Thank you so much for that review! With creating handmade items, many times the profit margin is low, so any savings with free versions or less fees really helps out. 👍
No problem and hope you found the video helpful. I completely understand the tight margins on handmade goods and any savings can make a big difference and I wish you nothing but success with your online store.
Hi Paul, loved your tutorial. You never talked about BCs fees? Just the subscriptions. I know you say that the shop setup is basic but look at EBAYS they are the big boys and their shop stores are crap considering who they are. Ebay stores have less functionallity than BC. I think at the end of the day product images sell products. A basic shop setup is all the average joe needs. I loved your tutorial Paul, it was professional and well put together. I think i will give BC a go soon.....take care and good luck😀😆🐵
Thank you, I didn't talk about transaction fees is because Big Cartel doesn't have transaction fees. Comparing Ebay to Big Cartel isn't a direct comparison as they operate differently, Ebay is an online marketplace where you sell through their site but Big Cartel is an ecommerce platform, which provides you your own website to sell through.
This was a great help.. I previously opened up a free account just until I was ready with my product range to then open a paid account.. but after watching this it makes sense that this would work well for me as a new business is just taking off, but I'm planning on this being my main business and I'm not convinced that BC will be able to grow with me as things go along. What alternative would you suggest to build my own website from that comes close to the affordability of BC? Thanks again for this video. I have subbed and 👍
I'm glad it was helpful and thank you for the sub. There isn't much that comes close to the pricing of Big Cartel but you also need to consider what you are getting for your money, platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce are more expensive but they are designed for growth and having the features, tools and platform that will grow with your business should really be the priority and most platforms start from around $30/m, which is the same as Big Cartels top package.
@@EcommerceGold Thanks, that was my thoughts too. I did have one silly question though. I'm already selling on 2 other platforms, but moving to include my own website. Would it be a silly idea to start out with Big cartel as I would only need the basic platform they offer until I grow the business, and then move my Domain name to a larger platform to grow the business with more tools later on, so customers will just be redirected to the new website but still using the same web address? Can that work? or can you not move domain names around like that? Thanks.
It can be done but I personally try and avoid it as moving platforms can be tricky, even when done correctly as you will have a new URL structure, meaning 301 redirects and this can have a negative effect on SEO and other marketing activities plus it can be a lot of work.
No problem, glad you found the video helpful. Big Cartel does have potential for a t-shirt business, whether you are creating them yourself or using the Printful app.
Hey Mate, question 🙋🏼♂️ We sell jewellery (brick and mortar at weekend market stalls) with a square. We are moving online and want to grow that as much as possible. We want to keep track of inventory which is hard with the markets, big cartel let’s us know what’s sold online but we want an integrated inventory with online sales and market sales. We run markets at several locations. What would you suggest ? Is there a way to connect physical square sales to big cartel sales? Spotify sound better for scaling or should we just use the square ecom web shop? Any other options ? As we are just starting ecom and want to build right without having to change later down the track and create more hassles
There is an integration using Zapier but I don't know how it works in terms of inventory. Quite a few platforms have integrations with Square such as Bigcommerce, Ecwid and WooCommerce that allow you to sync your inventory.
@@EcommerceGold thank you very much for getting back. I like the idea of using square for web building but the fact they don’t have bulk edit worries me. I’ll check out the others you’ve mentioned
I was looking to launch a shop on Etsy within the month but thought more research on other platforms would be smart. This has peaked my interest for sure, thank you!
No problem, hope the video was helpful. Etsy and Big Cartel are completely different ways of selling online, Etsy is an online marketplace and Big Cartel is a platform for building ecommerce websites. If you are just launching, doing both would be beneficial in the long term as the more sales channels you have, the more chances you have of getting sales.
@@EcommerceGold It was helpful, and that makes sense. I'm honestly afraid to do both since what I do takes some time and having both would probably overwhelm me. That's why I'm doing so much research, trying to find the right place for me to start off.
