The Complete Guide to Successfully Selling Stickers on Etsy in 2024
Stickers, though small, carry a great appeal, offering messages and visuals that resonate universally.
And if launching a heartfelt small business is your dream, Etsy is an amazing place to start. The best part? You don’t need a large financial investment or extensive entrepreneurial background.
With Print on Demand, selling stickers on Etsy is super accessible. We’ll walk you through each step, providing comprehensive insights on market research, niche selection, design creation, and establishing your Etsy store one sticker at a time.
Key Takeaways
- Simple startup.
Start selling stickers easily with no experience or investment. - Access a large market.
Etsy’s vast audience means great potential for sticker sales. - Smart branding is key.
Choose your niche carefully and connect with your audience on the platforms they use. - Combine creativity with research.
Well-planned designs and niche knowledge matter more than design skills. - Marketing is mandatory.
Use social media and SEO to get seen and drive sales.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through those links. This comes at no additional cost to you.
Do Stickers Sell Well on Etsy?
Despite their seeming simplicity, custom stickers and sticker packs are an affordable novelty and no stranger to Etsy’s top-selling categories. With over 96.2 million active buyers, Etsy is a great place to start a sticker business.
Is it worth selling stickers on Etsy? Well, check out one of Etsy’s Star Sellers – AcornandCrowStudio – they’ve already secured over 483,600 sticker sales. So, to answer your question, absolutely.
What kind of stickers sell best on Etsy? Boho-style stickers, inspirational quotes and words, cute animal drawings, hipster aesthetic (yes, still), and others.
If you’ve got eye-catching design ideas, effectively market your Etsy shop, and stay up-to-date on what’s trending, you’re sure to capture people’s attention worldwide.
Why Sell Stickers on Etsy?
$191.1 million
The forecast reach of the global die-cut sticker market size by 2028.
When it comes to this particular niche, Etsy has built an excellent reputation. Here are just some of its benefits.
- Vast existing market. Over the years, Etsy has become a go-to marketplace for anyone interested in buying unique products. Vinyl stickers are no exception.
- High visibility. Stickers are highly visible on Etsy. You can place them in various categories, adding tags for particular events or holidays.
- Customizable storefront. If you sell stickers on Etsy, you’re free to personalize your store however you wish. You can even add videos to your products, showcasing them in the best light possible.
Selling stickers on Etsy is an ideal venture for beginners, thanks to its user-friendly interface, making it an excellent starting point for making money.
Quick Tip: If you’re wondering what category stickers are on Etsy, you can easily find them under Craft Supplies & Tools > Paper, Parties & Kids. And also Paper & Party Supplies > Stickers, Labels & Tags.
Things to Look Out for When Opening an Etsy Sticker Shop
While Etsy has a lot of positive aspects, to get the full picture, it’s essential to look at some of its downsides, too.
- Increased competition. Plenty of other sticker makers compete for customers. That said, if you clearly define your niche (more on that later), it’ll be easier to stand out and profit.
- Etsy fees. How much does Etsy take per sale? Etsy has listing, transaction, shipping, and payment processing fees. And although small, they do add up.
- Marketing expectations trap. While setting up and listing your products on Etsy is easy, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that’s enough to get sales.
To successfully sell your stickers, you’ll need to optimize for the Etsy search engine and work on digital marketing. But don’t worry – we’ll show you how.
With all that said, Etsy is still a great platform for beginners.
When your business starts rolling one sticker at a time, and you attract loyal customers, it’ll be easier to leverage the power of multichannel retailing and expand your sticker business beyond just Etsy.
How to Make Money Selling Your Own Stickers on Etsy?
With a little research and planning, anyone can start creating and shipping stickers on Etsy. All it takes is some basic knowledge of launching an online business.
Let’s dive in!
Research the Sticker Market and Identify Your Target Audience
Market research is essential for understanding how to sell on Etsy. It provides valuable insights into the industry, competition, and consumer sentiment.
- Set a clear goal. Define the purpose of your market research. Focus on what you need to learn and how it will assist your Etsy sticker business. This helps you stay focused and avoid irrelevant information.
- Spot trends. Research popular stickers on platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay. Use tools like Semrush to understand consumer preferences and what’s currently in demand.
- Analyze competitors. Examine successful Etsy sellers. Observe their product range, strengths, and weaknesses. Determine what unique offers you can provide that they don’t.
