How to Price Your Stickers to Sell at Events

For our example, we're going to purchase 100 3"x3" die-cut stickers costing $65 for an upcoming art event that we're taking part in. The cost to be a vendor will be $25, and event parking will cost $10. For the sake of simplicity, this example is assuming the venue is providing the table and chairs.

YOUR OVERHEAD

Alright, let's break down the costs. Obviously, there's the cost to print the stickers, the vendor fee (if they charge to take part in the event), and parking (if applicable). There are other costs to consider, but again, let's keep it simple. If this your first time vending, then you may need to factor in some one-time costs like a small folding table and chair, maybe a table cloth, some sort of cash box, and possibly a phone enabled credit card reader like the ones from Square or PayPal. For more information on what it takes to vend, check out our other post.

THE MATH

As you can see from the example receipt above, we just figured out that our overhead, or total cost, for the event is $100. Now, divide the total cost by the total number of stickers (see example). Ta-da! Now we know that it costs us $1 per sticker for the event. At a minimum, you will want to charge $2 per sticker, getting you a 50% profit margin. Not bad...not great either.

Don't forget: These are specialty events which can typically charge premium prices. So don't undersell yourself, and don't forget you're not even factoring in the time it took you to create the artwork, which we'll touch on in a future article. You don't want to charge too much either, as a $5 sticker will turn away a lot of potential customers. The exception to this is if the stickers are oversized (a sticker with a minimum 6-inches on the smallest side).

THE SWEET SPOT

What we're left with is the sweet spot of $3-$4 per sticker, which seems fair for the size range of 3 to 5-inches on the longest side. This pricing is also a bit strategic since it gives you the ability to offer 4 for $10 (if you're selling at $3 each) or 3 for $10 (if you're selling at $4 each). People love bargains and giving them a small discount of $2 if they pick a couple other designs, works out in your favor quite often!

Keep in mind that you can adjust the prices as you'd like to find a good price point. Just don't change the prices during an event, wait until the next event to make adjustments. You want to remain consistent until the event is over. In the end, it's really about figuring out your cost, then figuring out what people are willing to pay for your artwork. So go out there, have some fun, share your art with the world, and meet some cool people.