That is completely understandable. Etsy will probably be the easiest way to get started and you have a higher chance of getting sales due the amount of visitors that they get daily but the downside is the costs can be quite high, you also have to abide by their policies and this can be frustrating. Having your own website gives you much more control over your business but you will have to do more in terms of marketing to get people to your site and social media is a good channel for getting traffic. There are pros and cons for both and unfortunately I can't say for definite which is the best option to go for.
@@EcommerceGold Thank you for the insight. I guess I gotta just try one and see how it goes and go from there. I'll probably start with Etsy while researching more, maybe move to Shopify when I get some good business. Thanks again
I need a cost effective shipping option. I'm in Canada and want to be able to send products internationally. It costs more to send throughout canada then it is to send to Australia and the states... Why is that? It's strange...
@@EcommerceGold 😂😂😂 yeah between Etsy and Shopify, I think this is an ok middle ground, especially for someone brand spanking new to entrepreneurship. Once ppl have something good going, then they can upgrade to something with more features as needed. Most first businesses fail anyway. It takes a few tries in my experience.
Yes, you can do that. There is a section for options in the create new product page but you need to be on a paid plan to manage the stock for each option.
When it comes to generating terms & conditions, privacy policy etc, that is your responsibility, not the platforms. They don't provide any templates for these documents but it is always best practice to get these made up properly so that they cover your store properly.
Hi! Thank you so much for your review! ❤️Can you advise how to make your Big Cartel store successful? Are there any promotional offers that the bean itself offers (without the involvement of social media)
No problem and I hope it was helpful. There are many factors when it comes to making a store successful such as: the product, the market, competition, what makes the business unique, marketing opportunities. Every business and store is different and you need to tailor your marketing strategy to your business but this video might be a good starting point ua-cam.com/video/PnfS1oJrjU0/v-deo.html
Hi, no problem. Not as far as I know as Big Cartel has very limited integrations, you cam check them all out here help.bigcartel.com/topic/apps-and-integrations
I know this is an old video, but I’m wondering: what exactly does 5 products mean. I make wax, i current have 25 regular scent options but only 3 packaging options. 2 oz, 3 oz, 6 oz. Does that mean that I can do that free option and have a drop down for the various fragrances in each packaging size? I feel dumb, but need clarification. TIA.
Hi, what I mean by that is that you can create 5 separate product listing with the free plan. You can add individual options such as your individual scents or grouped options where you could combine scent and size, with being able to set prices for each combination. Just be aware though, that you can't set inventory levels on the free package.
How does it work. As far as shipping. You upload a product and let’s say someone buys it. The money goes into your account. What then does the website then buy the product for you from Ali express or do you have to buy the product from the website and then ship it to the customers details?
It depends on the business model you are using. If you are holding your own stock, you would then ship it out. If you are dropshipping, you would need to place an order with your supplier after the order has been placed on your site.
@@EcommerceGold so for example if you had published something on a dropshipping site and 100 orders were placed in a single day you would have to go to the wholesaler and fill in 100 different orders for the item?
It depends on the wholesaler, some you may have to do it manually, others you can upload a CSV file and others offer apps, which automate the process (although big cartel on offers two)
@@EcommerceGold one last thing obviously dropshipping being a legit business how do you go about registering the business as not to get into legal trouble.
Not as far as I know as your products are sold in GBP and payments are processed via PayPal etc, so no conversion rates. The only thing is you will be billed in USD and this will fluctuate due to conversion rates on a monthly basis.
Nice review,my fear is the tax :) mainly if you sell to USA costumer or something theres no clear explanation on this platforms,on cartel theres a switch to enable the tax to be paid by the customer but its not very trustfull or doesnt let me relax:)
Thank you. Tax is very tricky, especially when selling internationally and one of the reasons why I avoid talking about it. I can't offer any advice really due to the many different ins and outs of tax.
