Big Cartel was founded in 2005 by Matt Wigham, who was looking for a simple solution that would help him promote his band and sell their merchandise. Since its inception, over 250,000 artists have signed up and now use the platform to sell a wide variety of wares. Read our Big Cartel review below.
OverviewBig Cartel caters to a very specific community. It is specially designed for artists and musicians who are looking to sell their creative products independently. The web-based platform includes all the tools you will need to start a small online store and reach your fans and customers. Artists without any web design or coding experience can easily start a site and not have to worry about managing servers or troubleshooting technical issues.
Scalability
Big Cartel aims to start small and stay small. That is part of the attraction for artists who are looking to cut costs and build a simple, yet professional site where they can interact with customers. Different pricing plans allow you to add more products, but a Big Cartel site simply isn’t meant for massive inventory.
Reputation
The creators of Big Cartel knew that they would be dealing with artists who need a quick, easy and affordable tool to build an online store. With that in mind, they set out to create a user interface that was super easy to use and didn’t require prior knowledge or training. Overall, their efforts have been a success.
Why Choose the Big Cartel?
If you are an independent artist, writer, musician or craftsman looking to avoid the fees and hassle associated with larger platforms, Big Cartel is an excellent choice. While you won’t have access to some of the more sophisticated tools and features of other eCommerce platforms, you will have everything you need. Most people who choose Big Cartel are looking for a simple, streamlined way to build a site.
Key FeaturesExperts agree that Big Cartel is absolutely the right choice for artists, musicians, and craftspeople. For those on a budget, there isn’t a more affordable price. Users can sell up to 5 products for free. Adding more inventory costs just a little extra yet is still incredibly affordable. Artists can create a professional website without having to worry about investing a lot of money in hiring a professional developer or paying an expensive monthly fee.
Anyone can easily setup a store in just five minutes without having to enter a credit card. Once you have started your store and had access to the backend, finding your way around is easy. Critics enjoy the clean dashboard design that avoids being too crowded or overwhelming.
The biggest drawback to Big Cartel that critics noted was the lack of features. Users will have access to everything they need, but don’t expect too many bells and whistles considering the price tag. Big Cartel is a great value, but if you are looking for something that is more feature rich, you may want to bite the bullet and invest in a more robust platform.
Taking all these factors into consideration, experts give Big Cartel 9 to 10 stars.
The complaints that have been leveled against Big Cartel tend to fall into two categories that are closely related.
While the user complaints against Big Cartel are certainly valid, they are also a direct result of the fact that the program is designed for a specific audience.
Consumers who were looking to transition from an Etsy type selling platform to something more flexible were very pleased when they moved to Big Cartel. The program is perfectly geared towards artists and helps them reach a wider audience and incorporate more payment gateways. Moving away from Etsy also helped to improve traffic and conversions because consumers were no longer listed next to direct competitors.
Big Cartel is a great solution for those who are looking to expand the functionality of their existing site.The shopping cart can be customized to reflect the rest of the website and provide a checkout that highlights the brand.
Users were also pleased with the fact that they were able to create a sophisticated shopping cart without having to spend hours learning design tools. Beginners can easily get started without any coding experience.
Design & CustomizationWebsite Templates
With Big Cartel, you are limited to a choice of six free templates. The good news is that they are all fully customizable. The editor makes it easy to add your logo and change colors and fonts. Even a beginner can create a unique website that reflects their brand.
If you do have experience with code, you can program your design and build a site from scratch. Just keep in mind that the free plan only allows you to adjust the CSS. If you want to access the HTML, you will have to sign up for a paid package.
Otherwise, it is best to stick with a template and play around with customizing the details. There is always the option of hiring a freelance designer, but most people come to Big Cartel to save money. Hiring an experienced designer is a major expense that most businesses want to avoid.
Overall, the design aspects of Big Cartel are pretty bare-boned. The templates are good looking but don’t come with a lot of frills. Adding content and managing photos is easy and straightforward. Also, all the sites are completely responsive and mobile friendly
Also, social sharing and Facebook and fully integrated into your store. This is a big plus for artists who already rely heavily on social media to interact with fans.
