If you’re a craft lover thinking about business ideas that sell, you might consider selling stickers. Because why not? It’s fun to make, there’s a great market for it, and there are a lot of designs that you can create.

But you can’t just start on a whim and not thoroughly plan out this business idea. There’s a lot of competition out there, and without the proper knowledge, you may be at risk of committing the common mistakes other sticker business owners do.

That’s why you’ve landed this page for two reasons: learn how the sticker business works, and learn how to make stickers that sell. Get started on making a profit, and most importantly, do what you love the most.

Sticker business ideas using TeckWrap Craft vinyl

How to Make Your Own Stickers to Sell

Let’s cut to the chase and learn how to make stickers to sell. There are a lot of options for creating your own stickers. If you’re a graphic designer, then this job would be easy for you. If not, then that’s okay. There are other options you can try so you can create your own sticker designs. Here are several:

• Partner up with existing sticker sellers or sticker makers if you can ask or buy some of their sticker templates.
• Design stickers using Silhouette or Cameo software.
• You can avail the services of Sticker Ninja, Sticker Mule, or GotPrint
• For simple text stickers, you can use Microsoft Publisher, download a font, and transfer it to your cutting machine’s software.

Important Tips When When Starting a Sticker Business

Before anything else when you start selling custom printed stickers, you should be familiar with how the industry works. What’s the start-up cost, materials or equipment you need, how to market your goods, and how to create stickers that are professionally printed, so on and so forth. Here’s what you need to know before selling physical stickers.

1. Find Your Niche

First thing you need to do is to find your niche. Think of it as a theme or specialty of your business. Will you be focusing on custom printed stickers? Will you be selling pre-made sticker designs? Or will you be selling digital stickers?

Will you be focusing on crafty and girly stickers? Or do you want to create unisex stickers? Think of the niche you think you will enjoy doing. Just a piece of advice, don’t jump into all niches at the same time. If you can do it one at a time, master one craft first before trying out another.

2. Know Your Market

Along with finding out your niche, know your target audience. What does this mean? Who will you be selling the stickers to? You have to consider the demographics — age, gender, and location.

Will you be creating stickers for personal use? Or are you planning to expand to catering commercial establishments? Just remember to start small, as you might get overwhelmed with the workload.

3. Think of a Catchy Business Name

Now that you want to enter the sticker selling business, think of a catchy business name. You can use this business name to apply for permits, your social media platform, and even your business card. A business name is important as this serves as your identity and branding to your customers.

When picking a business name, make sure it matches the niche you chose. For instance, you decide to sell cute stickers, you can pick a print shop name like “The Cute Craft Stickers”. Make sure to pick a name that will make your shop stand out from all the other print shops out there.

4. Design a Logo

Branding is essential to surviving a competitive industry, and designing a logo can help with that. If you’re not good at graphic designing, you can outsource the work to a professional. Or you could use phone apps like Canva when designing your logo.

5. Figure Out Your Business Plan

A business plan is a detailed description of a business. You need to cover every aspect of your business. What does it usually entail?

• What is the overview of your business?
• What are the products you’ll sell? (Die cut stickers, bumper stickers, square stickers, business card stickers, holographic stickers, shipping labels, and many more)
• Will you be selling physical stickers or consider creating digitally printed samples?
• What do you need for the start-up?
• What are your marketing plans?
• Will you be hiring employees?
• How much will you sell these stickers for?

6. Invest in the Necessary Equipment or Materials

What will you be needing for a sticker business? You’ll be needing equipment or materials. However, if you plan to sell printable stickers using an ordinary printer, remember that everybody at home with a printer could do that.

So why not sell something they can’t easily do at home? Let’s say vinyl stickers. That is a big market and not everyone could easily do that. So what equipment or materials will you need in creating stickers made of vinyl? List this down:

• Cutting machine (like Silhouette Cameo or Cricut cutting machine)
• Adhesive vinyl (check out the durable vinyl products from TeckWrap Craft’s)
• Weeding tool
• Transfer tape
• Ruler
• Squeegee tool or a used credit card
• Packaging (a box or paper bag you can use when sending the merchandise to your client)

Basically, these are the equipment and materials you need when starting a vinyl sticker business. You’ll be needing around $400 to $500 for the things stated above. If you already have this at home, then you’re good to go.

7. Choose Your Location

The next thing you should consider is your location. Will you put up a shop and rent a space? If you’re in the start-up phase, having a shop at home is more recommended. Set up a space at home like your office so your materials won’t scatter around especially when the kids are playing around.

8. Choose Your Sticker Designs

When you start selling custom stickers, will you be creating your own design or purchasing what is sold online? Cricut or Silhouette software has readily available digital image designs and shapes to assist you in creating your own sticker design. You can also create custom-made stickers with Sticker Mule. 