The difference is that places like Etsy and EBay are online marketplaces where you list your items for sale and they run the website, do the marketing and process the transaction. Big Cartel and Shopify are hosted ecommerce platforms, where they provide you with hosting, a website builder and technical support but you are responsible for what goes on the site and the marketing, you also have greater choice of who you choose as the payment processor.
Big Cartel isn't a print on demand site like Redbubble it's an alternative to Etsy. You can integrate a POD company like Printful to fulfill your orders.
@@EcommerceGold Do you have those particular theme Names handy for linking YT to Bigcartel? Thanks for your reply above as well. One or Two themes is still handy. I would think there would be forums that we could get HTML CODE to link the two anyway.
@@EcommerceGold yes! I was going to start my shop on BigCartel but now I am not sure, Im worried about what you said that if you plan to scale is going to be a worst option in the future between the alternatives... what I liked the most of bigcartel is the free plan to start
If you are just looking for a free plan to see if there could be some potential, then you could try something like Ecwid (www.paulschannel.com/ecwid), free plan with 10 products. It has a website builder but can be integrated with platforms like WordPress or Wix, which have more functionality such as blogging etc and the combinations are more scalable.
No problem, hope it was helpful. You can dropship with Bigcartel, they have a couple of integrations that they offer, such as Printful but you may have to process orders manually depending on your dropshipping partner
Thank you so much for that review! With creating handmade items, many times the profit margin is low, so any savings with free versions or less fees really helps out. 👍
No problem and hope you found the video helpful. I completely understand the tight margins on handmade goods and any savings can make a big difference and I wish you nothing but success with your online store.
This feels like a honest analysis, thank you so much!
No problem, I do try and give the most honest reviews I can.
whoever gave this video a *DISLIKE* is a joke. you did so well providing information.
Thank you, I think that with every dislike I get 😂 but you can't keep everyone happy
Hi Paul, loved your tutorial. You never talked about BCs fees? Just the subscriptions. I know you say that the shop setup is basic but look at EBAYS they are the big boys and their shop stores are crap considering who they are. Ebay stores have less functionallity than BC. I think at the end of the day product images sell products. A basic shop setup is all the average joe needs.
I loved your tutorial Paul, it was professional and well put together. I think i will give BC a go soon.....take care and good luck😀😆🐵
Thank you, I didn't talk about transaction fees is because Big Cartel doesn't have transaction fees.
Comparing Ebay to Big Cartel isn't a direct comparison as they operate differently, Ebay is an online marketplace where you sell through their site but Big Cartel is an ecommerce platform, which provides you your own website to sell through.
I'm gonna try the free, 5 product one for now to see if I even make sales. If it goes well I'm gonna go up.
Awesome, hope your venture is successful!
Free sounds good i want to start selling my crafts online thanks for the information 😉
How is your shop doing now?
Do you still use the big cartel platform?
This was a great help.. I previously opened up a free account just until I was ready with my product range to then open a paid account.. but after watching this it makes sense that this would work well for me as a new business is just taking off, but I'm planning on this being my main business and I'm not convinced that BC will be able to grow with me as things go along. What alternative would you suggest to build my own website from that comes close to the affordability of BC? Thanks again for this video. I have subbed and 👍
I'm glad it was helpful and thank you for the sub.
There isn't much that comes close to the pricing of Big Cartel but you also need to consider what you are getting for your money, platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce are more expensive but they are designed for growth and having the features, tools and platform that will grow with your business should really be the priority and most platforms start from around $30/m, which is the same as Big Cartels top package.
@@EcommerceGold Thanks, that was my thoughts too. I did have one silly question though. I'm already selling on 2 other platforms, but moving to include my own website. Would it be a silly idea to start out with Big cartel as I would only need the basic platform they offer until I grow the business, and then move my Domain name to a larger platform to grow the business with more tools later on, so customers will just be redirected to the new website but still using the same web address? Can that work? or can you not move domain names around like that? Thanks.
It can be done but I personally try and avoid it as moving platforms can be tricky, even when done correctly as you will have a new URL structure, meaning 301 redirects and this can have a negative effect on SEO and other marketing activities plus it can be a lot of work.
