A sticker is the cheapest piece of branding a small business can buy. At 32c for a 5cm circle, it goes home on every paper bag, stays on the drink bottle and turns up on a laptop at someone's office six months later. For a market stall or a small online shop, it is usually the first thing worth printing after business cards.
This guide covers what stickers actually do for a small business in Australia, which shapes and sizes suit each job, how many to order, and what the numbers look like.
What do stickers actually do for a small business?
Five jobs come up again and again, and most businesses end up using two or three of them.
- Sealing the bag. A logo sticker folded over the top of a paper bag turns a plain brown bag into branded packaging for a few cents. It also shows that the bag has not been opened.
- Labelling the product. Jams, sauces, candles, soap, coffee and skincare all need a label, and a waterproof vinyl one survives the fridge, the esky and the bathroom.
- The freebie in every order. A die cut sticker dropped into every online order costs a few cents, and unlike a flyer, people keep it.
- Price and flavour dots. Small circles in two or three colours make a stall readable from a metre away: $8, $12, $15, or chilli, mild, original.
- A QR code on the stall sign. A square sticker linking to your Instagram or online shop lets a browser become a follower even if they do not buy on the day.
Which shape and size suits each job?
| Job | Shape | Good starting size |
|---|---|---|
| Bag seal | Circle | 5cm |
| Jar, bottle or tin label | Rectangle or circle | 5 x 7.5cm, or measure the container |
| Freebie in orders | Die cut | 6.5–8.5cm |
| Price or flavour dots | Circle | 4cm |
| QR code for the stall sign | Square | 8.5cm |
| Logo for the cash box, van or esky | Die cut or bumper | 10cm and up |
Labels are the job where size matters most, because the container decides it for you. There is a separate guide on label sizes for jars, bottles, cans and tins, including what has to go on a food label.
How many should I order?
Work it out from how many you hand over, not from how many feel like "a lot".
Say you do two markets a month and sell to about 40 customers at each. If every bag gets a sticker, that is 80 a month, or close to 500 a year. Add a freebie to 30 online orders a month and you need another 360.
Ordering small feels safe, but it is the expensive way to buy. Here is what our 5cm circle actually costs:
| Quantity | Price | Each |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $19 | $1.90 |
| 100 + 30 free | $69 | 53c |
| 500 | $162 | 32c |
| 1000 | $281 | 28c |
A 5 x 7.5cm rectangle label runs the same way: 73c each at 100, 45c at 500 and 38c at 1000. Standard shipping is free anywhere in Australia, so the price in the table is what you pay.
A good rule of thumb: order ten to try a new design, then order six months' worth once you know it works. Vinyl stores well in a drawer, out of the sun.
Does the design need to change for a sticker?
Usually a little. A logo that works on a website often has fine text or thin lines that disappear at 5cm. Three quick checks:
- Drop the tagline on anything smaller than about 6.5cm. The logo carries the brand; the tagline becomes unreadable.
- Keep text 3mm inside the edge. Our cutting is accurate to about 1mm, and anything closer risks being trimmed.
- Give QR codes room. At least 25 x 25mm, on a plain background, and test it with two different phones before you order a few hundred.
Our print-ready artwork guide covers bleed, cut lines and file types in detail. We also check every file free of charge before printing, and tell you if something will not print well.
Will they survive a market day?
Markets are hard on packaging: sun on the table all morning, condensation from the esky, a bag dropped in a puddle. Every sticker we print is vinyl with a protective laminate, so it is waterproof and UV resistant rather than just "water resistant" paper.
That matters most for anything that lives outdoors or gets wet. If your product goes in the fridge or the bathroom, vinyl is the right choice over paper labels. For how long they last in full Australian sun, see how long vinyl stickers last outdoors.
Which cut should I pick for giveaways?
For a freebie, die cut almost always wins: the sticker is the shape of your logo or mascot, which is what makes people keep it. For a set of small designs, a sticker sheet gives customers several at once, and a kiss cut keeps each sticker on a backing square that is easy to hand out at a stall. The differences are explained in die cut, kiss cut or sticker sheet.
Want to feel the vinyl first?
Our Sticker Goody Bag is a mixed pack of sample stickers we print in-house, for $5 with free shipping. It is the easiest way to feel the vinyl and laminate before you commit to a run.
When you are ready, most shapes start at ten stickers, we print in Sydney within 1–2 business days, and standard shipping is free Australia-wide. Browse circle, rectangle and die cut stickers, or the full custom sticker range.