Features & Tools All the Big Cartel features are pretty basic. There’s not one area that is more robust than the other. You get all the tools you need to run your business without having to deal with the sorting through more various options. For those who value simplicity, this is a real bonus.
| Feature | Overview |
|---|---|
| Custom Domain Name | When you sign up for the free plan, all you need to provide is an email, password and store name. This allows you to build a small, yet functional store. Keep in mind that your domain name will end in .bigcartel. If you would like a custom domain, you will have to upgrade to a paid plan. |
| Mobile/Responsive Store | While Big Cartel doesn’t offer a ton themes, they are all fully responsive and mobile friendly. Not only can customers shop from any device, but you can also manage your store using any mobile device. |
| Adding Products | Simply click on the product tab and enter all the information you want. You can write a description, set shipping and pricing and add images, all from one screen. Everything you need is on one simple page. This is also where you can control any product display options. List items as “Coming Soon” or advertise color and size options. There are just enough product display options to help you sell without becoming too overwhelming. |
| Apps Integration | Big Cartel offers an impressive app store that makes it easy to integrate third-party programs. You search by keyword to find the right tools. Integrating any new application just takes a few clicks. |
| Integration with eBay and Amazon | Although Big Cartel is an eCommerce platform, it is often compared to Etsy because of its scope and focus. This makes it more of a rival to other popular selling platforms. Because of this, there isn’t any easy or obvious way to integrate other selling programs. |
| Content Management | Adding and managing pages and products couldn’t be easier. While some may see Big Cartel’s set of essential features as a drawback, ultimately they are meant to keep things simple. You won’t be overwhelmed with options. As soon as you open the dashboard, you will know right where to go to accomplish certain tasks. |
| Hosting and Security | Big Cartel offers their hosting services, which have earned a reputation for fast load times and reliable performance. Your account will also come with SSL encryption and all the benefits associated with your chosen payment provider. While Big Cartel doesn’t go above and beyond to ensure maximum security, there are plenty of protections in place. |
| Bandwidth and Storage | Most shopping cart programs advertise bandwidth and storage capabilities. Big Cartel’s pricing packages are separated by how many products and images you can add. The good news is that you won’t have to worry about overage charges or any hidden fees associated with usage. |
| Backups and Site Exporting | There are some exporting capabilities related to Big Cartel, although perhaps not as many as you might like. If you choose to switch to a different shopping platform, you will be able to export your order details. |
| Payment Processing | You have two options: PayPal and Stripe. Some platforms offer hundreds of options, but for Big Cartel businesses, there isn’t any need for all those options. Customers can securely pay using credit and debit cards or through their PayPal account suing PayPal and Stripe. Both processors also come with a strong reputation for security. All your bases will be covered between these two providers. |
| Shopping Cart Plugins and Add-Ons | The app store provides plenty of options to expand the functionality of your shopping cart. You can partner with some major names and offer a convenient shopping experience for your customers. |
| Order Management | Again, Big Cartel provides all the necessary tools you will need. You can track orders and print labels. It is also easy to setup email notifications for each order. This allows you to communicate with customers and receive order updates. |
| Inventory Management | The streamlined dashboard clearly displayed inventory information. You can also adjust product displays to show “Coming Soon” or “Out of Stock” labels. Email notifications will alert you when levels are low for better store management. |
| Abandoned Carts | One useful feature that is noticeably missing from Big Cartel is abandoned cart recovery. For most businesses, this is a vital tool. However, Big Cartel may have left it out because it simply isn’t as applicable to the type of stores they host. |
| PCI Certified | Although Big Cartel doesn’t offer an extensive list of payment gateways, both PayPal and Stripe are PCI certified. Your customers can feel confident that any personal and financial information is protected. This will also help your store look more professional. |
| Tax and Shipping | When you add a product, you can setup tax and shipping options. This information will be automatically calculated at checkout. Automating this process ensures accuracy and frees up your time to work on creating products. |
| Shipment Tracking | To track shipments, all you have to do is go to setting and choose the shipping status option. This will allow you to see whether products have shipped and view tracking details. With a mobile ready site, you can even check on shipments from your phone. |
| Marketing and Forecasting Features | If you want to put a significant effort into marketing your site, you will need to visit the app store. From there you will be able to add a blog and newsletter capabilities. Big Cartel comes Facebook ready, but you may want to add other social media platforms for a more comprehensive customer outreach. One problem with the platforms SEO tools is that it can be difficult to change URLs. Each time you add a product, a custom URL will be created. However, if you replace the product name, it isn’t as easy to just change the URL as well. This can have a significant impact on search engine rankings. |
| Gift Certificates, Deals or Coupons | Paid versions of Big Cartel allow you to offer deals and discounts. There is an entire tab dedicated to creating promotions. This is the perfect way to promote your products and capitalize on holidays and other special occasions. |
| Built-in Promotions | The discount button in the menu bar of your admin dashboard takes you right to your promotional tools. You can offer a discount on new products, create sales around holidays and other events, and much more. Big Cartel makes it quick and easy to market your products. |
| Website Statistics | When it comes to website reporting, you can view a variety of informative statistics. Your dashboard will show:
If you want even more details, you can easily integrate Google Analytics. |
Plans & Pricing It only makes sense that such an open program would come with an affordable price tag. Users can choose from several pricing packages that come with different features.