@EcommerceGold Thanks for helping 👍
thank you very much sir! I think I am going to start a big cartel store for my t shirt business. thanks a bunch!
No problem, glad you found the video helpful. Big Cartel does have potential for a t-shirt business, whether you are creating them yourself or using the Printful app.
how is yor business going so far
Just wanted to comment and say thank you for making this video !
No problem and I hope it was helpful :)
I’m glad you did this video !! I’m starting by business n need info on this platform
No problem, hopefully the video was helpful.
Hey Paul, I appreciate your analysis. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lily, no problem and hope it was helpful
Thank you. Thorough review. It's appreciated.
No problem, hope it was helpful.
Hey Mate, question 🙋🏼♂️
We sell jewellery (brick and mortar at weekend market stalls) with a square. We are moving online and want to grow that as much as possible. We want to keep track of inventory which is hard with the markets, big cartel let’s us know what’s sold online but we want an integrated inventory with online sales and market sales. We run markets at several locations.
What would you suggest ? Is there a way to connect physical square sales to big cartel sales? Spotify sound better for scaling or should we just use the square ecom web shop?
Any other options ? As we are just starting ecom and want to build right without having to change later down the track and create more hassles
There is an integration using Zapier but I don't know how it works in terms of inventory.
Quite a few platforms have integrations with Square such as Bigcommerce, Ecwid and WooCommerce that allow you to sync your inventory.
@@EcommerceGold thank you very much for getting back. I like the idea of using square for web building but the fact they don’t have bulk edit worries me. I’ll check out the others you’ve mentioned
No problem, Square is ok for simple stores with a small number of products. It also depends on other features you need.
I was looking to launch a shop on Etsy within the month but thought more research on other platforms would be smart. This has peaked my interest for sure, thank you!
No problem, hope the video was helpful. Etsy and Big Cartel are completely different ways of selling online, Etsy is an online marketplace and Big Cartel is a platform for building ecommerce websites. If you are just launching, doing both would be beneficial in the long term as the more sales channels you have, the more chances you have of getting sales.
@@EcommerceGold
It was helpful, and that makes sense. I'm honestly afraid to do both since what I do takes some time and having both would probably overwhelm me. That's why I'm doing so much research, trying to find the right place for me to start off.
That is completely understandable. Etsy will probably be the easiest way to get started and you have a higher chance of getting sales due the amount of visitors that they get daily but the downside is the costs can be quite high, you also have to abide by their policies and this can be frustrating.
Having your own website gives you much more control over your business but you will have to do more in terms of marketing to get people to your site and social media is a good channel for getting traffic.
There are pros and cons for both and unfortunately I can't say for definite which is the best option to go for.
@@EcommerceGold
Thank you for the insight. I guess I gotta just try one and see how it goes and go from there. I'll probably start with Etsy while researching more, maybe move to Shopify when I get some good business. Thanks again
How can you keep track of Invoices or send receipts if you set up PayPal or stripe payments ?
Big cartel does have an order management system to help you track orders along with automated emails for things like order confirmation
I need a cost effective shipping option. I'm in Canada and want to be able to send products internationally. It costs more to send throughout canada then it is to send to Australia and the states... Why is that? It's strange...
Hi, unfortunately I can’t offer any advice on Canadian shipping providers. It is strange that international shipping is cheaper than domestic though.
As a minimalist and a creator, this website is just fine and beats the hell out of Etsy at least.
As long as it works for your business and I think most things beat Etsy 🤣
@@EcommerceGold 😂😂😂 yeah between Etsy and Shopify, I think this is an ok middle ground, especially for someone brand spanking new to entrepreneurship. Once ppl have something good going, then they can upgrade to something with more features as needed. Most first businesses fail anyway. It takes a few tries in my experience.
Can you do one listing but multiple sizes if that makes sense? And the quantity i have in stock?
