Sell Stickers: A Small, Mighty Way to Make Money with Merch

If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to make money with merch, stickers are the product for you.

Selling custom stickers allows you to increase your visibility and connect with your followers, friends, and family in a personal way. Best of all: stickers are a low-cost option for anyone that wants to support you without breaking the bank!

They’re a multipurpose merch item: personalize a laptop, jazz up a journal, accessorize your reusable water battle. The list is really endless.

Stickers can turn any brand message or niche interest into a piece of art that people can take with them wherever they go. In this blog we’ll talk about why stickers make great merch and how they can resonate with your audience, and Gen Z, with the right designs.

Stickers: An Accessible Entry Point for Supporters

Stickers stand out as a fantastic small-ticket item in any merchandising lineup. They’re a low-cost option for fans and customers who want to show their support without a hefty financial commitment. Stickers appeal to a broad audience that doesn’t want to spend money on T-Shirts, hoodies, etc.

Affordable Merch for Everyone

The affordability of stickers is a key advantage. Producing them is inexpensive, and you can sell them at a price point that almost everyone can afford. This makes them an excellent product for new customers who are just beginning to engage with you, but aren’t ready to make larger purchases. It allows them to support their favorite creators, bands, or brands without paying a hefty price.

High Margin Potential

Despite their low cost to customers, stickers can still provide a healthy profit margin for sellers. Because they are cheap to produce, even selling them at a low price can yield great returns. This high margin potential makes them a lucrative addition to any merch shop.

Repeat Customers

Stickers are also an easy way to encourage repeat purchases. Some customers may not want to purchase additional clothing items. Consider offering a variety of designs to cater to different preferences. This can lead to increased sales frequency and enhanced customer engagement with the brand.

Unique Marketing Tool

Stickers are a powerful marketing tool. Each sticker placed on a laptop, water bottle, or car acts as a mini billboard, spreading brand awareness everywhere it goes. This kind of organic marketing is invaluable and comes at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising methods.

The Versatility of Stickers in Merchandising

Stickers are more than just decorations. They are a powerful marketing tool that can boost your brand’s visibility and appeal. This makes them a perfect choice for any merchandising strategy, adapting seamlessly to various promotional needs and customer preferences.

Out in the World

Stickers can be posted to almost any surface, which makes them ideal for personalizing items like laptops, smartphones, car bumpers, and water bottles. This adaptability allows your brand to remain visible in numerous settings, from office desks to outdoor adventures.

They’re also a creative merch item. They allow customers to be creative and express their identity, which spreads your brand’s reach every time they are used.

Fit for a Giveaway

Stickers are an excellent item for event or social giveaways. They are small, easy to distribute, and often kept and used by recipients, ensuring ongoing exposure for your brand. Creatively designed stickers can enhance product packaging, making unboxing an exciting experience that customers are eager to share on social media. This not only boosts customer engagement but also leverages user-generated content (UGC) to attract a broader audience.

Cost-Effective Advertising

Finally, stickers are a cost-effective form of advertising. Compared to other merchandising options, they are inexpensive to produce yet offer lasting promotional benefits. A well-placed sticker on a high-traffic item like a laptop or car can generate countless impressions over its lifetime, all for a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising spaces.

Stickers and Gen Z

Gen Z, known for their love of personalization and self-expression, love stickers. They value authenticity and individuality, and stickers provide a unique avenue for them to showcase their identities and interests in a visual and very public way.

A Canvas for Self-Expression

Stickers allow Gen Z consumers to customize their personal items, such as laptops, smartphones, and notebooks, transforming everyday objects into personal statements. This act of personalization isn’t just about decoration—it’s a form of self-expression and a way for individuals to connect with like-minded peers, fostering a sense of community and belonging.

Eco-conscious and Budget-friendly

Gen Z is also distinguished by their environmental awareness and budget-conscious nature. Stickers, especially those made from sustainable materials, appeal to their preference for eco-friendly products. Additionally, stickers offer an affordable way for Gen Z to support and promote their favorite brands and causes without a significant financial commitment.

Digital and Real-World Connectivity

For a generation that thrives online, stickers bridge the gap between digital expressions of self and real-world manifestations. They are often featured in social media posts, unboxing videos, and as part of the digital nomad lifestyle, further blending the digital and physical worlds that Gen Z navigates seamlessly.

