Clark Howard

Stickr.co Review: How It Works and How Much You Can Earn

Let’s review Stickr.co, which promises that you can earn passive income every month by allowing companies to advertise on the back windshield of your car.

I tried this for four months and netted an average of $71.12 per month in compensation including cash and gift cards. But it took some dedication on my part, and I had to navigate some upfront costs. I’ll explain why that may or may not be a good idea for you.

I’ll review whether Stickr.co is a legitimate business or a scam. If you want to give it a try, I’ll walk you through the steps. And I’ll show you how much money you can earn.

Table of Contents

Stickr.co Review: Legitimate or a Scam?

Most of the YouTube reviews of Stickr.co focus on this question, so if you’re researching the company, you’re probably wondering whether this is a legit way to make some money.

It’s for real, but there are land mines you want to avoid if you decide to try Stickr.

I have used Stickr.co since Spring 2020. You're not going to get rich, and if you aren't vigilant, you can lose money.

But if you don’t mind putting advertising decals on your back windshield, you’re OK with getting part of your compensation through restaurant gift cards and you’re willing to take a picture of your car on the first day of every month, you can earn hundreds of dollars a year.

Stickr.co’s pitch to potential customers sounded like a scam to me.

At first read, here’s how I interpreted what the company was telling me on its website: “You can make money by advertising on your car, but first you have to pay us a bunch of money upfront.”

I dug a little deeper and found out it is possible to make money if you’re willing to do all four of these things:

1. Commit to participating for at least several months.

To get started, you have to pay for a membership ($7.99 to $9.99 per month depending on the campaign you select), a one-time service fee ($3.29) and the decals themselves (price varies). You also have upgrade options: a one-time “double your revenue” fee ($29.99), a one-time “5x pay” fee for four extra stickers ($49.99) and a premium package to get free shipping and decals for life ($19.95).

The “double your revenue” option earns you twice the cash and nets you two $25 Restaurant.com gift cards per month instead of one.

Some of the offers appear only after you’ve entered your credit card information.

You may have to pay Stickr upwards of $100 before you ever receive your decals. Depending on the options you choose and whether you actually use all the Restaurant.com gift cards, it can take you many months just to break even.

If you suspect you may abandon this project within a few months because the requirements and money upfront are too much, I don’t advise that you try it. Most of your compensation will probably come in the form of Restaurant.com cards, so if you’re not going to use those, Stickr.co may not be a good fit for you.

2. Always send your confirmation photos within the allotted 36-hour window.

You must verify your participation each month between midnight Mountain Time (2 a.m. ET) on the first day of the month and noon Mountain Time (2 p.m. ET) on the second day of the month. You’ll be compensated on the 5th of each month.

Verification is easy. Each month, Stickr’s website provides you with a word (in this case, “firework”), which you must write down on a piece of paper. You then take a picture of your car that includes a clear visual of your decal(s) and the piece of paper and upload your photo on Stickr.co.

Stickr reimburses your monthly subscription fee each month that you verify your participation.

If you miss the deadline to send your photo, not only do you not get compensated for that month, but you also won’t get reimbursed for your monthly subscription fee.

I made that mistake once, and it was very aggravating. Now I set a reminder to myself on the first of each month. I suggest you do the same.

If you aren’t going to be disciplined enough to meet the deadline every time, I don’t think you should sign up for Stickr.

3. Be willing to be proactive about getting your compensation, including your Restaurant.com gift cards.

You can sign up for a membership, request decals, place them on your car windshield, verify them with Stickr.co and still not receive your Restaurant.com gift cards.

During the first month I participated, I had to actively request my gift cards. I asked a customer service agent via live chat on the Stickr.co website how to navigate to the page on the site where I could “turn on” the monthly gift cards. But I had to go through that process only once.

I also had to contact customer service and remind them I had opted for the “double revenue” plan, as I had noticed after clicking around on the site that I wasn’t receiving credit for it.

I’m not sure if that’s an intentional oversight by Stickr.co or just a “one-off” mistake (twice) for my account. But customer service did fix the issues immediately.

If you’re going to open an account, be aware that you may need to double-check these things during your first month.

4. Accept the peculiarities of the Restaurant.com gift cards.

The Restaurant.com gift certificates are not your typical gift cards. Often you must spend at least $50 on your dining bill to use a $25 certificate. They’re more like coupons than gift cards.

Some restaurants have restrictions limiting use to weekdays or limiting use to either lunch or dinner.

