How I Make, Pack, & Ship Stickers (From Home)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ค. 2024
- In this video, I talk about my process for making, packing, and shipping stickers for my Etsy and Shopify stores.
My Sticker Shop: turtletags.com
Desktop Timer
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Big Dymo
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Orange Cutting Knife
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Keep in touch!
/ imtimkoa
/ imtimkoa
hitimkoa (at) gmail [dot] com
This was the most honest inspiring sticker vlog I have seen. Love your frank, realistic thinking on packaging and the throw away trash it makes too.
Tim, I love your videos! People worry that sharing your process will cause others to steal ideas, but to be honest, I just want to cheer you on more! Wishing you all success in your business!
That’s what kept me blessed. Sharing my knowledge God gave me. This man is awesome and will be blessed. We can’t die with it
@@prettyteia so true!!
One thing people don’t realize is that there are plenty of customers in the world for everyone!😊 This guy gets it! Also I am a huge believer in karma…and good karma comes to those who give back to the community.
Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! I own a sticker business that has taken off recently and am thinking about investing in a new cutting machine for mass production. (I currently use a Cricut explore 3 and have been experiencing a plateau just bc I cannot make stickers and faster 😅)
Can you give me more info about your cutter? Or a link?
Read this book called "steal like an artist". Your perspective might change.
Love love love this video! Really appreciate your honest sharing of your sticker-making process and all the machines you use! That's so valuable! And I ordered some dishwasher-safe stickers for my boys from your store. So cute and good quality! Happy crafting!!!
I use Pirate Ship, really easy to use and quick chat help by a human when needed. I ship mainly boxes weighing between 1lb and 5lbs from Washington to Florida for $4 to $12 in 2023. Thanks for the video, tons of great info.
Always appreciate these videos! Thanks for the insight, Tim! Hope your business continues to thrive.
This video was satisfying to watch. The cleanliness, a system that seems to be not stressful... great video
Tim! Glad you decided to be more transparent about Turtle Tags - seeing the process is awesome
So helpful! I just crossed 10k sales in a little over a year and recently decided it was time to upgrade from my Cricut machines. Always love seeing what other people are using.
what sticker paper do you use may I ask? after cutting do you feel like theres glue residue particles on top?
@@dandee28Did you get your answer??
Hi Tim! Using Figma and a feature called Components is a really easy way create variations of a design. Technically, it's a software for designing software UI:s but it's really useful for something like this, too. Instead of working on one file at a time, you have a big canvas where you can create as many Frames as you want. When you're done, you just export the frames into whatever format you want. Also, it's free!
As a UX designer I feel like knowing this has given me an unfair advantage 😂 also with the data plugins, it's brilliant.
Figma balls
Since he's already part of the adobe suite, he could use indesign as well. With proper set up, it can replace all the colors and names in one fell swoop, including resizing the text to fit the bounding box. Plus it's made for printing.
Adobe users never trust me when I say they should try Figma 😭
Figma doesn’t support colour profiles such as CMYK. So it isn’t the best for professional print work.
I’m a postal worker who sorts mail, one thing I tell people is to use registered mail as a tracking for stickers. It’s 10$ and you get a signature. This is only if chit chat isn’t available. Also what ever you do make sure your postal address to and from is accurate. So much mail gets delayed because the address is wrong, or it doesn’t get returned due to no return address. For the record , Canada post has really failed on the small business front and hey know it. They are working on some new ideas for small business and it will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Unfortunately, most people don’t want to pay double the shipping cost for the price of stickers… if I tack it to the price for free shipping that’s so much money for one sticker! I offer stamped mail as well on my Etsy shop but they use Pitney bowes so it has some tracking. Way, way cheaper than shipping it when stickers aren’t that expensive or big.
I totally agree, I was more thinking about the folks who have ordered a large quantity and want tracking.
Mail sorting is something that I want to learn
lol $10 to ship some stickers. Gtfo.
The wear and tear on your body... I salute you. Respect.
But... you can keep your benefits and be better to your body if you apply to be the janitor. And your hours are better.
