roo-draws asked: Hello! I was wondering, do people prefer to buy stickers or buttons? Thank you! :D
Short answer 1: Yes.
Short answer 2: It depends.
This question is kind of like the “what should I make?” or “what’s better, this or this?” or “how much should I make of x product?” questions. It’s not a one-size-fits all approach, and it’d be irresponsible to not acknowledge that.
In general, stickers and buttons are small items that move pretty quickly for a variety of reasons. They’re generally small, generally cheap, generally low commitment, easy impulse buys when people are looking to spend that last bit of change. And they don’t cost a ton of money to make, nor take up a huge amount of space.
As to which people prefer, there are too many variables to be able to give you a definitive answer, including:
- More specifics on the stickers/buttons - How big are they? How are they made? What material is used/how expensive are they? What exactly are we comparing? A set of small stickers printed on a home printer? A large professionally printed vinyl sticker? Diecut stickers? Self-cut stickers? A 1" button? A set of mini buttons? A large button? etc. etc.
- The people and the location/geography - depending on where you are, what convention, what area, there are certain regional, perhaps even cultural, preferences for various kinds of products. Not to mention different people - different ages, levels of income, preferences, etc.
- The art - the style, the content (fandom? original?) etc.
- Competition - what stickers/buttons/other similar items are other vendors selling?
For anyone considering whether or not to make a certain type of product, you should consider at minimum these questions. How important each one is for you is, obviously, up to you.
1) Do I want this product to exist?
I’ll be honest, I’ve spent money making things just because it amused me/I thought it was a great idea. That’s not always necessarily a great business decision, and you can easily end up with things you’re trying to get rid of for a brief burning moment of LOL THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. However, for me personally, caring about the product is important. It’s why I personally do this. For some people, this is how they get into artist alleys in the first place. Yes, ultimately somebody else is going to buy the thing, but you’re making the thing. Hopefully you are making something you like. Do YOU want to make stickers, or do you want to make buttons? Or maybe you want to make both? If you can’t decide and you can try them both, why not?
2) Do other people sell this product at artist alleys/the events or venues I plan on doing?
This will give you an idea of how “popular” this type of product is, at least for those artists, and also give you a sense of how relatively easy or difficult it may be to source/create and whether or not it is appropriate merchandise for a particular event.
For example, stickers and buttons are prevalent almost everywhere, and some people offer ONLY that type of product at their table - so it’s something that can work at that level. On the flip side, if the product you’re considering isn’t found anywhere, it could be a great potential standout opportunity - or maybe there’s a reason it’s not found anywhere (too expensive? Impractical? Illegal, maybe not permitted by a particular venue/event? No market?). Either way, something to look further into. It’s possible a venue could ban stickers, for example, if there is a concern about people sticking them all over the place.
3) How will I make this product?
Where will you source the supplies or the service to make it? How difficult will it be? How much labour/time/money will it require? In the case of buttons VS stickers, stickers are arguably easier to produce/source - at bare minimum, you need some sort of adhesive stock and some way of getting your image on it (drawing, printing, etc.). In the case of buttons, you do need more specialized equipment, though both items are popular enough that it’s pretty easy to find suppliers even if you don’t want to shell out and own the equipment yourself.
You can check out our resources as a starting point to find services and suppliers! http://aatoast.tumblr.com/resources
4) What is my artwork most suited for/How will I get the most out of my art?
Are you repurposing existing artwork or making completely new art specifically for these products? How much time do you have to do this? How well does the artwork work for these applications? In general, buttons are usually circular and pretty small, so if you have some elaborate illustration, you may be losing a ton of detail. A sticker, with more potential flexibility in shape and size, might show off your work better. If you’re drawing something specifically for use on these products, button designs generally aren’t as transferable to other products; sticker designs might be more flexible. Again, this is dependent on what you are doing.
If your budget/time allows, try both, track your costs/sales/inventory, and see how you feel about both. Again, you may find, depending on the art, the event, and what you yourself are comfortable with or want to see, you’ll adjust your product range over time.
Here are a few other posts that might help you in figuring out your approach.
Trying to decide between buttons VS keychains: http://aatoast.tumblr.com/post/120658406444/hello-again-mobile-tumblr-did-a-thing-and-i
Questions about stickers http://aatoast.tumblr.com/post/114807650629/hi-aatoast-ive-got-questions-about-stickers
The unsolvable question of how much do I print http://aatoast.tumblr.com/post/120864329134/currently-im-faced-with-the-unsolvable-question and How much of anything should I make to sell? http://aatoast.tumblr.com/post/117295079689/its-my-first-time-making-laminated-keychains-how