If you think you need more practice in graphic designing, you can buy readily available sticker designs online. You can also download free sticker designs in an online store. However, when you do this be careful of copyright issues.

9. Set Your Prices

This is the most important part. You don’t want to lose money or break even, right? After all, you’re making a business out of this, so you have to set your price right. How much do stickers cost? When you set the price, here’s what you should consider:

• Cost of materials (vinyl, packaging, shipping labels)
• Rental shop fees
• How much time you spent on doing it (or your labor)
• Shipping costs
• Marketing costs
• Size of the design
• How complicated the design is

Do you know an easier trick to determine the right prices? Take a look at your competitors. You don’t want to overcharge your products because your target audience may resort to your competitors. Price your stickers right — right enough to generate an income coming your way and right enough that it’s not overpriced.

10. Register Your Business

If you think you’re ready to go big, then it’s time to register your business. How do you exactly do this? Here’s what you need to know:

• Apply for licenses and permits
• Register a business entity
• Register for taxes
• Set up a business bank account
• Get business insurance

Where to Sell Your Stickers

As you’ve come up with your business plan and covered all the aspects needed for start-up, you have to think of ways to sell your stickers. You can’t just keep on making stickers and wait for someone to buy them.

You have to actively market your products and reach out to your audience. So where do you sell your stickers? Here are several ideas:

• Social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok)
• Create a website
• Sell in online marketplaces like Etsy, Shopify, Redbubble, Stickers for You, Amazon, or eBay
• Send cold-pitch emails to potential clients
• Join weekends bazaars

Nowadays, you could sell stickers online by creating accounts to the platforms stated above. However, setting up an account on sites like Shopify will take time. So make sure to dedicate time where you can learn how to utilize these platforms well.

15 Vinyl Sticker Ideas That Actually Sell

Now that you’ve covered all the basic business principles in starting your sticker shop, it’s time to go to the creative side and discuss the stickers that sell. Just remember, when you want to make stickers to sell, make your creations unique and stand out from all the other competitors out there.

Think outside the box and step up with your creativity. Start selling your creations to family and friends, listen to their constructive criticism to improve your sticker business. After all, you’re creating money selling stickers, you should create nothing but perfection. Here are some vinyl stickers you can create that sell.

Idea #1: Cake Toppers for Any Occasion

Cake toppers for any occasion using TeckWrap Craft Opal Vinyl

Here’s a vinyl sticker idea that sells all year round: stickers for cake toppers. This is an excellent business idea because think of it: someone celebrates a birthday every day. Other than birthdays you’ll need a cake for other occasions. Plus having this on the cake is hypothetically speaking, a cherry on top.

If you have a cutting machine at home, you can cut the violet geometric shape design and leaf as seen in the photo using special cardboard paper. The “Happy Birthday Nan” is an opal vinyl sticker. You can create this cake topper from scratch and partner up with bakers in your area.

Idea #2: Custom Printed Stickers - Personalized Names

Personalized sticker ornaments using TeckWrap Craft Vinyl

Image from TeckWrap Craft Facebook Page

So far, the easiest yet most profitable stickers made of vinyl you can sell are personalized names. A lot of people love labeled merchandise like tumblers, notebooks, and mugs. That’s why this business idea will surely sell.

Additionally, this can be used for bridesmaid proposal boxes, giveaways, birthday gifts, or holiday presents. When printing stickers using sticker paper, you can’t achieve the same effect when using home-printed stickers. Vinyl adhesives are available in different styles and patterns.

Just like the custom stickers seen in the photo above, you can use metallic, holographic, rainbow stripes vinyl, and many more. That’s why if you want to start selling stickers, vinyl stickers will surely sell because of their unique outcome.

Idea #3: Stickers for Cups or Mugs

Stickers for cups using TeckWrap Craft Opal Chrome Adhesive Craft Vinyl

Another business idea for stickers that sells are for mugs or cups. If you can personalize names using vinyl stickers, why not other designs? You can sell physical stickers using pre-made sticker designs. Many sticker shops do this because you know why? It sells!

What’s great about sticker-making is you only have to choose the common designs that you know a lot of people will love. Of course, it should be something that’s related to your niche. Then reproduce several copies of them and you can start selling stickers online.

To add more revenue to your custom sticker business, you can sell merchandise with stickers. For instance, you can sell cups or mugs with a personalized sticker your clients want. Or you let your client choose which design templates are available.