I feel like you are the older brother I never had! :D Thanks for all the pointers. You are obviously so SMART and organized!
Oh! You really do have a sticker shop. A very professional one at that! A lot of people don't walk the walk here on TH-cam. Good to see a credible TH-camr.👍🏾
Thank you so much for sharing this invaluable information. A lot of people in niche industries keep their secrets carefully guarded because they don't want to share the wealth (in terms of both knowledge and money). I'm a starving artist who is going to have to save up, but I've been planning on getting into the Etsy art business, so this is great motivation!
Wow Tim, thank you for the valuable content you have given!!! Great take aways!
Thank you for this great video. It’s always inspiring to me to see those who are making it and showing it’s possible to succeed.
Out of all the videos I have seen since I was teenager having ideas of starting on business this has been the MOST HELPFUL VIDEO OUT OF ALL !!!! When I tell you I LEARNED SO MUCH ON THIS ONE VIDEO THAN EVER YOU ARE A GOAT SIR 🎉!!!!!!
G.O.A.T. = Greatest of all time.
At last, it’s fun to see what you make. I love your designs by the way!
Those stickers look amazing Tim.
Thanks for the video.
Thank you so much! I’m a new etsy and ebay seller and have been stressed out on shipping kpop photocards/postcards, stickers, etc. This helped me a lot!
Tim your videos are amazing! thank you so much for making them!
Thanks for this video! It was cool to see your operation.
I impulse bought a Cricut earlier this year and just this month got into sticker making. My brother commissioned a very specific niche piece that ended up getting a great response on social media, leading to some direct sales, so I decided to open an Etsy. It’s been really fun coming up with designs and really getting back into art, even if I don’t have much of a market. Ha ha
It's funny how these things start! I wish you and your brother success :)
@@TimKoa Thanks! I’ve been watching your videos to try and figure out how to best utilize Etsy and have a successful shop. I think my biggest challenge right now is to figure out a product that has more mass appeal (but that won’t kill my creative soul to produce, lmao); about half my traffic so far is driven by posts from external sites for these niche stickers. I’m trying to figure out what people who are already on Etsy would actually search for/have use for. I’m quite happy with what I’ve been able to accomplish so far, but it would be so neat to eventually generate an impactful amount of revenue from it.
I hope you continue to see great success on your end! And thanks again for spreading the knowledge.
@@mrs.quills7061 I didn’t know that there was a way to do that! I always felt it a bit wasteful not to be able to print more on the paper, but c’est la vie.
I’ve been fairly happy with my Cricut, but it definitely has some bugs and can be a bit inconsistent with how clean it cuts on the border. If my shop takes off, I would definitely look at replacing it with something a little more industrial grade.
10 điểm 💥✨
@@TimKoawill you please say me the size of your sticker sheet?the whole sheet not the dimensions of your labels. Plz
I love it. Your sticker machine is not only beautiful but inspiring.
Oh wow, I've been watching your videos for a while and didn't realize you did all the printing yourself. Great work, and thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching :)
This is fascinating! Had no idea there were machines that could do all this and all these shipping resources.
Swift. Knowing your business in every detail by being there - soo cool to see how other people are doing it :)
Thanks friend! And thanks for the tips :)
Thank you! So helpful and inspiring!
This is so inspiring, thank you for sharing. 😊
It's so tidy in your print shop! Fab👌 ✨️
Omfg. Several things about this video I lived. That you are Canadian and your channel is awesome. I'm planning on starting my own online business doing stickers and patterns with an indeginous twist since I'm aboriginal. Second. Those machines !
Need Those lol
And lastly how you present your information is outstanding and straightforward.
Love it. Much success in 2023!
Sounds like you have a good niche to start out with! Wish you success :)
Great video! So fun to see how far you've come over the last couple years! I'm 6 orders away from 500, woohoo!... but it's been two years! I'm working on figuring out how to get more sales now.
I think this was the most helpful and short video I have ever seen. 🙏🏼
I've learned so much in just this video alone, thank you!!
