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Thank You Stickers for Packages: Do They Work, Where Can They Go, and What Should You Spend?

Where stickers can go on a USPS package, what research says about notes and inserts, how to tell if it's working, and the cheapest way to start. Plus four free Canva sticker templates.

Marissa Founder, Marissa's Home & SOLD Now · November 12, 2026 · 8 min read

A vintage seller presses a round kraft "Thank you!" sticker onto the back of a white poly mailer at a bright packing table

Yes, you can put thank you stickers on your packages, and they're a cheap, friendly way to make a sale feel personal. Keep them off the address, postage and barcode, and put your money into the one extra that research actually backs: a short note that looks like you wrote it. If you want to know whether any of it brings buyers back, add something they can scan or type, because a sticker alone can't be tracked.

This question blew up in a reseller group this week. One seller shared a shipping label where they'd typed “Thank you” and their buyer's first name right onto the label in their thermal printer's software, instead of printing a separate sticker. Dozens of people asked how they did it. Others asked whether it's even allowed, whether cute packaging gets stolen, and whether buyers notice at all. Here's what we found when we looked it up.

Can you put stickers on a USPS package?

Yes. USPS doesn't ban decorations. What it asks for is room to work: its mailing standards say every piece needs clear space for the address, postage and other required markings, and that a shipping label shouldn't overlap another label or wrap around the side of the box (USPS Domestic Mail Manual, section 202 (opens in a new tab)).

Diagram of a shipping box showing a keep-clear zone around the shipping label and safe spots for stickers on the corners, sides and inside flap

In practice, that means:

Anywhere off the label is fine. Corners, sides, the back of a poly mailer, the tape seam.
Nothing on the address, postage or barcode, and leave the white space around the barcode empty. Sorting machines read that label.
Adding text to the label itself? Put it in the blank space at the bottom, away from the address block and barcode. Some sellers in that thread add a short item description down there too, so they never mix up which label goes on which package.
When in doubt, go inside. A sticker on the inside flap or sealing the tissue paper is the first thing your buyer sees, and it's nowhere near the label.

One commenter who said they work for USPS put it simply: stickers are fine as long as they don't cover the barcode or any addresses.

Does a cute package get stolen more?

Sellers split on this one. Some said a mail carrier warned them that bright, sticker-covered mailers look like “something good from a shop” and stopped using them. Others said they've shipped thousands of packages in seasonal print mailers over 15 or 20 years and lost almost none. We couldn't find any data either way. If it worries you, ship in plain mailers and put the stickers inside. You keep the unboxing moment and lose nothing.

And about “Fragile” stickers: several sellers pointed out that machines can't read them. Pack every breakable piece to survive a drop, whatever the box says on the outside.

Do branded stickers and inserts actually work?

Nobody has studied thank you stickers on their own, so be wary of anyone quoting a sticker statistic. What has been studied is the thank-you note, and the results are worth knowing:

A handwritten-looking note brought buyers back. In a field test with 1,232 customers of an online beauty retailer, people who got no note went on to spend an average of $25.97, and people who got a copy of a handwritten note spent $52.07. The study was published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing in 2022 (Kim, Choi and Kim), as summarized by Science Says (opens in a new tab).
Handwritten beat printed. In a separate randomized test that tracked 2,000 online shoppers for six months, handwritten letters raised repeat purchases and printed letters didn't. In that study, copies of handwritten letters didn't work either, and messier handwriting worked best, because buyers believed the seller wrote it themselves (research seminar abstract, CUHK Business School (opens in a new tab)).
Keep the coupon out of the thank-you. Summaries of the 2022 study report that the note's effect shrinks when it comes with a discount or free sample, because it starts to read as a sales tactic.
Packaging can stick in buyers' minds. In a 2013 survey by Dotcom Distribution, a fulfillment company that sells packaging services, 52% of shoppers said they were likely to buy again from an online store that ships in premium packaging, and nearly 40% said they'd share a photo of a unique, branded or gift-like box (Retail TouchPoints (opens in a new tab)). It's the company's own survey and it's old, so treat it as a hint, not proof.

Research summary: average later spending of $25.97 with no note versus $52.07 with a copy of a handwritten note, plus findings on printed letters and premium packaging

The short answer: stickers make a package feel cared for, but the extra with real evidence behind it is a short thank-you note in your own handwriting. If you only have time for one thing, write the note.

A seller writes a short thank-you card beside an open box holding a floral teacup wrapped in tissue

Should you add extra stuff to your packages?

A little, yes. A lot, usually no. Every extra costs money, adds weight and takes time at the packing table. Here's how we'd sort it:

Worth it: a short handwritten thank-you, a sticker sealing the tissue, and one small card that tells buyers how to find you again.
Nice if it fits your shop: a card with the piece's history. A vintage buyer who learns when their dish was made has a reason to remember where it came from.
Usually skip: loose glitter or confetti that spills when the box opens, freebies that push you into a heavier shipping tier, and anything that could scratch or stain the item.

An open shipping box with a gold thank-you sticker on the inside flap and a QR insert card on a tissue-wrapped amber dish

Check the platform's rules before you add a card. eBay doesn't allow sellers to offer catalogs or other items buyers can use to order directly outside eBay, or to use a buyer's contact details from an eBay sale to sell to them elsewhere (eBay policy (opens in a new tab)). A thank-you sticker and note are fine. For eBay orders, leave out cards that send buyers to buy somewhere else, QR codes included. If you want eBay buyers back, eBay lets Store subscribers print a coupon note for the package from the Orders page in Seller Hub (eBay coded coupons (opens in a new tab)). Other platforms have their own rules, so check each one.

