OpenTube

I Asked 60+ ANIME EXPO Artists for their BEST SELLERS... Here's What I Learned.

Sticker Zoo Designs

205,784 views

While vending as an artist at Anime Expo 2025, I had the opportunity to reconnect with and meet new artists! I am ever grateful for the chance to participate as an artist at the biggest anime convention in North America, and HAD TO ask a bunch of artists what their best sellers at this HUGE convention was.**

ARTISTS/Video Segments:
00:00 - intro and my goal
00:44 - all the artists featured: preview
01:13 - disclaimers

01:38 - ‪@Mualcaina‬
02:46 - ‪@drawnbyivy‬
03:50 - ‪@JulianneDoodles‬ (PepperCut)
04:03 - ‪@Inkwell‬
04:51 - Sang Lam Instagram: sanglamart
05:09 - ‪@bionyo‬
05:48 - ‪@ccayco‬
06:29 - ‪@karenalleluia‬
06:53 - ‪@kelsiekishidraws‬
07:19 - Pikarar Instagram: pikarar
08:07 - ‪@jeaninidraws‬
08:25 - Starry Droplets Instagram: starrydroplets
08:40 - Lucky Cat Market Instagram: luckycatmarket
08:52 - ‪@qrbitsart‬
09:38 - Petty Party Instagram: pettyparty.co
10:13 - Retro Cherub Instagram: retrocherub
10:29 - Soul Dewz Instagram: souldewz
10:43 - 2JingIs2Jing Instagram: 2jingis2jing
11:10 - Chunky Tomato Instagram: chunkytomato
11:31 - Toothee Instagram: tootheeart
12:21 - ‪@aechunggart‬
12:42 - Mindiiw Instagram: mindiiww
13:03 - Art of Mazzy Instagram: artofmazzy
13:18 - CeeVee Instagram: ceevee.co
13:55 - Peach Slice Creations Instagram: peachslicecreations
14:59 - Pinjutsu Instagram: pinjutsu
15:15 - Prez Weeb Instagram: prezweeb
15:49 - Killamon Instagram: killamon
16:13 - Chizu Works Instagram: chizu_works
16:34 - Joanna Shen Art Instagram: joannashenart
16:59 - The Hiding Ghost Instagram: thehidingghost
17:54 - Tsundere Sharks Instagram: tsunderesharks
18:12 - NotQuiteKit Instagram: notquitekit
18:44 - ‪@BAESDart‬
18:59 - Coco Choon Instagram: coco.choon
19:27 - Dream Cream Instagram: dreamcreamco
20:01 - Art of Emfitz Instagram: art_of_emfitz
20:19 - Daesign Studio Instagram: daesignstudio
20:40 - Overlord Ink Instagram: overlord.ink
21:12 - ‪@thejuiceboxclub‬
21:37 - Kumo Krew Instagram: kumokrew
21:50 - Girthy Boba Straw Instagram: girthybobastraw
22:05 - MochirinArt Instagram: mochirin.art
22:25 - Xenvita Instagram: xenvita
22:47 - ‪@singlesploot‬
23:05 - Lynuyu Instagram: lynuyu
23:37 - ‪@pupchans‬
24:21 - KaikaiDraw Instagram: kaikai.draw
24:59 - ‪@pikalinstudios‬
25:54 - MoonPooArt Instagram: moonpooart
26:17 - Noah Sturm Instagram: noahsturm
26:40 - Kobuta Nori Instagram: kobuta_nori
27:15 - Cattpucino Instagram: cattpucino
27:47 - Peony Lee Art Instagram: peonyleeart
28:02 - ‪@theghostegg‬
28:34 - ‪@quaphadoodle‬
28:52 - ZeroType Instagram: _zerotype
29:08 - ‪@thanhuki‬
29:33 - Midly Egg Instagram: midly.egg
29:58 - Cycychang Instagram: cycychangart
30:31 - ‪@thanksxu‬

31:00 - my best seller ‪@StickerZooDesigns‬
33:47 - I wish I could have interviewed more artists...
34:28 - thank you for watching!