Hy Tim. Just wanted to say that you have really inspired me to create my own little business. I have been wanting to do something on the side now for a long time and coming across your videos really sparked ideas in my head. I am preparing the products now to have them ready for when I open the store up on Etsy. And don't worry, it's not a copy of your business. Thank you again for being an inspiration! I am very glad that I have stumbled upon your videos!!!!
Wish you the best of luck :)
How’s it going for you?
Great vid man, super helpful!!! Thanks a lot for sharing! Cheers from Alberta!!!
Aye !!! Great video my man. Bad ass I mean it. Straight to the point and highly informative
I love this so much! I also sell personalised stationery in my shop (not stickers) and seeing your process has encouraged me. I used to think my process was too long, but it’s really long. I can’t wait to have a mini print room/shop like you.
Everything you said, it was like you were reading my mind. Great video!
I love seeing the updates you've made to your production line Tim. It's inspiring. Are you willing to share the brand of lamination rolls you use? I've tested a few but have yet to find a pressure sensitive laminate that I really love.
very good tip on the cutter. buying one now.
I've always seen the data merge feature used for indesign, which is technically better for print files. Adobe has also done more to make Ai files more compatible w indesign. I actually use an indesign template to print shipping labels directly onto my envelopes. Anywho, love your setup & that your sharing more of it with us now. I've been eying the graphtec for a long while now. It's great confirmation when I see one of my fav youtubers using it.
Great video Tim, honestly brilliant!
Lots of good info here.. thanks for sharing!
Definitely need to know more about this cutting machine! Color me intrigued 😮
Your videos are always excellent. Thanks for the review on Chit Chats. I was looking into them too.
I love letter track pro, with a stamp! It tells you when it’s delivered and when to expect it to arrive. It’s only like .50cents extra for the tracking
Great information- your videos are always informative. Thanks!
Thanks for all your hard work on these videos! Their very informative, straight to the point and also motivating as well! I've always thought about starting a buisness doing all the research but never starting due to not wanting to fail. Success is made from the failures one has made and now I'm diving into it and seeing where the journey takes me! Thanks for all the information and hard work you put in to the videos man! Wish you all the best on your continuing journey ^_^
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. You have inspired me.
That timer looks good for keeping track. I'll look around for it.
What a set up. Thank you for the video
Been looking for this video for years thank you for making it 🙏
You are excellent bro, video straight from heart, I love it
Most plotters have a metal plate on top with a groove in it - it's made to loop the paper back up over the machine, and then you can use an exacto blade to slice off your paper. See if your printer has that? It's a really nice feature.
This is very insightful, I learned a lot especially around the topic of shipping. Can you make a video to introduce your setup? I.e. the printer, the cutter, the sticker material, and laminating material you are using.
Illustrator does have a data merge feature via a csv file. It's under the variables panel. I had my dad (who is a web developer) create a program that crawled the order summary pages (shopify api perhaps? idk) and automatically generates the csv file for me. Mine was a lot more complex because I needed it to pull the customer uploaded images and create a folder of those images on a specific folder in my computer for the csv to reference. Yours would just be text. In fact you might be able to use a built in whatever order exporting feature already exists with your website's platform.
Loved the shipping solutions you mentioned! The Chit Chats one is something I'll have to check out.
I've been using Illustrator for years, and I had no idea you could automate the entry of data through the Variable window. This is a game changer for me! Thank you for the tip!
That's great, still doing that our do you know about any saas solution for auto exporting the Shopify order info?
I'm super familiar with photoshop for non-vectorized art but I wonder if actually I should learn some on illustrator since that seemed quite easy to change quite a few of the parameters like this. Not sure if learning illustrator is worth the time investment though.. every time I open the program to do something simple like crop an image, I'm left wanting to tear my hair out 2 hours later. Have any good tutorial recommendations?