- Identify your audience. Based on your research, pinpoint potential customers. Utilize social networks, competitor feedback, and online forums to understand their interests and needs.
- Create buyer personas. Develop profiles for different customer segments, like ‘K-pop Katie’ or ‘Alt-rock Alan’. These personas should reflect the characteristics and preferences of your target market, helping you design stickers that resonate with them.
With a thorough understanding of the sticker market, you can find what’s missing and fill the gap with unique and beautiful products.
Find a Niche for Your Unique Stickers
Success on Etsy, especially in selling unique stickers, depends on identifying a profitable niche. A niche targets a specific group with distinct interests, like fitness enthusiasts, craft beer lovers, or van-life vegetarians.
Narrowing your focus makes it easier to attract these groups. Choosing a niche aligned with your passion helps you stand out, reduce advertising costs, and potentially increase earnings.
Use Google Trends to check whether your ideas are popular enough to spend time creating designs. Here are just a few examples you can modify to fit the needs of your target audience:
- Round stickers with names, quotes, and memes
- Internet aesthetics kiss-cut stickers
- Tattoo-style durable vinyl stickers
- Organization and planner stickers
Our article What Is a Niche? 5 Examples of Print-On-Demand Niche Ideas gives a 101 on everything you need to know about this topic.
Create Your Sticker Designs
In the competitive sticker market on Etsy, standout designs are key to success. You don’t need to be an expert designer; a creative spark and understanding of your niche can lead to compelling designs.
Find inspiration from various websites to fuel your creativity:
- Dribble. It’s not only a social networking platform but also a valuable resource for hiring designers. It offers a wealth of inspiring ideas and creative concepts.
- Pinterest. A visual discovery engine, often referred to as The Home of Inspiration. With a wealth of sticker designs on the site, the “Aha!” moment won’t take long.
- Behance. A design portfolio platform where artists showcase their work. Good for both inspiration and hiring talented designers.
These sites are full of inspiration and perfect for kickstarting your creativity. That said, never plagiarize a design. Instead, use it as a starting point to create something even better, adding your personality and uniqueness.
Quick Tip
As a merchant, it's crucial to respect the intellectual property rights of others. Always ensure you have permission to use any content in your designs. Play it smart – keep it legal.
When you have a collection of promising ideas, it’s time to bring them to life. With various tools at your fingertips, designing can be an exciting and rewarding experience. Here are just a few of your options:
- Canva. With this cloud-based design platform, making your stickers is easy. How to make stickers on Canva to sell on Etsy? Choose templates and play with shapes, illustrations, fonts, and colors. Save the digital file, and that’s it!
- Adobe Photoshop. This is a powerful tool, perfect for creating original graphics. While it takes a little know-how, it’s one of the best tools for creating stickers.
- Pixlr. A user-friendly, cloud-based design and photo editing tool that allows you to easily create stickers directly in your browser.
For a quicker approach, consider our Shutterstock integration, where you’ll find visuals starting at just $2.
It offers many images and illustrations to easily customize and create unique stickers for your Etsy store. For more details on usage, pricing, and more, refer to our Help Center article.
Quick Tip
Don’t limit yourself to a single product category – explore other Etsy shop ideas and add even more creative products to your Etsy store.
Find Where to Create Your Stickers
There are three main options when making stickers.
- Create your own from scratch. This option takes time, money, and patience. To create paper stickers, you’ll need to invest in inkjet or laser printers, sticker paper, and other tools.
Additionally, shipping labels and trips to the post office are on you, too.
- Use sticker printing services. You can order batches of stickers from a print shop specializing in printing stickers, but you’ll need to handle shipping yourself.
- Try print-on-demand stickers. A beginner-friendly and cost-effective option. You can use a print-on-demand platform that offers various stickers ready for personalization. The best part? They ship them for you.
With Printify, simply sign up for a free account and access a wide variety of stickers. You can easily customize them and to your Etsy store with just a few clicks.
When you make a sale, we’ll print, package, and ship directly to your customer’s doorstep.
Quick Tip
You can also sell printables on Etsy, appealing to a wider audience and further increasing your profit.
Open an Etsy Store
How to start an Etsy shop? Simply sign in or register, click on the gray silhouette in the top right corner, select Sell on Etsy, and then Get started to open your store.
Step 1: Shop preferences. Tell Etsy about you and your shop. Set shop preferences, including language, country, and currency.
