Raise your hand if you’ve had a vinyl cutter for some time, made decals for yourself…
…and now you have people wanting to buy them but you have NO idea how to prepare vinyl decals to sell to folks.
🙋♀️ 🙋♀️ 🙋♀️
Yep, I thought so! But don’t worry, I’ve got your back.
Before I quit to sell SVGs full time, I made a living with a vinyl business which included selling thousands of vinyl decals over the years.
Out of what I learned over time, I have some tips for you – things you won’t find in most of the general “how to start a vinyl decal business” articles.
The key thing to remember is this: You want to make it EASY for your customer. Keep in mind your customer will be applying the decal themselves, and hey – let’s be real – they probably don’t know what they are doing.
Here are some things you can do as you prepare vinyl decals to sell in order to make it a success for THEM (and you).
(Note: some of the links below are affiliate links for the products that I recommend.)
How To Prepare Vinyl Decals To Sell – Tip #1:
Use Professional Transfer Tape For Vinyl Decals
You don’t want to cheap out here – use the good stuff. Professional quality transfer tape is so crucial because, as I said before, your customer will probably be applying the decal themselves with no experience.
Cheap transfer tapes can stick too much, making it almost impossible to get the decal off and you’ll end up with an unhappy customer.
I recommend:
- Rtape AT65 – the tape of choice I used for years in my own vinyl decal business. Can sometimes be a bit hard to find in hobbyist quantities, but usually can be found on Amazon or US Cutter.
- Expressions Vinyl Transfer Tape – I have also used this and it is pretty much identical to the AT65 and you don’t have to buy a ton at once.
- Frisco Craft transfer tape – This guy gets an honorable mention – it is very similar to AT65, and while I haven’t used it myself, it is the current #1 recommendation by many people who sell vinyl decals.
I do NOT recommend:
- Contact paper – Contact paper works fine for in-house use when you’re going to put it on and then transfer right away, but it starts to really REALLY stick to the decal if it sits for more than a day or two. Plus, it looks weird, cheap, and unprofessional. You don’t want your customers to think you “cheaped out” on anything, trust me.
- Grid transfer tape – okay, this one is a maaaaybe… because the quality itself of most of them is fine. I only say that because it is MUCH easier for the end user to position a decal on the right spot if they can actually see through the transfer tape really well. Your customer will be happier and have a better experience if you use a clear tape.
- Cricut transfer tape – Cricut machines are pretty ding-dang awesome, but their supplies are kinda meh. I’ve heard of SO many people having issues with their transfer tape when they are selling decals, and so just based on that I don’t recommend it.
How To Prepare Vinyl Decals To Sell – Tip #2:
Always Pre-Peel The Decal
I know, I know, some people say this isn’t necessary. If the customer rubs the decal hard enough, it should be fine, right?
Well… yes and no.
Remember what I said above – your customers probably will have zero experience doing this and very likely might not burnish/rub the decal hard enough.
If you pre-peel the decal, then you know for sure the decal is attached securely to the transfer tape AND will come off the backing easily.
And – hey – we’re in it for customer service, pre-peeling takes literal seconds, so why wouldn’t you take a few extra seconds to ensure a fabulous customer experience?
Pre-peeling is exactly what it sounds like – just apply the transfer tape, rub it down, peel up the decal, and reapply it back onto the backing paper. I like to trim the edges even after I’m done with the process, it makes for a nice sharp look.
How To Prepare Vinyl Decals To Sell – Tip #3:
Include Actually Detailed Vinyl Decal Installation Instructions
Over the years, I’ve seen people talk about how customers screw up installation and often I suspected it had to do with the instructions they sent.
Many people send small cute cards with the decal that have a very basic simplified overview on how to install it, but let’s be real – these customers generally have zero clue what they are doing, so why not make it easy & give them some actual DETAILS on how to do it right?
Otherwise, they won’t know things like not to apply the decal in extreme temperatures, how to use the hinge method to position it, or how to deal with air bubbles?
My instructions for my customers were simple but plenty detailed – a half sheet printed back and front and I would fold it up and include it in the bag with the decal.
No – it isn’t a cute little card, but you know what? I almost NEVER had issues with my customers installing decals.
Not nearly to the level that I hear about from other people. I think it’s because my instructions are detailed, rather than abbreviated.
And of course you’re like “OMG I don’t want to write that out” and you don’t have to worry about that! I have a printable PDF copy of my vinyl decal installation instructions (both full sheet and half sheet) that is available to all my email subscribers.
Which reminds me, if you are still reading this, you probably should subscribe to my list anyway because vinyl business tips are kinda the main thing I talk about on it.
👇 Subscribe right here & grab your free vinyl decal instructions printable 👇
And if you’re reading about how to prepare vinyl decals to sell, I bet you’ll love the other stuff I have to talk about!
How To Prepare Vinyl Decals To Sell – Tip #4:
Use Professional Quality Vinyl
I know, I know, this isn’t so much on the preparation part but I needed to say PLEASE DO NOT USE CRICUT VINYL. Use professional vinyl, please. If you’re selling, you’re a business, and you really do need to have a professional quality product.
My recommendation: Oracal 651 for permanent and Oracal 631 for removable decals.
End rant on that.
