What To Do With Your Vinyl Offcuts As A Decal Business

So because I make a lot of medium - large decals, I end up with a tonne of leftover vinyl! So once they build up I try to get rid of them in a number of ways.

Let me show you some of them in this video…

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Use Them For Smaller Designs

So this may be an obvious one, but you can use them for your smaller designs - there’s no point giving away all of that vinyl if it can be used for your products. And if you don’t sell small decals, but you end up with lots of scraps then it might be worth adding some additional designs to your business, but then make them at the same time as the larger orders to save yourself time and to fill up those gaps and spaces in your vinyl designs to minimize scraps in the first place.

This can also act as a bit of a trial run for any customers who are unsure - if someone is worried about whether or not they can actually apply a decal, just spending a little amount on something smaller to try it out first should give them the confidence they need to spend more money on your larger items. 

I tend to find that I don’t always have the time to keep swapping out small bits of vinyl though when I’m making orders, but you can of course add lots of scraps to one mat and move around your designs so that they fit.

Photo: LemonyFizz - Cricut Hacks

And this is even easier if you use a Cricut and design on an iPad as you then have the snap mat feature. Take a look at my iPad and Design Space video here if you want to see that in action. 

So as well as smaller designs, you could also create and sell sticker shape sheets if that’s relevant to your niche - they are super quick to design, make and weed, and you can just create them when you have a bit of down time and then keep them in stock.

And then if you don’t sell them, you could always just use them on gifts or other things that you’re crafting.

But if you’ve done all that and you’re still ending up with lots of excess vinyl - which is what has happened to me because my larger stuff just sells more than my smaller stuff does - then there are still other things you can do.

Sell As A Bundle

So actually, the quickest option for me, is to sort the scraps into bundles and sell them to other crafters. So I’ll usually do a mix of colours with about 20 or so decent-sized pieces in a cardboard backed envelope. I’ve just previously put them on Ebay and they always sell really well.

They don’t really sell for that much however so I’m not really sure it’s always worth the time , so sometimes I have ended up just giving stacks away instead.

But maybe if you sell a lot at once, or if you have someone locally you could sell them to, then it could be worth thinking about. 

Give Away Freebies

Then the next option is to think about giving away freebies. 

I saw this idea on TikTok a while back (I’m sorry I’m not sure who it was, but please let me know if you know and I’ll tag them here) and it was to make lots of different vinyl letters when you have some downtime. Make them using a cool font, but obviously still one that’s really quick to weed, and then you can add one to each of your customer’s parcels for the first letter of their name. And then it’s just like a cool non-specific thing that they can add to whatever they like, yet it’s also such a personal touch as well. 

And then there are plenty of other things you could do as giveaways too depending on what your niche is - maybe just a small quote, or shape, that customers can stick to something around the home or at work.  

Make Labels

Or rather than a freebie, you could also make little labels with your logo or branding on them and just stick them on your envelopes, on your thank you cards, or on other things that you might want to give away, especially if you sell at craft fayres or in person. 

Then of course you can use them for yourself around your craft room or home office to organize your storage, make yourself little quotes for inspiration, or customize your Cricut or Cameo machine. 

Photo: TastefullyFrugal

It is just the time factor obviously when you’re using them for your business - you don’t want to be spending time making things like this that don’t add enough value if your time could be spent elsewhere doing things like making orders or creating new designs to sell. But if you can find some time to fit them in and make the most of all of your resources then that’s perfect!

And I’m sure there are lots more, but these are just a few of the best ones that I do myself!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other great ideas for vinyl offcuts, or which one you are going to try out for yours!