I don’t know why we even have these stickers. Inspection, registration or insurance. When the police run your plate they already know if you’re up to date. Steeling or transferring stickers is pointless.
The states make extra money by charging you the same amount as (that they once did for new plates) by using stickers.
When the stickers came out, that is, the fees remained the same.
Now my state often charges an additional fee if you want actual new metal plates, too.