Yes, you can do that. There is a section for options in the create new product page but you need to be on a paid plan to manage the stock for each option.
How are they with coppa laws and generating legal terms and services for your store?
Or is that built in to their back end.
When it comes to generating terms & conditions, privacy policy etc, that is your responsibility, not the platforms. They don't provide any templates for these documents but it is always best practice to get these made up properly so that they cover your store properly.
Nice review! May multiple photos be added to each individual products so the customer can see all angles of the product?
There is one product image on the free package and up to five images per product on the paid packages
@@EcommerceGold Thank you!
Hi! Thank you so much for your review! ❤️Can you advise how to make your Big Cartel store successful? Are there any promotional offers that the bean itself offers (without the involvement of social media)
No problem and I hope it was helpful. There are many factors when it comes to making a store successful such as: the product, the market, competition, what makes the business unique, marketing opportunities.
Every business and store is different and you need to tailor your marketing strategy to your business but this video might be a good starting point ua-cam.com/video/PnfS1oJrjU0/v-deo.html
Is there a way to add a facebook pixel to the free plan or does it need to be a paid one?
I think you have to be on a paid plan
Can you have multiple shops on big cartel?
Not on the same account
Hi! Do you know if oberlo is available in big cartel? To synchronized aliexpress. Thank for the video!!
Hi, no problem. Not as far as I know as Big Cartel has very limited integrations, you cam check them all out here help.bigcartel.com/topic/apps-and-integrations
Thanks for your insight.
No problem, hope it was helpful.
Thank you so much for this video!
No problem, I hope you found it helpful
Do you need to have an LLC to use big cartel and stripe?
No, you can use both a sole proprietor
I know this is an old video, but I’m wondering: what exactly does 5 products mean. I make wax, i current have 25 regular scent options but only 3 packaging options. 2 oz, 3 oz, 6 oz. Does that mean that I can do that free option and have a drop down for the various fragrances in each packaging size? I feel dumb, but need clarification. TIA.
Hi, what I mean by that is that you can create 5 separate product listing with the free plan. You can add individual options such as your individual scents or grouped options where you could combine scent and size, with being able to set prices for each combination. Just be aware though, that you can't set inventory levels on the free package.
How does it work. As far as shipping. You upload a product and let’s say someone buys it. The money goes into your account. What then does the website then buy the product for you from Ali express or do you have to buy the product from the website and then ship it to the customers details?
It depends on the business model you are using. If you are holding your own stock, you would then ship it out. If you are dropshipping, you would need to place an order with your supplier after the order has been placed on your site.
@@EcommerceGold so for example if you had published something on a dropshipping site and 100 orders were placed in a single day you would have to go to the wholesaler and fill in 100 different orders for the item?
It depends on the wholesaler, some you may have to do it manually, others you can upload a CSV file and others offer apps, which automate the process (although big cartel on offers two)
@@EcommerceGold awesome cheers for the info 🤙🙏
@@EcommerceGold one last thing obviously dropshipping being a legit business how do you go about registering the business as not to get into legal trouble.
Thanks im 16 and trying to make some money
Do you know if Big cartel takes any fees for example setting up & selling in the uk but on a US site? Conversion rates etc 👍
Not as far as I know as your products are sold in GBP and payments are processed via PayPal etc, so no conversion rates. The only thing is you will be billed in USD and this will fluctuate due to conversion rates on a monthly basis.
when you type in my website big cartel comes up and I think it looks unprofessional can I change that?
Do you mean you have big cartel in your domain name?
Thank you.
No problem :)
Nice review,my fear is the tax :) mainly if you sell to USA costumer or something theres no clear explanation on this platforms,on cartel theres a switch to enable the tax to be paid by the customer but its not very trustfull or doesnt let me relax:)
Thank you. Tax is very tricky, especially when selling internationally and one of the reasons why I avoid talking about it. I can't offer any advice really due to the many different ins and outs of tax.
@@EcommerceGold Thanks
Hie.Can u plz help me with my bigcartel shop it is not allowing payments.
