a handwritten note thanking the shopper for their purchase, branded tissue paper, and maybe even a freebie. Although these elements require a little more spending, they can help your business to stand out from the crowd and increase customer loyalty.
Transform your passion for stickers into a successful business!
If you already love designing stickers for yourself or for family and friends or simply have a desire to start making them today, turning this hobby into a profit-earning venture is definitely doable. Stickers are very much in demand these days with customers around the world, and their relatively low creation costs make it easier to get started in online sales compared to other products.
As you’ve learned from this article, making stickers to sell on the internet does take some effort, despite the small size of the items themselves. Nevertheless, it can lead to an ecommerce adventure that’s very rewarding, both financially and creatively!