This video would not be possible without my friends and helpers at my booth @kwoo.jii (Kayla) and ‪@dobiko_goods‬ (Sid).

**Disclaimers:
I only asked artists if they had a helper and tried not to distract them from sales, I asked artists across all four different days, hence why my outfits changed, which can skew some answers.

Here's some basic stats of the event featured, Anime Expo
Four day weekend event, July 3rd - July 6th (9am - 6pm) (sunday: 9am - 3pm)
Located at Los Angeles Convention Center
~$730 per table (Artist Alley, two AA badges)
Third AA badge: $105
Parking: $32/day ($27/day for set up days)
900+ artists, lottery x juried

🐹 You're officially a Zookie now!~
Check out my shop, Sticker Zoo Designs
https://www.stickerzoodesigns.com

👉Follow our socials! 👈
LINK TREE: https://linktr.ee/stickerzoo
INSTAGRAM: Instagram: stickerzoodesigns
TWITCH: Twitch: stickerzoo
TIKTOK: TikTok: stickerzoo
Artist Alley catalog: https://stickerzoodesigns.carrd.co/

Wanna join the Artist Alley scene? Start here!:
https://artistalleynetwork.carrd.co/

Thank you for watching, and reading this description lolol!

MUSIC:
All music belongs to Mahito Yokota, ‎Koji Kondo, and the creators of the Super Mario franchise, and any Nintendo features.

#animeexpo #animeexpo2025 #artistalley #stickerzoo #losangelesconventioncenter #lacc #deodorant #ax2025 #iaskedartists #q&a #qna #bestseller #bestsellersmarket

20 Comments

@tajeemcmuffin 1 year ago

So, my take away is that no matter what you prepare, your bestseller will always be whatever you made last minute.

@miseryadoptionsoftware 1 year ago

So basically:
-Make limited-edition/location-exclusives
-Make local references, inner-community references ("Make it Gay", etc)
-Make it relatable
-Make a large range of price options
-OCs are just as successful as fanart
-Pick shows that are small to tap into untouched markets
-Pick shows that are big, the classics (Dragonball, One Piece, Gundam, top anime of the year/season)
-Consider neutral colors (white, black, beige)
-Consider anime/comic/girlie influences
-Make unique items (fidgets, etc)
-Make utility items (shopping bags, carabiners, blankets)
-Make not only character art, but also object art
-Add gold foil/make it luxury
-Make deals for purchasing multiple items
-Make smaller, cheaper options
-Make gatcha options for cheaper
-Choose a niche (bread, AUs)
-Make cross-show references
-Make puns/cute short phrases
-Make it an experience (drink coin)
-Choose a timeless character (Miku, Spongebob)
-Try a medium that is rare (embroidery)
-Do whatever's trending

-Do something that triggers nostalgia
-Make your booth/outfit match your art

And most importantly:
-Make your design last-minute

@ChauntelleM 1 year ago

I love how you matched the colour of their name in the corner to their branding colours. Such a nice detail to add to the video 😊

@poxcosplay 1 year ago

It's really nice to hear a lot of like OC art is being sold it gives me hope in wanting to do artist alley stuff bc I'm not much of an fan art creator

@luckypostingandco 1 year ago

my fav booths are the ones that label what fandoms things are from. sometimes I wanna buy gifts for friends but characters look similar to those from other media and I feel stupid asking which characters they are for confirmation

@that_cat21 1 year ago

my best seller is two stupid stickers with "women me fish, fear want me" and "me fear women, me want fish" with a fish on it. i sell both because i wanted to know which one would do better and they sell almost exactly the same. the other stuff i sell is pride stickers and handmade resin dice, i also made a poisson steve sticker (that said "me fear women, me want steve" for a con in may which was my best seller for the weekend, but i'm not expecting it to do well at future events (i will still stock it though)

@lekiyo 1 year ago (edited)

I love how there's this long part about the bag selling in neutral colours and then later we see someone wearing all green and a green bag

@gravyz2cute4u 1 year ago (edited)

I like the artists who make merch for the older, niche shows! Sometimes it's so hard to find anything for them, but I was too young/broke to go out and buy stuff back when they were at their peak popularity. Now I have money to spend on stickers, pins and washi tapes of my favourite anime from decade/s ago. Also, having labels for each fandom makes it easy for me because I'm not very familiar with newer shows.