Hi, if it is not allowing payments, then you need to contact the Big Cartel support team
But why does it add bigcartel to my domain name? I don't want that
Because you need to set up a custom domain name
great review, thank you.
Thank you, hope it was helpful.
What’s the difference between a platform like Etsy and big cartel or shopfiy?
The difference is that places like Etsy and EBay are online marketplaces where you list your items for sale and they run the website, do the marketing and process the transaction. Big Cartel and Shopify are hosted ecommerce platforms, where they provide you with hosting, a website builder and technical support but you are responsible for what goes on the site and the marketing, you also have greater choice of who you choose as the payment processor.
Thank you very helpful.
No worries, thank you for watching
New Subscriber. Thank you!
Awesome! Thank you!
Do you get email accounts with Big Cartel
No, you don't get email accounts with Big Cartel.
Can you sell up cycled, refashioned clothes on Big Cartel???? Or what online selling site would you suggest for this?? So over etsy.
There are many different fashion brands that use Big Cartel so I can't see upcycled clothing being an issue as long as it is legal.
mercari is good just the fees but i think cheaper than etsy :) and check out depop for clothes mostly.
@@martini4007 Thank you!
Great video! Thank you!
Thank you, hope it was helpful.
Is it 5 products a month or in general? Thanks!
5 products in general.
Do you have to get a permit to sell before you can start a big cartel website
Unless you have any requirements for where you live regarding selling online, you just need to sign up and set your site up.
I honestly think is a great starter's platform to become independent from the marketplaces.
Is there a commission fee?
No Big Cartel don't charge commission fees.
Hi man, work this Shop in Europe?
Hi, yes it should do as they have options for European currencies.
How is the print quality?
Print quality of what?
Big Cartel isn't a print on demand site like Redbubble it's an alternative to Etsy. You can integrate a POD company like Printful to fulfill your orders.
@@annelieseharrison9027 Yeah noticed that after my comment XD
Are we able to link bigcartel to our YT channel?
One or two themes include a social link to UA-cam but with others, you will need to add custom code from what I have seen.
@@EcommerceGold Do you have those particular theme Names handy for linking YT to Bigcartel? Thanks for your reply above as well. One or Two themes is still handy. I would think there would be forums that we could get HTML CODE to link the two anyway.
Roadie is one but can't remember the other one. If you search the BigCartel knowledge base, there is an article there about creating links.
So important question is. Is it trustworthy
Its been around since 2005, so probably.
thanks for the video :)
No problem, I hope you found it helpful
@@EcommerceGold yes! I was going to start my shop on BigCartel but now I am not sure, Im worried about what you said that if you plan to scale is going to be a worst option in the future between the alternatives... what I liked the most of bigcartel is the free plan to start
If you are just looking for a free plan to see if there could be some potential, then you could try something like Ecwid (www.paulschannel.com/ecwid), free plan with 10 products. It has a website builder but can be integrated with platforms like WordPress or Wix, which have more functionality such as blogging etc and the combinations are more scalable.
@@EcommerceGold oh thanks! I swa it bu I was worried about if it was trusty. Let me check your review thank you !! you da best
Hi ! Is bigcartel available in india ?
Hi, I don't know if it is or not.
who gave this a dislike?!?!?!
thank you 😊, I think this whenever I get a dislike 😂
Hi thanks for the video, can you drop ship with Bigcartel, I am dropshipping wholesale products and I am in the UK Thanks
No problem, hope it was helpful. You can dropship with Bigcartel, they have a couple of integrations that they offer, such as Printful but you may have to process orders manually depending on your dropshipping partner
@@EcommerceGold Thank You for answering my question.
you got a nice face structure
Thank you 😊
Are you eating enough. Go into writing your life story or technical writer.
Yes, thank you. Why should I write my life story?
I thought you would make more money.
Probably not as my life has been pretty boring 😂
i feel like an idiot sandwich each time you raise both your hands around the camera
What do you mean?
😂