It’s a good idea to look at the restaurants in your area that participate with Restaurant.com before joining Stickr. If you do not enjoy going out to eat, there aren’t many appealing choices in your area, or you aren’t prepared to dine out with other people regularly to exceed the $50 limit, perhaps Stickr.co isn’t worth it for you.

Also keep in mind that you can redeem only one $25 gift card at a time, and you have to use that card at least once before you can request your next card. So effectively, you must be willing to go to a participating restaurant and spend a minimum amount of money up to twice per month to redeem all your compensation.

How Does Stickr.co Work?

Stickr.co partners with companies that want to advertise, acting as a go-between for drivers and companies.

There are no mileage requirements. It doesn’t matter where you live or what kind of car you drive. In theory, you could leave your car in the garage, never drive it and still get paid. You also get to choose what company or companies you want to advertise.

Stickr.co takes its cut of the ad deals and then splits the rest of the money among the drivers who have verified participation.

You have to pay a subscription fee that you get back every month that you verify. You also have to pay upfront for your stickers to join a campaign. There’s an option to pay extra to double your revenue and to advertise for five companies instead of one (and get paid more each month).

Stickr.co then pays you cash as well as up to $50 per month in Restaurant.com gift cards for every month you verify.

Trustpilot, a consumer review website, gives Stickr.co a 4.3 out of 5.

How Much Money Can I Make?

I like to maximize opportunities. I paid for double revenue and I also paid to put five decals on my car instead of just one.

I’ve made between $15.60 and $26.63 in cash during the full months that I’ve participated. I’ve also received $50 in Restaurant.com gift cards each month. Therefore my total compensation has been at least $65.60 per month. I’m on pace to earn $853.44 in total compensation for the year.

If you have the single-sticker deal and if you don’t pay for double revenue, you’ll earn less.

Once you get your decals, verify that you have placed them on your car correctly as soon as possible. That’s because Stickr.co will prorate your first month’s earnings. If you verify that you started participating on the 16th day of a 30-day month, you’ll get only half a month’s pay.

You get paid the cash through PayPal, so you need a PayPal account to receive the money. And you can access any Restaurant.com earnings through the Stickr website.

During my Stickr.co review, I noticed the company also has an affiliate program that provides you with some basic tools. If you have a strong background in marketing, you may be able to leverage this program to make additional money.

What Kinds of Companies Advertise?

As I mentioned previously, you can choose which company that you want to advertise on your car. Stickr.co provides some basic information about its campaigns and shows you what the sticker will look like before you commit.

Stickr itself has a catchy campaign decal with a “made you look” hand gesture.

There’s an auto insurance company, a company that claims it can boost your Instagram followers and a few well-known direct-to-consumer businesses.

Here’s a list of companies that I chose for my car as well as other Stickr.co campaigns in my area that were active as of September 2020:

How to Cancel Your Stickr.co Membership

Sometimes it can be very difficult to cancel memberships, particularly with companies that may use shady marketing tactics.

However, that does not appear to be the case with Stickr.co. If you are a member and wish to cancel, sign in to your dashboard at Stickr.co. Click on “My Account.” You’ll see a large red button on that page that says “Cancel Account.”

You can also go to Stickr.co, click on "Manage Account" and then click "Cancel My Account."

This will take you to a six-question form that you must fill out. It includes your name, email address, telephone number and two questions about why you’re canceling.

Stickr.co will send you an email confirmation that you have canceled your subscription.

If you want to watch someone submit the cancellation form, YouTube user Cam Fam made a video sharing his screen while he canceled his account.

Pros and Cons

After reviewing Stickr.co for four months, here are a few of the pros and cons I found:

Pros

Cons

• Possible to earn hundreds of dollars in compensation per year
• Source of passive income that involves minimal time
• Restaurant gift cards encourage you to try new restaurants
• Must invest upfront capital to participate
• Can take months to break even
• Restaurant.com gift cards are quirky
• Cash pay tends to be limited

If you are forgetful, don't like the hassle of following through on multiple small details or don't commit to things that take months, I don't think Stickr.co is for you. In that case, the Clark.com staff has put together a wonderful guide on 20+ easy ways to make extra money.

But if you’re willing to give up your back windshield, set up monthly reminders and occasionally deal with Stickr’s customer service department, you can earn $75 per month or more in compensation between the gift cards and cash.

This is not a program that’s going to change your life. But once you’ve gotten started, it’s as easy as taking and uploading one picture of your car per month to earn some extra pocket change and enjoy discounts at some local restaurants.

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