Gold – Free
All you need to sign-up and start a site is an email address. The free version does come with some limitations. You will be stuck with a .bigcartel URL, and you will only be able to add five products with one image per product. Also, while you can make custom edits through CSS, you won’t have access to the HTML.
Platinum – $9.99/Month
Diamond – $19.99/Month
Titanium – $29.99/Month
As you can see, the biggest difference between the pricing plans is the number of products you can add. If you are just starting out, you can always upgrade plans as you add products. However, you can outgrow Big Cartel. If you reach a point where you need to add more than 300 products, you will need to find a new platform.
For the most part, Big Cartel’s pricing packages are in line with their competitors. The big difference is that Big Cartel doesn’t come with a lot of bells and whistles.If you choose the Titanium package, you will be paying about the same as you would work with a larger provider that includes more tools and room for growth.However, if you are an artist, you may feel better about working with a platform that is designed especially for you.
Customer Support Big Cartel offers rather limited customer support. While you can reach them by email Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, they don’t offer phone or live chat support. You won’t be able to rely on 24/7 support and your best chance of contacting someone on the weekends is through their Twitter account. This means that you shouldn’t expect prompt responses and immediate help with your problems.
The majority of the time, your best bet is to visit their help page. Unfortunately, even this area comes up short. Type in a few search terms and you will quickly find that the articles aren’t exactly thorough. You might be lucky enough to find a video tutorial that addresses your question, but that isn’t always the case.
There is a community section on Big Cartel’s website, but it isn’t your usual user forum. Instead, it features users’ stores and highlights artists. If Big Cartel is going to offer limited customer support, only makes sense that they would encourage community forums where users can help on another. So far, this hasn’t been put into place.
If you do email the support staff, expect to wait about 24 hours for an answer. This can feel like an eternity, especially if your store is down and you are losing sales. Customer support is clearly one where there is plenty of room for improvement.
Ease of Use Big Cartel has made it extremely easy to get started. Signing up takes just couple minutes and then you can head to your dashboard and choose a theme. From there, the sidebar menus will help you add products, content, and images. The editor isn’t drag-and-drop, but it is still user-friendly. You can add pages, practically any aspect of your site and handle orders all from one easy to navigate dashboard.
The free plan includes access to CSS, but you will have to sign up for a paid plan to edit the HTML. If you know the code, no limits are customizing your site.
Conclusion Is Big Cartel the right choice for your online store?
If you are an artist, musician, or crafter, then Big Cartel was made for you. It allows you quickly and easily create a store and start selling. You don’t have to worry about overhead costs, hidden fees or hiring professionals just to build a simple website. Beginners without any design experience can customize a site and promote their products.
Reasons to choose Big Cartel over the other guys
Big Cartel is the right choice if you value ease of use and simplicity. The entire program is streamlined, yet feature-rich enough to help you run a professional store. Focus only on the things you need and enjoy a user interface that is easy to navigate and master.
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