Step 2: Name your shop. Choose a creative and memorable Etsy shop name that’s easy to remember and original, setting you apart from competitors. If you plan to expand your range beyond stickers, avoid using ‘stickers’ in your name.
Step 3: How you’ll get paid. To receive payments on Etsy, enter your payment details and link your bank account, specifying if you’re an Individual or Business and providing your country.
Funds are deposited weekly on Mondays, but you can adjust the frequency in Shop Manager > Finances > Payment Settings.
Step 4: Set up billing. Enter credit card details to pay for your Etsy fees. Enter your credit card number, CCV, expiration date, and the name on the card.
Step 5: Your shop security. As a security measure, Etsy requires you to set up two-factor authentication.
Step 6: Stock your shop. Lastly, add a product listing to your shop. The first one can be a draft product, so don’t worry too much about the details. Then, click Open your shop to become an Etsy merchant.
Next, we’ll cover how easy it is to make your listings go live.
List and Price Your Stickers
When setting up your Etsy store for selling stickers, focusing on key elements can significantly enhance your store’s visibility and appeal:
Optimize your listings
When you start selling stickers, it’s imperative for them to look amazing. But words matter, too – without optimized descriptions, people will not be able to find them. So, in short:
- Use high-quality photos to highlight the unique details and true colors of your stickers. Show your stickers in use, such as on laptops or notebooks, to provide context and scale.
- Create compelling descriptions that preemptively address any questions buyers might have. This includes sticker dimensions, material type (e.g., vinyl, paper), adhesive strength, and whether they’re waterproof or UV resistant.
Add Etsy tags
Etsy tags, like ‘Superhero custom stickers’, are crucial for filtering search results and matching products with shopper queries. Effective tags can significantly impact sales, connecting your products to relevant searches.
Some of the best tags for stickers on Etsy are:
- Personalized stickers
- Cute animal stickers
- Vintage design stickers
- Boho sarcastic quotes
- Inspirational stickers
- Minimalist stickers
Quick Tip
Etsy allows up to 13 tags for each product listing, and using all the available slots is beneficial. Choose tags that best describe your item, balancing between widely used and niche-specific tags.
How to price stickers?
- Cost analysis – Calculate your total costs, including Etsy fees, and shipping, to ensure you’re covering expenses.
- Market research – Check what similar stickers are selling for on Etsy to understand the competitive landscape.
- Value proposition – Consider the uniqueness and appeal of your stickers. Pricing can reflect the quality and originality of your designs.
- Balance is key – Aim for a price that compensates for your costs while staying attractive to buyers. Read How to Price Your Products for Ultimate Success.
- Research and adjust – Regularly review your pricing strategy to adapt to market changes or feedback.
For novice Etsy sellers, these focus areas can help create a strong foundation for a successful sticker business. Remember, it’s about making your store stand out with quality products and clear, attractive listings that draw buyers in.
Set Up Your Storefront, Take Care of Branding
As with any online business, the perception of your store is vital. When customizing your store, pay attention to every detail – try to make a professional impression, reflecting what makes your brand stand out.
Here are a few things you should have:
- A beautiful banner image. Your shop’s banner is your most prominent branding asset. Use it to showcase your brand and stickers, or to advertise a sale.
- Information about your store. Add your store’s description, create a custom profile photo, and tell people about yourself; everyone loves a good story.
- Shop policies. For effective Etsy store policies, focus on clear guidelines for returns, exchanges, cancellations, and privacy.
Utilize Etsy’s provided templates and automation options to tailor these policies to your shop’s needs, ensuring clarity and thoroughness. Read How to Make the Best Etsy Shop Policies for a detailed guide and templates.
- Answers to frequently asked questions. Explore other sticker shops and check what information they provide on selling stickers on Etsy. Are the stickers waterproof? Can you combine my orders? You get the point.
Start by doing some research – take a look at the best Etsy sticker shops, learn from what they do well, improve on what they don’t, and tie it all together with your personal touch.
Quick Tip
Wondering how to photograph stickers for Etsy? Check out our article on taking product photos for ultimate success.
Don’t Forget About Etsy SEO
First things first, what’s Etsy SEO? In short, it’s a way to improve the visibility of your Etsy store and its products. Learning how to get more sales on Etsy through SEO can be a true game-changer.
To make your store search-friendly, you’ll need to do keyword research, and there are a couple of straightforward ways to do that:
- Etsy SEO tools. You can use tools like Alura, EverBee, and Keyword Tool Dominator to see what people search for.
