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Ever stuck a sticker to your laptop or phone? Perhaps a clever sticker or something artsy? Sticker shops are springing up all over the place. People are adorning their Kleen Kanteens, computers, desks, and everything else they can think of. This is a great time to start your own sticker business. They're presently a top seller on online marketplaces like Etsy, and they're a fun way for people to show their individuality at a reasonable price.

If you’re a creative and you need an outlet or just want to get your art out there, this could be the perfect platform. If you’ve got a brand that needs a bit of swag to giveaway, this could be it.

Stick it to the man and start your own small business on Shopify today! Learn more about launching a sticker shop by reading on.

Why sell stickers?

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Stickers are a popular means of self-expression for many people. Personal things such as laptops, vehicles, water bottles, and skateboards are given a personal touch by applying stickers.

As an artist, designing and selling stickers online is a wonderful way to express yourself. It's a great outlet for your designs.  You could design your own stickers, but you can also use other artists' creations (if they give you permission). You could even try doing a collaboration with them.

There are countless options when it comes to designing and selling stickers online. A sticker may be made from any work of art, including an illustration, hand-written text, or a photograph. Size and form aren't a problem, and you can even use holographic glitter or a clean backdrop. Creating and selling stickers on the internet is definitely a viable business opportunity.

Stickers are also great because they’re so low risk. You can print them at home with a laser printer, or send your artwork to a print shop for less than $1 each. Sticker paper is inexpensive too, costing between $5-$10 per sheet.

Since they’re so cheap to make, there’s little risk involved in putting your work out there. If no one buys them, you’ve only lost a little time and the cost of materials. Not bad for an experiment!

How to get started

1. Picking a niche

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Making stickers is exciting, but selling them is much better! However, in order to effectively sell them, you must first identify your intended audience. What type of stickers would your intended audience be interested in purchasing?

Consider that if you sell stickers with funny phrases from TV series or movies, your target market may be other individuals who like viewing these kinds of shows or movies. But what if the individual who bought the sticker doesn't watch such shows/movies? If such is the case, they will not be interested in the sticker. Learn about your target market and you'll have a surefire hit on your hands.

Here's our advice for getting started in the sticker business:

1) Pick a niche (e.g., TV series, movies, comics, skateboards, mountain bikes, cars, trucks) and get some inspiration.

2) Find out what kind of stickers are already available in that niche market, and how much they cost.

3) Create your own designs based on what you've learned about the niche market's needs and wants.

2. Designing stickers to sell

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When starting a sticker business, the first thing you need to do is figure out what kind of stickers you want to offer.

With a little creativity, you can create your own stickers from scratch (by sketching them yourself), or you can combine several clip art pieces into a sticker design and print them to sell. You could also buy artwork or commission an artist to do it for you.

CREATING YOUR OWN DESIGNS

If you don't already have the ability to draw, you'll need a lot of patience to design your own stickers! However, you'll be rewarded with stickers that are completely unique to you and no one else. This sets you apart right away.

You might begin by reflecting on your own interests in drawing and creating. Think about:

• Interests and pastimes that you enjoy
• Styles of art you enjoy the most
• What inspires you about the communities you're a part of
• When it comes to your identity, what messages or symbols come to mind?

When looking for inspiration, you can also check out other sticker stores, but never imitate someone else's work. Your business will stand out and attract new customers if you provide unique products.

So how do you get started? There are a number of options. For the most part, people use Procreate, although you can make stickers in any digital art application, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

BUY ARTWORK.

Purchasing designs is simple, but this means that you will not have a unique sticker unless you pay a premium for bespoke designs that are specific to your store

Because the sticker market is so competitive, it's best to be as original as possible while being on trend.

3. Making your stickers

The easiest way to learn how to make stickers is by purchasing a vinyl sticker cutting machine. These machines have software that allows you to draw or import an image and then cut the design out of vinyl with a small blade.

If you prefer not to invest in a sticker cutting machine, you can make stickers by hand using a craft knife or, if your designs are simple enough, scissors.

You can also create digital stickers that you sell as digital files, which customers can print out themselves or send to a print provider like Sticker Mule for printing.