Yeah same, will just go in monk mode and start Skool community around things that will make the community 1/1 - iterate and build up to 5000 members in a year - not related to this per se but related to income and purpose
@@puccarts
@@puccarts I think it depends on if you want to do the type of work that illustrator was made for. It's a vector software like you said. So if you want to do pixel manipulation it's not the right program. But if you want to be able to scale work losslessly, it's the only way to go. I work within both programs and use the one whose strengths best support the type of work I want to create. they link to one another really well, Photoshop through smart objects and illustrator through linked Photoshop files. If you're exclusively interested in the variables data I think Photoshop has some version of that as well. Seems like it's called external data source in Photoshop. For my shop at the time I was generating svg files so illustrator was the smarter choice.
Tutorial wise, I recommend just looking for a tutorial with an end result similar to a style you'd be interested in making and then just following along point for point. After you do that enough you should know enough of the program to start creating things yourself. Then anytime you want to do something and you don't know how, just Google it. That's how I learned. I also started in PS and learned AI later. I work with them pretty 50/50 now. But don't try to learn everything at once. Both PS and AI are huge programs so I don't think it's worth knowing how to use all of their tools. Just the ones you need.
Wow that was so awesome!!!! I’m glad you love what you do, I am more of a make stickers for scrapbooks once a year and I’m done 😂🤣😂💖💖💖
Thanks for introducing chit chat and netparcel. I haven't done international shipping yet from the USA, so I haven't offered that option. So this was very useful info. TY, Tim!
Thanks for watching!
Same I haven't done international either but looking into it now
For international shipping from the USA look at ShipStation. It was dreading it before that. After ShipStation all the headaches were resolved. You can set up presets for international goods and it will reuse the documentation for customs. You can also mail to a freight forwarder which keeps international shipping most cost effective. I was sending to USPS starting in 2015 and it was cheap then but now its more than double. ShipStation offers the freight forwarder in their services. You can also use it for USPS mail as opposed to PirateShip which is only for packages. I usually send "Large Envelope or Flat" via USPS but if you want tracking you can send it as a "Package". PirateShip doesn't offer the ability to send a flat or envelopes so that makes it much more expensive for stickers. I haven't sent anything via PirateShip internationally yet.
@@davidditzler2704 ty! I will look into that as well!
I LOVED your video! Your process is super organized and clear and gave me some ideas on how I can improve my own. That Graphtec plotter seems like an awesome investment to make in the future :3
Dude I remember watching you when you had like 2k subs.
It’s great to see your business growing 👍
Tim. I enjoy your videos and they helped me build my little Etsy shop. I think a great video idea would be how to scale up stickers production. I’m getting ready to step up and get a large format printer and a cutter. Everyone seems to like the Roland. I’m curious to know if you have explored other options as well and curious to hear your thoughts on the Roland bn20. I can’t seem to find a good video about it from the perspective of a sticker shop owner. Seeing the quality of your content I bet you can make a great video about it (pros, cons, cost, what they don’t tell you, alternatives,, etc). Thanks!
dang this is a great video, so much good info in here, thank you sharing this!
I really enjoyed seeing your process awesome!
Thanks for watching!
That cutting machine is really cool!
Love your insight into your business - I’m still trying to narrow down my business idea and niche, which I know will be related to TTRPGs - there will be obviously TTRPG adventures and such, but also want to include accessories and niceties like stickers and such too - so amazing to see your insight :D
your store is beautiful 😍😍
All great advice thank you!
This is excellent content. Really valuable insight into your business.
hi tim!!
for packaging orders i cant recommend getting transparent stackable little basket trays!! that way the orders cant move and dont get mixed up by accident :) thats how i have done over 15k orders
I'll stay away from transparent stackable little basket trays, then! Thanks so much for the tip! You have no idea how close I was to getting some. I really need to move some orders, and hearing how these basket trays have hindered you from moving your orders has me looking for another solution. Thanks for not recommending them! /s
works as it should, thank you friend!