Idea #4: Stickers for Starbucks Tumbler

Colorful stickers using TeckWrap Craft vinyl to cover a Starbucks Tumbler

Image from TeckWrap Craft Facebook Page

Why not sell stickers for coffee lovers? Surely there are a lot of coffee lovers out there. Selling stickers for Starbucks tumblers are a great hit. Check out the photo above. This design covers the whole Starbucks tumbler. This design is easy to make, plus it’s a unique business idea.

You can sell the Starbucks tumbler with customized stickers as a package deal. Don’t forget a presentable packaging for your customers to use as a gift idea for their friends and family. You can also place a customized sticker on the product’s packaging.

Idea #5: Personalized Christmas Ornaments

Personalized Christmas ornaments using TeckWrap Craft Vinyl

Image from TeckWrap Craft Facebook Page

If Christmas is coming around the corner, you can make those acrylic ornaments above. These are adorable Christmas decorations that will stand out, and for sure a lot of people will buy them. You can buy these ready-made acrylic ornaments online like on an Etsy shop or Amazon.

Then you can personalize it with Christmas stickers. You can personalize these ornaments with Christmas greetings, family members’ names (so they can hang them on the Christmas tree), or family names. Whichever the request of your client, be flexible and creative.

Check out the packaging idea of the product above. This is what you should aim for if you want professional-looking products. If creating a packaging product is not your forte, that’s okay.

You can reach out to product packaging businesses in your area and request specially made packaging for you, surely they can give you an insight into the options you can choose from.

Idea #6: Stickers for Greeting or Christmas Cards

Christmas Card stickers using TeckWrap Craft Buffalo Plaid Adhesive Vinyl

Aside from stickers for Christmas ornaments, you can also consider selling stickers for Christmas cards on your own sticker shop. But get this, it doesn’t mean you only sell these stickers during Christmas, you can create stickers to sell for all types of occasions.

The bottom line is, you can sell stickers for greeting cards. You can also make this a bundle of customized stickers on a card with an envelope. For instance, you can buy a special craft paper for the card. Then a paper envelope that fits well the greeting card.

The sky is the limit when it comes to the greetings or stickers you can place on the card. You can place personalized messages, vectors designs, or even inspirational quotes. Who knows? You can be competing against Hallmark’s greeting cards.

Idea #7: Stickers for Balloons

Creation by bundleofballoons using TeckWrap Craft Metallic Vinyl

Another business idea you can do that not many sticker stores still doesn’t do is custom stickers for balloons. Permanent adhesive vinyl is used for this craft, just like all the other vinyl adhesives used in the crafts above.

If you want, you can create these balloons as well. It’s a great gift idea for all occasions and you can do this at home. So aside from selling stickers, you can also venture into creating one-of-a-kind of crafts for gift ideas or venture into party supplies.

Idea #8: Decorative Stickers for Any Use

Random sticker designs using Holographic Sparkle Rainbow Adhesive Vinyl from TeckWrap Craft

As a sticker store owner, you want to be resilient with the products you’re prepared to sell. One way to be resilient is you should print stickers of different designs for multi-purpose use. What does this mean?

When selling on online platforms, you should have ready-made stickers to sell that can be used for different purposes. For instance, the vinyl stickers you see above can be marketed as stickers that can be placed on mugs, tumblers, notebooks, make-up organizers, basically something you can stick anywhere.

Aim to sell stickers online of different designs. You can also offer sticker packs where buyers can purchase a pack of stickers with 10 pieces of different designs on each pack. This way, you can gain more sales by selling bulk.

Idea #9: Stickers for Special occasions

Stickers for a bundle gift for Mother’s Day

Another profitable idea in the sticker business is to create your line of stickers for special occasions. Create ready-to-buy stickers for special occasions with common greetings or some witty quotes. What kind of special occasions are these?

• Birthday
• Anniversary
• Weddings
• Mother’s Day or Father’s Day
• Christening
• Halloween
• Friendship Day
• Grandparent’s Day
• The 4th of July
• Chinese New Year
• Baby shower
• Gender reveal

Your goal is to create stickers that people can buy for all occasions. This way, you have a profit all year round. Make sure to use permanent adhesive vinyl, so the sticker can be used on all types of surfaces. May it be on cake toppers, greeting cards, notebooks, or organizers.

Idea #10: Stickers for Inspirational Quotes

Vinyl stickers of Inspirational Quotes using TeckWrap Craft Vinyl

This is a new business idea for aspiring sticker shop owners — stickers with inspirational quotes or religious sayings. The beauty of using vinyl material for sticker businesses is the versatility of the design ideas and the merchandise where you can place it.

So if you plan to sell inspirational quotes stickers, use permanent adhesive vinyl and market the sticker to be placed on any type of material. You can market it as planner stickers, like wall decals, be hung on the photo frame, and many more.

