With Valentine’s Day around the corner, some sellers are already making impressive returns from low-cost greeting cards. Surprisingly, many of these sellers are differentiating themselves by using AI-generated content, focusing on niche demand, or creatively upgrading existing greeting card formats to standout in crowded markets.
AI-Generated Cards Sell $80K+ in 10 Days
This greeting card went viral largely thanks to Donald Trump’s “special appearance.” The average priced at around $10, the product generated approximately $80K+ in sales within just 10 days of launch, and has since surpassed $214K+ in total GMV.
The cover features a bold headline reading “Making Love Great Again,” paired with a logo that mimics the visual style of official government documents.
Upon opening the card, buyers are greeted with an AI-generated image of Trump holding a rose in one hand and resting his hand on his cheek on the other, alongside a “Happy Valentine’s Day” message. The inside also leaves intentional blank space, with the corners printed with rose chocolates and the phrase “Making Valentine’s Great Again” on the red hat.
On TikTok, related videos have accumulated over 6 million views, driving more than 3,000 units in sales. On TikTok Shop alone, the top-performing listing has sold 14+K units, making it one of the most visible greeting card products this Valentine’s season.
The product’s differentiation lies in the design using AI-generated imagery, which allows highly realistic visuals at very low cost, creating a humorous and highly shareable product. Similar Trump-themed greeting cards, including Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and birthday editions, have also shown strong sales performance.
By reworking Trump’s well-known slogans into holiday-specific messages and combining AI to create different visual styles, sellers are able to quickly produce content for printing. These products often align with trending topics and are well suited to producing viral content on platforms like TikTok.
Creative 3D Pop-Up Bouquet Cards
Another popular product ahead of Valentine’s Day is a 3D pop-up bouquet greeting card, which has shown impressive sales growth. It has sold over 24K units in total, with more than 5K units sold in the past seven days, generating a total GMV of over $300K.
The concept of pop-up bouquet cards was actually first popularized by Lovepop, transforming traditional flat greeting cards into elaborate 3D designs when opened. The current version from Paperlove builds on this idea with several enhancements.
It includes a card for personalized messages and features a pop-up bouquet that can be fixed in place using a flat base, allowing the arrangement to stand upright. This design makes it possible to keep the bouquet as a display piece for decoration or as a keepsake.
This combination of interactive experience, display functionality, and giftable keepsake makes the product one of the top-selling cards for Valentine’s Day.
Where to Source 3D Pop-Up Cards
How viral 3D pop-up cards work
The experience of a 3D pop-up card is the “open to reveal” effect, similar to a simpler version of a pop-up book. These cards are produced by cutting custom flat sheets according to a pre-designed layout. Then assembling them by hand.
As we mentioned earlier, Lovepop was one of the first companies to popularize this type of greeting card. Their technology, Slicegami, features patented slots that leverage the structural strength of paper to create interlocking mechanisms, allowing the design to stay upright when opened.
However, 3D greeting cards can also be made using other structural techniques, such as box fold, V-fold, layer fold, rotating/pivot mechanisms, and stretch/spring-based paper structures. These folding methods allow for a wide variety of shapes, including bouquets, houses, animals, and cakes.
Customize a pop‑up card from sample
A custom pop-up card sample usually starts with a specific design. Factory designers break down the structure and create 3D models to visualize the effect. The initial prototype is then laser-cut from paper sheets and assembled for the first evaluation.
Once the shape is confirmed, the final design is digitally printed and prepared for bulk production. After the template is finalized, suppliers can quickly produce additional units on demand.
Where to source ready-made pop-up cards
Greeting cards sit within the stationery supply chain. Half of the world’s greeting cards are produced in China. Key industrial clusters include Zhejiang and Guangdong.
In particular, the Yiwu wholesale market offers a wide range of ready-made 3D pop-up cards, including pop-up bouquets, birthday cards, wedding cards, architectural and landscape designs, and more. Buyers can quickly select finished products or work with suppliers for customization.
Viral Squishy Cards for Kids’ Valentine
Another hot-seller for the Valentine’s Day season is the greeting card for kids, catering to a very specific U.S. demand. At the kindergarten and elementary school level, students often participate in classroom Valentine’s exchanges, giving cards and small gifts to each classmate, which means multiple units per child are needed. These bundles, often called goodie bags, combine a greeting card with a small toy in one package.
The latest standout example is the glow-in-the-dark squishy card, priced around $19.99 for a 28-pack. On TikTok Shop alone, it has sold over 34K units, generating more than $607K in GMV.
Cute cards with squishy animal toys have become one of the popular elements in recent years. Sales trends show strong performance for differentiated designs, such as squishy keychains, heart-shaped boxes.
The format itself is not new. Strong sales are mainly driven by creative design. About two years ago, we helped a U.S. client customize a space-themed “spaceman” set, which became a bestseller with multiple formats including planets, rockets, and astronauts.
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