Thank you🙏🏾✨
Love the stickers! They are so cute. Do you design these yourself using only Illustrator? I'm starting to learn how to use Illustrator , it would be cool if you can make a video showing us how to draw the stickers
would love a video on which machines and supplies you recommend
Totally agree with you regarding the packaging. Think of the affect on the environment.
glad to see you use a dearth of washi, branding, and stickers- minimalism is way better
Yooo, you're the best for uploading this, so helpful!!
You have all the legit equipment too, I'm sure the quality of your stickers are 10/10. What kind of sticker paper do you use? I love the finish on them
Great video, I was enjoying watching your home manufacturing,
Hi! Your videos are very informative. I see that you and others often work from home. Can you make a video about electricity costs, or other household costs that you didn't anticipate? Thanks!
Wow you machines are so amazing ❤❤❤
Sincerely helpful thank you!
you can put the vectors in indesign and do the data merge too, they stay as the vectors.
In design has that feature too. You could drop the image file make a new layer for text and then make another layer for the names. Click find text, replace text takes a few clicks once it’s set up.
Holy moly that’s how you’ve made so many sales people love custom stuff!
I have an illustration I wanted to make have a custom option, but I worry it would be a lot of work. I can’t imagine customizing sticker sheets. I have lamination sheets for my stickers but that roller tool you have is super cool. May I ask where you got it?
Also how do you ship those internationally? Don’t you need to put a customs form on them? I ship with stamped mail on Etsy and they have Pitney bowes which provides some tracking and it’s the same price of a stamp! Not sure how I will do this in my Shopify store I plan to open end of next month though.
Hi Tim, love the video and great to hear your story! Can i ask why didnt you buy a 2in1 machine with printer and cutter (obviously you would still have to take the print out to laminate)- Roland makes a 2in1 i think... Also what size is the graphtec that you have, is it 60cm/90/130/160? Do you also have a recommendation for the Roland versa studio printer (i.e. what model) or do you think they are too slow?
Great video! I am just outside Calgary! The laminating part, can you use a hot laminator as well??
Illustrator - Use Variables. Really quick and easy. Pretty much the same as any other data merge in other programs. There are quite a few good youtubes on how to set it up. Once you get past that initial learning curve, which isn't that hard, takes seconds.
Hi Tim,
You're a bright light and Im so fortunate to come across your channel!! ❤ A lot of changes with my family and I've been planning to do a change by somehow starting an online business so our family can save cost with daycare for my 2 little kids. I'll be with my kids and I didnt know where to start. I have many ideas and you just immensely helped shed some light to me!!! My husband just started his new job since we moved cities. Im originally from Toronto and we moved to Ottawa. Question, for the customers that want to expedite their items. They are advised they will be paying for the additional costs on the check out page? Thank you so much for your insight!! Love your channel! 🥰
Thank you for sharing!
With the cutter, how do you ensure the cuts are in the correct place?
I do have access to a versaworks; so I'm tempted to tell it to cut the outlines, but I manually cut up the sheet.
…but on steroids 😂… man you really made a serious upgrade in your printshop… hands down , much respect!! Thanks for sharing. It’s very inspiring
Thank you. ❤
Hey, first of all, congrats on your success with your shop 🙌🏾 I was wondering tho, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the versa studio printer also come with a cutting feature? I was curious about why you use a separate plotter machine for cutting
Love those video's. I am not selling but I do it as hobby. Love to see the process
If I had my own channel, I would totally praise ChitChats too! 😄Thanks for another great video!
Which of the plotters and printers do you use? I've always wanted to add stickers to my set up, I sell clothing and I'd love to add a sticker of the same design with each sale.
Thank you for sharing your tips
What specific machines do you use for printing, laminating and cutting?
Thank you, I am so wanting to make stickers. I don't have a business yet but I really want to make stickers. 😊
Thank you very much for making this. I am interested in doing something like this for myself.
Any of your videos talk about what kind of printer I would need to print colored or photo quality stickers?
You have a new follower!
You need to make a course on how to do this Tim.... Great content.
Hi Tim. If possible, can you give information about the application that you use on the product page of the website, which displays the text on the sticker? Is it a plugin?