@toothe3 1 year ago

Seeing everyone's best sellers just has me foaming at the mouth for wanting to buy all their cute stuff!!! So many cool artists I follow and getting to hear them talking to you is sooooo nice! <3 Thank you so much for taking the time at AX to talk with me but also all these other creatives!
The conservations have so much insight and shared joy over our hobbies, just extremely cool of you Henry- so cool. 😎

@uninvincibleete 1 year ago

5:05 i tend to get pins at cons because i can put them on jackets and bags, and then they become a talking point/ice breaker when i'm out and about, whereas things like prints i only get to enjoy at home. idk if i represent the average pin buyer or not tho

@stanbts1545 1 year ago

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS VIDEO! Me and my sister were at anime expo and wanted to buy an item from the artist alley, but ended up not getting it. We regretted not buying it on the first day so we tried looking for the artist all weekend, but couldn't ;-; BUT I WAS ABLE TO FIND THE ARTIST THROUGH YOUR VIDEO SO THANK YOU SO MUCH for highlighting all these amazing artists! Hopefully my sister likes her new birthday present .

@MaoMiaoMau 1 year ago

“theres probably a lot of pin collectors”
the humble lanyard on the right side of the screen:

@SenElric 1 year ago

New list of artist to follow just dropped! Idk where you get the energy to not only sell but interact so many artist while recording 😭
I appreciate sharing a shot of the display, you can get a vibe and theme from how they display the merch! 💕

@Default3446 1 year ago

I can’t believe that these amazing artists are giving out tips for free

@zelrius8714 11 months ago

for me I love pins and mainly keychains at artist alleys because I LOVE putting tons on my bags and they're usually cheaper than other items. Occasionally I'd get stickers if it's from a niche community or just a fandom I REALLY love or the art is super great. Second thing is posters, but it has to be very unique kind of art and from a video game usually. But I agree with people that niche and older stuff will always catch my eye, I'm an otome fan so if I see anything relating to otome games or that kinda genre, you will immediately have my attention. My main two things are usually video games and otome related things

@JazJustDraws 11 months ago

Henry, you probably won't see this, but as one of many Asian American artists, it makes me really happy seeing you highlighting so many. I'm from the East Coast and I don't see a lot of vendors who look like us, so seeing them makes me realize that I'm not alone! (And also because an art career's always been slightly discouraged by my parents just for financial reasons) Thanks to this video, it's inspiring me to become a vendor as well!

@IM_ThePurplesloth 1 year ago

What I've learned from this video is to step up my game by watching a lot more anime 😂😅

@SecretIdentityStudio 1 year ago

It's really interesting to see what does well in different places! My home con is notorious for original art suffering and fanart doing gangbusters, but AX seems to have original art do really well. Plus different series or characters seem to appeal to different cons.

@luuminee 1 year ago

As a cosplayer of 8 years, this is very interesting! Idk if I'm a decent representative of what people look for, but I prefer small prints (A5/A6 size), pins, photo cards and keychains! Large prints, as beautiful as they are, take up a lot of space and often can't even fit in a binder. I love retiring my prints to a binder, but I just can't do that with 11x17 prints without folding them 😢 (this is a plea, stock small prints 😂
I am also partial to fanart, mostly because cosplay is a fandom space. I think we just kinda naturally gravitate to it and it also serves as a reminder of our favorite series!

@Phantomixiii 1 year ago

Im so glad that OC is popular there! It makes me hope that the popularity for oc would go beyond that. I would more than anything love to sell my OC over fanworks due to the muddy copyright path artists often have to take. Its exciting to think about!