How To Prepare Vinyl Decals To Sell – Tip #5:
How to Package Vinyl Decals for Shipping
Ahh, the tough one. This is actually probably its own blog post, really, but here’s a quick overview.
If you’re JUST shipping, I recommend packaging the decal with the instructions, a business card, and maybe a freebie (I used to use my scraps to cut myself a stockpile of little fun seasonal shapes to include in orders) in a plastic bag.
For bonus points, you can include an alcohol wipe (I used to have a hard time finding them reliably but they seem to be consistently available on Amazon these days).
You can use a zip bag or even just a cello bag taped closed. You DO want it to be somewhat watertight… because you never know what can happen in shipment.
If, however, you intend to also sell in person like at shows, or in a shop of some sort, you may want to do something a little fancier.
When I did shows, I would pre-package the decals in a cello (or zip) bag, then print off a little folding “topper” for the bag, staple it on, and punch a hole in the top center for hanging. It makes for a really nice presentation.
Now – as far as shipping envelopes (and methods) for packing vinyl decals goes.
Many people just use a regular envelope and stamps. Which may work fine while you’re a lil guy, but if you want to grow your business into a “this is how I make a living” deal you want to have a professional presentation, and it’s pretty important to be professional if you want people to take your business seriously.
Not to mention order tracking, since “Gosh I don’t know what happened to your order, wait a few more days… still not there, so I guess I’ll just send you a new one” doesn’t exactly give people the best customer experience.
So – I recommend rigid chipboard mailers, or your decal-in-a-bag sandwiched between two pieces of chipboard/cardboard inside a mylar mailer, sent First Class with Tracking.
Don’t guess on shipping cost – you can use Pirate Ship to get an idea of shipping costs (or if you’re selling decals on Etsy you can use their shipping section to estimate cost) – simply pack your vinyl decal as if you were going to ship it, then weigh it (I use this postal scale from Amazon), and input the details and they will tell you how much shipping will cost.
Also – side note – don’t ever doubt that people will pay for decent shipping. THEY WILL. I had someone once pay me over $80 in shipping cost alone to express mail two coffee mugs from the USA to Australia. That taught me a valuable lesson about assuming what people will and won’t pay to ship.
And that, my friend, is a bunch of things that no one will tell you on how to prepare vinyl decals to sell.
Got more questions? Let me know in the comments!
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Hello, I’ve been selling vinyl decals for about two years now. I haven’t made any changes to my product and I test cut from each new roll I use, but lately in the summer I’ve gotten around 4 orders where people are having a hard time peeling the decal from the backing. I pre-peel them so im not sure what the problem is so I can come up with a solution. Do you have any advise?
So I suppose it depends on what sort of everything you’re using (vinyl, transfer tape, etc). The fact that it’s happening in the summer tells me that perhaps the heat is affecting it. It might be worth testing to see if extreme heat affects the peeling of the decals, and then it could also have to do with the temperature people are doing it at? Something else you might consider – I don’t know how exact you are when you pre-peel but if you peel it up and then put it back, offset it just a tiiiiiny bit so that the little dents in the backing paper created by the blade when it cuts can help make the backing surface a little more uneven and would peel easier.
It seems like the decals are simply clear vinyl stickers.
I’m looking for actual decals – not stickers.
Is there another modern term I should be looking for.
Vinyl backed stickers won’t do. I need actual decals.
Any tips on finding such?
Hey – I’m not sure what you’re referring to, in the Cricut/Silhouette industry we cut decals out of solid pieces of colored vinyl. The vinyl is a super thin sheet with an adhesive backing that is rated for outdoors (or some of them are removable). Each color is cut individually – so the black would be cut out of black vinyl, red out of red, etc. The only clear stuff you see is the transfer tape in this blog post, this is for application only and then gets removed once the decal is applied. You can get printed vinyl sometimes, but most people just use regular decal vinyl. If you’re looking for something else, I’m sorry but I don’t really know what you’re referring to.
Great information, but can you answer this…(not for selling but just being able to gift these)
I have a multi color design. I have it on my car and I want to send it to a friend. How do I get all the pieces on one paper? (A letter then a design and then another letter….different colors so they are not cut from the same sheet of vinyl)
Hey Heather! That’s called layering – there are probably tutorials for this on Youtube but the short answer is you use one piece of transfer tape, pick up the topmost color, then remove the backing, use it to pick up the next, and so forth. Working from the top layer to the bottom layer. If the colors are just next to each other and not layered, it doesn’t matter which order you do it in. And then make sure the bottom color has a big enough piece of backing for the entire design. If you need help lining it up, registration marks are helpful and then you can just remove them before you send the decal to your friend.
This was So Helpful, thank you for taking the time to write this!!
You’re welcome!
Thank you so much for all this wonderful information! It’s truly been a huge help. I do have a question as to how you made the “topper” for the resale bags. I’m a noob, sorry. Thank you very much for your article!
Hey Jean! It was just some cardstock, folded over. You could make a template of sorts, according to the size of your bags and even print the front & back for a really nice professional presentation (just make sure that one of the sides is upside down so it becomes right side up when the paper is folded).
Great tutorial, I just don’t know how to get the design from being cut to the backing (if that makes sense).
Hey Lilly! The vinyl comes on the backing already, so if you’re using regular vinyl you don’t have to put it on backing, it’s already on there, you just weed away the excess vinyl.