Can you track whether it's working?

Not with a sticker by itself. A sticker gets seen and tossed, and there's no way to count that. To measure anything, give buyers one thing to scan, type or tell you:

A QR code on your insert card. Point it to one page and watch the visits. Your free SOLD Now Digital Business Card has a Card Visits dashboard that shows visits and mailing-list sign-ups over any date range you pick.
A code just for packages. On eBay, create a coded coupon you only share in packages, then count how often it's used.
Repeat buyers. Write down who buys a second time. Compare the month before you start your new packaging with the month after.
Ask. “How did you find me?” works at the booth, in DMs and in a Whatnot chat. Keep a tally for a month.

Four ways to measure package branding: a QR code on the insert, a package-only coupon code, repeat buyers, and asking customers

Change one thing at a time. If you add stickers, a note and a QR card all in the same week, you won't know which one did the work.

What's the cheapest way to brand your packages?

Start with what costs nothing, and spend only when your volume makes it worth it:

A handwritten thank-you. A blank card and a pen. This is the one with the best evidence.
Text on the label you already print. If your label printer's app lets you add text before you print, add a short thank-you or your shop name in the blank space at the bottom. That's what the seller in the group did, and as they put it, it costs about ten seconds.
Buy pre-printed sticker rolls. If you're on a budget and would rather skip the design work, rolls of a few hundred pre-printed stickers that say “Thank you,” “Happy Mail” or “Love what's inside? Review!” are easy to find on Amazon, Temu and Walmart.
Print your own stickers. Design once, then print on sticker paper or thermal labels as you need them. A thermal printer prints in black only, so for color, print on colored thermal labels, or print in color from your home computer on Avery sticker sheets.
Order custom stickers. Canva Print lets you design and order printed stickers in one place, and Canva plants a tree for every print order through its One Print, One Tree (opens in a new tab) program. If you want to test a design small first, VistaPrint offers 10 circle stickers for $10 as a trial (VistaPrint (opens in a new tab), checked November 2, 2026). Roll labels get cheaper per sticker at high quantities.
Custom mailers, tape and tissue. The full unboxing look. Worth it once you ship enough to meet bulk minimums.

A thermal label printer printing small round "Thank you for shopping small" stickers on a white desk

Six-step branding ladder from a handwritten note and label text at no cost, through pre-printed rolls and custom stickers, up to custom mailers

If you already sell at a booth or market, use the same brand everywhere. When the sticker on your package matches the price tag in your booth, buyers start to recognize you. When Marissa's Home ran the Texas Pyrex Swap, every price tag carried a QR code (here's how that worked), and the same idea works on an insert card in a package.

Free download

Four free Canva sticker templates

Want a head start? We made four Canva templates you can make your own and print at home:

2-inch round sticker sheet Fits Avery 22807. Good for inside the box or on top by the label.
4-inch round sticker sheet Big enough to show up on the side of a box.
4x6 thermal sticker Black and white, for thermal label printers.
Thank-you insert card With a spot for your QR code.

Get all four templates

Enter your name and email and all four unlock right here.

How I pack a Marissa's Home order

At Marissa's Home, I want every customer to have an experience when they open their package. I start by making sure every item I ship is clean and scent-free. Then I wrap the item in tissue paper, with the bubble wrap over the tissue, so opening it feels like opening a gift. I add more bubble wrap if the piece needs it.

I don't use tape on my bubble wrap: it's a pain to get off, and I don't want unwrapping to stress my buyer. I've also seen fragile items get broken while people try to get the tape off. Instead, I secure the bubble wrap with stretch wrap and put a Marissa's Home sticker on the loose end, so it's easy to find and unwrap.

I pack it all in the box with plenty of padding and add their receipt pack: their receipt, a thank-you card, a business card with a QR code and a small gift. Then I tape the box shut and add Marissa's Home stickers to the outside, so customers know at a glance it's their order from Marissa's Home.

Before you add weight to every package, take a look at the shipping and fee changes hitting resellers this holiday season.

A packing station with a row of white poly mailers sealed with coral thank-you stickers

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I put stickers on a USPS shipping box?

Yes. Keep them off the address, postage and barcode, and don't let anything overlap the shipping label. Corners, sides and the inside flap are all fine.

Can I add a thank you message to my shipping label?

If your label printer's software lets you add text, put a short message in the blank space at the bottom of the label, well away from the address block and barcode.

Do thank you notes in packages increase repeat sales?

Research says handwritten-looking notes can. In one field test, customers who got a copy of a handwritten note later spent $52.07 on average, versus $25.97 for customers who got no note. Printed notes didn't show the same effect in another study.

Can I put a business card in an eBay package?

eBay doesn't allow anything buyers can use to order directly outside eBay. A thank-you note and sticker are fine; leave out cards that send eBay buyers to buy elsewhere, and use eBay's coded coupons to invite them back.

How do I know if my package branding is working?

Add something trackable: a QR code to one page, a coupon code you only share in packages, or a “How did you find me?” question. Then compare one month before and one month after the change.

SOLD Now: From Spreadsheets to a Real Business System.

Sources

Checked November 2, 2026.