- Etsy’s search bar. You get suggestions after typing only a few letters in Etsy’s search bar. These suggestions are searches people have made previously and which are currently trending.
On that note, here are a few things you can do to gain more visibility:
- Add keywords to your product titles and descriptions. When writing your product titles and descriptions, try to add the most relevant keywords at the beginning – it’s one of the best ways how to sell stickers on Etsy successfully.
- Regularly renew your listings. To get a small boost in the search rankings, try renewing your listings, but do so only in peak hours, when most people are browsing.
Name your store right. Adding a competitive keyword won’t hurt, but it depends on whether you have the space or not.
Start Promoting and Selling Your Stickers
When selling stickers on Etsy, building a loyal customer base and promoting your store plays a big role. If no one knows about your store, sales won’t come that easily.
To increase the likelihood of success, here are a few proven strategies to consider:
- Social media marketing. As a way to save money on advertising, social media is a blessing. By posting regularly, showcasing your printed stickers, or offering giveaways, you’re sure to attract people who love your work.
- Etsy advertising. With Etsy Ads, your stickers get a spotlight. They are paid ads that run inside the marketplace, placing your stickers in visible spots within Etsy search results, categories, and market pages.
If you type ‘stickers’ in the search bar, you’ll notice that above the top-selling stickers on Etsy, there is a little disclaimer, “1,000+ results, with Ads”, indicating that sellers are using on-site paid ads to reach more potential customers.
To learn more, Etsy’s step-by-step guide on how to set up and manage an Etsy Ads campaign covers everything you need to know.
- Influencer marketing. As influencer marketing continues to grow, collaborating with a content creator to let the world know about your stickers is a strategy worth considering.
If you want to make money selling stickers on Etsy, don’t underestimate the power of marketing – after all, it’s the engine that drives the growth of any online business.
Our article on how to market your Etsy store provides valuable information for anyone looking to boost their sales.
How to Make Stickers to Sell on Etsy With Printify?
With Printify, anyone can create their own stickers to sell without any investment or costly equipment.
Step 1: Sign Up and Choose Your Sticker
Start by signing up for a free Printify account. Now, you can access custom stickers and sticker sheets that you can customize to your heart’s content.
Step 2: Apply Your Sticker Design
When you’ve chosen your favorite, it’s time to bring your sticker designs to life. Our beginner-friendly Product Creator is an excellent Etsy sticker maker tool, even for those without design experience.
For best results, remember the recommended guidelines for stickers so there are no unpleasant surprises when your customers receive their custom stickers.
Step 3: Edit Product Details
After your sticker design is ready, fill out the product details. Etsy’s search engine favors shop owners who write beautiful product descriptions with naturally embedded keywords.
Step 4: Connect Your Etsy Store
When all of that is complete, just follow these few short steps to connect your Etsy store with Printify. With our sticker printing services, your store will have a never-ending supply of products.
Step 5: Publish and Start Selling Stickers on Etsy
Now that your Etsy sticker store is linked with our sticker printing service, you can publish your products for the whole world to see.
Quick Tip
With Printify, you don't need to worry about shipping labels – our Print Providers take care of everything for you.
FAQ
What are the best practices for managing customer expectations and feedback specifically for sticker products?
Managing customer expectations involves clear communication through detailed product descriptions, high-quality images, and specifying shipping times. Feedback can be managed by promptly addressing concerns and encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews.
How do successful Etsy sticker sellers handle legal matters, such as copyright issues with designs?
Handling legal matters involves ensuring that all designs are original or appropriately licensed. Sellers should educate themselves on copyright law and potentially consult with a legal professional to avoid infringement issues.
Can you provide insights into the most effective promotional strategies that have worked for sticker shops on Etsy?
Effective promotional strategies include leveraging social media platforms, participating in Etsy promotions, and using SEO techniques to improve search visibility. Engaging with the community through forums and collaborating with other sellers or influencers can also boost visibility.
A Few Closing Thoughts
Now you know the ins and outs of how to sell stickers on Etsy. Just like with everything else, it all begins with you.
With Printify, launch a successful profit-focused online store without any investment, equipment, or logistical worries – it really is the best way how to ship stickers on Etsy!
Make It Happen Today!
Written by
Leon Walker
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2 comments
Useful info, thank you 🙂
Hi Donna,
Thank you for your feedback!