Idea #11: Bedroom Stickers

Image from Wikimedia by http://crazysexycool.co.za/ 

Probably one of the best selling stickers idea are wall decals. Since wall decals are bigger, you can make more profit out of them. If you have the standard cutting machine at home, you can create stickers up to 12 inches. If you want to create bigger wall stickers, then investing in 24-inch cutting machines is advisable.

Stickers professionally printed for wall decals are a big hit. You can accept custom orders like inspirational quotes, decorative wall vinyl or you can even offer this idea to business establishments. For instance, in coffee shops.

As part of the cafe’s decoration, they would want wall decals but they’re worried it may chip off the wall’s paint in the future. You can offer them removable vinyl stickers instead. This way, if they decide to change and remove the wall decals in the future, they won’t worry of the paint chipping off and damaging the walls.

Idea #12: Laptop Stickers

Image from Wikimedia by Prtksxna

To the millennials and Gen Z, laptop stickers are a great hit. This is a business idea you should definitely consider. For laptop stickers, you can either use photo stickers or vinyl. If you want to sell stickers made of vinyl, there are a lot of designs you can try. 

You can sell stickers for laptops like personalized names, mermaid designs, company stickers, and many more. Inspirational quotes are also a great idea to sell either be it on social media platforms or an Etsy sticker shop.

Idea #13: Stickers for Business Signages

TeckWrap Craft vinyl on Acrylic signage

Stickers created of excellent quality deserves to go big. So if you’re confident of the sticker quality you create, you can start offering your services to business establishments. A lot of business needs stickers for their outdoor signage, wall decals, or even hanging signs.

You can offer your sticker printing business to doctor’s offices, restaurants, schools, cafes, and many more. Just like the photo you see above, permanent adhesive vinyl was used on a hanging acrylic door decal. This type of decal is used in the doctor’s offices as well for signs like “The Doctor is In”.

Idea #14: Wedding Needs

Personalized stickers for wedding props such as bridal gifts

Probably one of the events that need a lot of stickers is weddings why? Weddings need stickers for bridesmaid proposal boxes, groomsmen gifts, balloons for bridal parties, t-shirts for the event crew, guest giveaways, wooden signs, labels for table centerpieces, and many more.

So if you’re in the sticker industry, you should definitely consider cutting stickers for weddings and bridal parties. Wedding stickers sell like crazy especially if they’re customized. Along with creating wedding stickers, you can make it a package to supply wedding souvenirs.

If you want to expand your clientele, you can partner up with wedding coordinators that you can supply the wedding souvenirs or any other sticker needs. Take a look at how other sticker shops operate, they go big if they partner up with big clients.

Idea #15: Stickers for Wooden Signs

Stickers for wooden signs using TeckWrap Craft vinyl

Another physical sticker you can consider selling are for wood signs, You can use stickers made of vinyl for wooden signs like barnyard signs, picture frames, charcuterie board, or other wooden utensils.

Just like the product you see above, this is a Christmas ornament made of wood, painted, and adhesive vinyl was used for the wordings. A lot of Etsy shop sellers carry these wooden Christmas ornaments, so you can also sell a finished product like this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Make Money by Selling Stickers?

Yes, you can make money by making stickers. The more stickers you try to sell and the better the marketing plan you follow, you can make substantial money in making stickers. You should sell online to expand your market.

Can You Make and Sell Stickers?

Yes, you can definitely make and sell stickers. Selling stickers online is a great business idea to generate income even if you work from home. You can try selling stickers on printable paper or stickers made of vinyl. If you’re creative and a great designer, you can make good money by selling stickers.

What Program Do You Use to Create Stickers?

The programs you can use to create stickers are Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, cutting machine software, or Sticker Mule.

Are Vinyl Stickers Waterproof?

Yes, vinyl stickers are waterproof. There are two types of adhesive vinyl: temporary and permanent adhesive vinyl. Both types of vinyl are waterproof. However, adhesive vinyl is recommended for long-lasting and outdoor use. You can use permanent adhesive vinyl for cups, mugs, and tumblers.

How Long Do Vinyl Stickers Last?

Adhesive vinyl stickers last up to eight years. It can last even for outdoor use, rain or shine. Permanent adhesive vinyl won’t expand, shrink or fade colors even in different weather conditions.

The Takeaway

There you have it! The bottom line in all of this — you can make stickers to sell. This is the perfect business idea for creative and crafty persons. Just remember to create a business plan before venturing into this new business.

There's a great market for selling stickers you just need to think outside the box, be aggressive in your marketing, and always try out something new. Always introduce new ideas that other sellers don’t have. Be unique and original!