Trend-Driven and Collectible

Finally, the trend-driven nature of Gen Z makes stickers an ideal merch item. With the rise of sticker collections and trading, they become not just a purchase but a part of a larger, shared experience. Brands can capitalize on this by releasing limited-edition stickers or collections tied to specific trends, pop culture moments, or social movements, resonating deeply with this demographic’s values and interests.

Designing Stickers That Sell

Creating stickers that capture attention and become best-sellers involves understanding what designs resonate most with your target audience. Successful sticker designs often share several characteristics, from bold, clean visuals, to messages that spark emotion/affiliation.

Keep it Simple

The most effective sticker designs are usually simple and straightforward. A clean design with bold lines and vibrant colors stands out more, especially when stickers are often viewed from a distance or at a glance. These designs are not only more legible but also more memorable, allowing your brand to make a lasting impression.

Have Some Humor

Stickers that feature humorous, witty, or relatable phrases and imagery tend to engage more with customers. They evoke an emotional response that can create a personal connection with the customer. Humorous stickers often become conversation starters, which increases the sticker’s visibility and, by extension, your merch’s reach.

Tap into Nostalgia

Staying on top of current trends or tapping into nostalgia can make your stickers more appealing. Designs that reference popular culture, current memes, or retro themes often see a surge in popularity. For instance, incorporate elements from 90s pop culture to appeal to nostalgic older demographics and trend-focused younger audiences who embrace retro styles.

Make it Custom

Offering customizable or personalized stickers can also increase their appeal. Allowing customers to add their names, initials, or other personal touches makes the stickers more meaningful and more likely to be purchased and displayed.

Unique Artwork

Stickers that feature unique, artistic designs can attract customers looking for something different from mainstream options. These can include intricate illustrations, custom artwork, or designs that showcase artistic skills and creativity. Such stickers not only cater to general consumers but can also appeal to niche markets looking for specific artistic styles or themes.

Inspirational and Motivational

Inspirational and motivational stickers also perform well, especially if they convey positive messages that resonate broadly. Phrases that inspire or uplift, such as “You Got This” or “Choose Kindness,” can be powerful motivators that people enjoy incorporating into their everyday lives.

Making and Sizing Your Sticker Designs

Now that you know how important stickers are as merch, it’s time to make and sell them.

Spreadshop gives you all the tools you need to sell stickers and hundreds of other merch products. It’s easy to upload designs, customize your products, and market to your audience using exclusive promos and perks. But coming up with said merch designs is a totally different beast. Here are some resources and tools that are beginner-friendly:

FREE Design Tools

Canva is a super easy design tool to use and it’s FREE version has a ton of options for you to play around with. They have an extensive library or pre-graphics, photos, and fonts you can use to create original designs for your stickers. If you already have an established brand with a logo and specific fonts, you can upload them to the platform to use in your designs, as well.

If you’re looking for other design tools to use, here are the top 10 tools for e-commerce designers.

Spreadshirt Design Service

If you want to pay a little extra for something more professional, we recommend our Spreadshirt Graphics Service.

They can take a rough sketch or any general design ideas you have and turn it into something stellar for your shop. The graphics service will have your design prepared within 3-5 workdays. Make your dream graphic design a reality — in 4 easy steps:

• Fill in the form below and let us know a) where you want to use the design, and b) what you want it to look like.
• Attach your file to the form. Possible file formats are jpg, png, gif, bmp, eps, ai cdr, svg, psd or pdf.
• Go to your shopping basket and place your order.
• After 3-5 workdays, you’ll receive the finished design via email.

Best Size for Your Stickers

When you upload your designs to your Spreadshop, we recommend that they follow these guidelines for optimal print quality:

• File formats: PNG, JPG, BMP or GIF
• Size limit: max. 10 MB
• Resolution: at least 1000 pixels on the shorter side, or min. 4000 pixels on the longer side
• Design has no background

We hope these blog helped prepare you to start selling stickers and make money with this fun and versatile merch item. Stickers are a great merch item for people who don’t want to spend a lot, but still want to support you.

Launch your FREE Spreadshop today and start selling stickers and 250+ merch products!