Selling a unique product (DIY Sticker Cards)

illoguild question #17

Hi everyone!

My main revenue streams for art are: children’s books, commissions, and paper products. I really like having an online shop where I can post various cards and test out product ideas.

Last holiday season, I experimented with a product I called DIY Sticker Cards. Are they stickers? Are they cards? Are they an activity kit? The answer is: all three!

There are sticker sheets featuring dogs and cats with tons of hats, gloves, and even ice skates that can be used as accessories, plus seasonal decorations to place on the card. So it’s stickers, cards, and an activity set. Plus I included some bonus coloring pages to maximize all the space on the card.

By the end of the season, these cards accounted for 75% of all my holiday sales! Going into the season, I was excited, although very unsure, about the product. Would it sell? Would people understand what it is? Did I order way too many? So I’d like to talk about how I came up with this idea and how it evolved over two holiday seasons.

Thinking up the concept

I came up with this idea after a Bootcamp course with Make Art That Sells. The assignment was to create a sticker sheet with sharks and other sea animals. Since I was already selling cards, but not stickers, this assignment sparked the idea to create stickers that could be placed on cards. A simple twist, but something that got me excited. Here’s what I created for the original assignment:

The assignment was to create a sticker sheet, so I made stickers that could be used to make custom greeting cards.

Turning the concept into a product

The next product release for my cards was for the holiday season. Also, I was getting ready to adopt a puppy, so dogs were on my mind. The timing and life factors resulted in the Dog DIY Sticker Cards:

Dog DIY Sticker Cards inspired by an assignment and my puppy

I created the art during the summer. First I printed out the dogs and cards on regular paper at home. I cut out the dogs to test the sizing on the cards. I made adjustments, and then I ordered sticker samples from 3 different printers. I decided on a favorite sticker printer and placed my final order, along with the cards from a different printer. I made the cards the same size as those already in my shop so I could use the same envelopes. I also ordered new packaging for shipping since the sticker sheet is larger than anything I previously shipped.

Pricing the product

The general rule is: If it costs x to produce the product, the wholesale price is 2x, which makes the retail price 4x. I also took time to price out the best combinations: 2 sticker sheets with 3 cards? 4 sheets with 6 cards? It is tricky to price appropriately when ordering in small batches, but ultimately I was able to find the best option.

Selling

Last year, I primarily sold the cards online. Here are ways I marketed the product: instagram reels/stories/posts, brining some to a holiday party, putting them at the top of my website, making featured product website banner, sending emails, and just generally shouting about them.

This year I’m helping a local gift shop with some holiday hours, and I get to set up a pop-up shop each time I’m working. I’m very excited to offer these cards there and see how they do with in-person sales.

A screenshot from my sales portal showing how the DIY Cards did compared to other products.

Prepping for the next holiday season

Since the DIY Sticker Cards did so well, I was excited to make a new version and offer them again. In the spring and summer, I designed a new version featuring cats so that I could pitch it to stores in July as a holiday product. If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw this reel from the summer when I was testing out the product and was too excited to keep it a secret. That’s what’s tough about designing cards 6 months ahead of the season— having to wait to release the products even though you’re excited then!

When designing the cat version for this year, I asked friends and family to send pictures of their fur babies, so each cat below is inspired by those sweet kittens! If you have a cat, do any of the stickers look yours?

This year’s NEW version featuring cats, all inspired by friends’ and family’s cats!

Maximizing my art

Then to maximize my art, I thought about other products that could feature this art. Gift tags and cards! So I made these products below:

Other products featuring the holiday dog and cat art

For the gift tags, I included circular stickers since those could be cute to include on an envelope, which I showed in the product photo.

And that’s how I made the DIY Sticker Cards.

If you’re thinking of a product, I say go for it! Or pop it in the comments and others here can give suggestions. As artists we have the opportunity to create unique art and products, so let’s have fun with it!

See you all next week for a post about creating spreads for kids books,

Katie

---

This post is part of the monthly

illoguild

question. This month we answered: How do you create x? Be sure to check out the illoguild page to read everyone’s responses!

📚 This monthly illoguild newsletter is free. If you’d like to learn more about the Library of Toolkits, click here, or become a paid subscriber to support my work:

🎉 Have you heard the news? The illoguildis now offering LIVE sessions! The next one is December 4! The live stream will be free, and the recording will be available to paid subscribers of any member of the illoguild.