4. Pricing your stickers.

Online sticker costs normally vary from $2 to $6, although larger or more sophisticated designs may fetch a higher price. In order to set your collection's pricing competitively, you should research other sticker businesses and compare their prices and sticker sizes with your own. Make sure to factor in your time and production costs as well.

If you already have followers who look forward to your artwork and designs, you could price it at a higher premium. We know it's difficult to place a value on art, especially art that you've created yourself, but now is the time!

5. Selling your stickers

There are three ways to sell stickers online: selling digital files, selling physical stickers you cut yourself, or selling physical stickers you buy from a print provider.

DIGITAL COPIES

Selling digital files is the easiest way to sell stickers online. You will just need a website with an e-commerce plugin that supports digital products, and then all you have to do is upload your designs.

You'll need a place to host and sell your stickers. Ideally, your brand should be hosted on a platform that is simple to use, flexible enough to incorporate your company's branding, and is visually appealing.

There are many platforms to choose from but we recommend Shopify. Shopify is an eCommerce platform that lets entrepreneurs, online retailers, merchants, and course creators create an online store and sell things online in a snap. Basically, Shopify gives you everything you need in terms of features, functionality, convenience of use, pricing, and customer service.

PHYSICAL STICKERS

You can also sell physical stickers by cutting them yourself and shipping them out in envelopes. This makes your shop more appealing to sticker collectors since they know they're getting something unique.

However, this method requires a lot more work than just uploading files because every order needs to be cut by hand before being shipped off - so if your business takes off this may become unsustainable!

You’ll also need an online platform where you can post your designs. Again, we’ll have to recommend Shopify and if you want to supplement it, Etsy will be amazing too.

USING A PROVIDER

If you don’t want to do too much of the hard work, you could always go for a provider like GotPrint, Sticker Mule, Pixabay, or Sticker Ninja. 

When you use these services, you simply send in your artwork outline and the provider does the rest. You don't have to worry about calibrating a cutting machine or printer on your own with these stickers, which are made of high-quality materials and come in a variety of finishes. If you're dealing with a lot of orders and don't have the time to print them yourself or don't want to invest in printing equipment at home, outsourcing printing is a viable solution.

Types of stickers you can make

Stickers come in all shapes and sizes, but they can also have a different look and feel depending on what they’re printed on. For example, matte stickers will have a smooth surface while vinyl stickers will allow you to get more creative with their shape and design.

When it comes to making stickers online, these are the more common types:

• Glossy paper or vinyl
• Matte
• Holographic
• Mirrored
• Holographic glitter
• Prismatic
• Clear

The appearance of your stickers will vary depending on the type of material they are printed on. Holographic stickers are better suited for larger graphics, while matte stickers are better suited for precise detail. Before deciding on a finish for a particular sticker, you may want to try making some samples and go from there.

Selling Your Stickers Online

You can use Shopify’s templates to easily build your own online store. If you have a design background or want to learn how to do web development, you can also start with a blank template and create your own unique site using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The advantage of setting up your own website is that you can customize every single aspect of your store. That includes the design, the domain name, and even the marketing tools you can use. You can use Shopify to sell stickers on your own website and take full control of everything from the process. 

The disadvantage is that it can be harder to market your shop alone. Using a marketplace like Etsy means some of that work is done for you as shoppers are already there browsing for what they want.

With Shopify, you create your own store by choosing from a variety of templates designed by professional web developers. Once you choose a template, you customize it by changing colors, adding images, fonts, and so forth. You also set up your payment processing (Shopify offers more than 100 different ways to pay), shipping rates (including real-time shipping rate calculation), and tax rates (Shopify also offers automated tax calculations based on where your buyer lives). 

Shopify also offers lots of integrations with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest so you can easily sell on those channels as well.

CONCLUSION

It’s up to you to decide if the sticker business is for you. Just make sure to weigh your goals and decide on a brand direction before choosing a shop theme. With sticker-selling already being so large (as noted above) a lot of people have already entered the market. It’s up to you to differentiate yourself, whether that be through unique designs, excellent customer service, or something else entirely!

Now that you've finished this guide and hopefully put the advice to good use, it's time to go out and make it happen. Always keep in mind the importance of meticulously planning and designing your website, as well as the need of aggressively marketing it to a broad audience. Be patient and we wish you all the best!

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