They are definitely a nice site with some good features. BUT I was wondering if having a site like that as your store hurts or helps? Do you think it would be better to have an integrated store in your own website?
I'm leaning toward bigcartel, but wanted to hear others thoughts.

 

I just looked at about a dozen of those sites. Granted they have thousands more, but I think I saw plenty with my sample, as I jumped around a bit.

First, they are all "sub-domain" sites, menaing they hare something like "mystore.bigcartel.com" That tells any knowledgeable internet user it's a low budget operation, sort of "here today and gone tomorrow" and that the owner isn't really serious.

In fact, looking at most of the sites the thing I was thinking was "hobby". Few had more than a few items, none I viewed had several pages. It was hard to take them seriously. That's OK if it is a hobby.

But I get the idea there are many here who truly want this to be a business. If you are going to be in business, you need to promote yourself as a businss, you have to show the world you have enough confidence in your business to invest that 10 bucks in your own domain name and spend 5 or 10 bucks a month for your own online store.

I'm not saying I have all the answers

I'm simply saying that if you are serious about your business, stand on your own two feet and let the world know you believe in what you are doing, that you are in business to stay and it's not just a hobby for you. Get your own shopping cart, with your own domain name. Be your own boss, direct your won destiny.
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First, they are all "sub-domain" sites, menaing they hare something like "mystore.bigcartel.com" That tells any knowledgeable internet user it's a low budget operation, sort of "here today and gone tomorrow" and that the owner isn't really serious.

I won't say there aren't any low budget hobbyists on bigcartel, but it's definitely not only a sub-domain site.

I am currently looking into using bigcartel.com as my cart part of the business I am setting up and if you get the full package they offer you can set up any domain you want and still use the bigcartel system (eg store.yoursite.com). Additionally they allow you to download the css kit where you can customize pretty much anything about the look and functionality of the store. If you do it proper you won't even have any reference to bigcartel anymore in your store.

That said, there are plenty of amateurs on bigcartel but it definitely has a lot of potential if you put some effort into it.

 

I've been thinking that the free, five product Big Cartel could be perfect for situations where you do a job for an organization or make a presentation to an organization and want to offer follow up orders.

Just do a quick BigCartel site (I can do one in no more than 5 minutes) and offer your product on that site. Just make the URL known and you're good to go.

 

Now that does make sense. They would be great for soemthing like that.
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I disagree. I went to talk to some stores about getting FTN in them today and I just showed them the webpage and its based off of myspcae and big cartel. The store owners I talked to said that it looked very professional and liked it. but thats just my 2 cents

 

What do you mean the webpage is "based off myspace and big cartel"?

The store owners I talked to said that it looked very professional and liked it.

Not saying your site isn't professional (I haven't seen it), but you do have to consider the source.

I'm not sure that the people talking to you face to face are going to flat out tell you that there are problems with your website. They could just be being polite or giving you a professional courtesy.

Also, I'm not sure that brick and mortar store owners are the best judge of how an ecommerce site should look. They generally won't be the ones using or buying from your website (unless it's just a showcase for wholesale orders). You want reactions and opinions from potential consumers who will be hopefully pulling out there wallets when they see your store.

That being said, I have seen some very nice looking bigcartel stores. They aren't fancy, but they don't need to be. If done right, they function just like most other ecommerce stores. Shows the customer the product, easy to navigate, clean looking design, nothing impeding the purchase process.

I still haven't seen a professional looking myspace page and I'm probably behind the times, but I wouldn't advocate anyone using a free myspace page as their main website offering (although I've seen myspace URLs advertised on tv for movies and bands).

If you are going to be in business, you need to promote yourself as a businss, you have to show the world you have enough confidence in your business to invest that 10 bucks in your own domain name and spend 5 or 10 bucks a month for your own online store.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Something I've been saying for years, since people tried using free geocities and tripod pages as their "business" websites.

Your own domain name and web hosting is an important (small) investment in your business if you plan to do business online.

 

My only reply to that is if you are going to "put some effort into it" you should put some effort into something that is yours and transportable.

I have no insider knowledge and am only saying this as a "what if" but what if big cartel goes down the tubes? What have you got that you can almost instanly put up on another host?

With one of the free carts or the paid "you own it and use it on your host" carts, you can back them up and move them anywhere, anytime you take the notion.

You are an independent businessperson, be independent with you ecommerce site.
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I think BigCartel is cool as an addition to your site...i had just the stand alone version but basically your just sending people to a site and say LOOK at my product buy it. There wasn't any story behind what was being sold there isn't an area to discuss your business, your product, alternative methods of contact..lucky for me i have a web design background so i integrated it into a regualar website and included the Big Cartel but the app is pretty good for the cost

 

Go here and tell me if you can even tell im using BigCartel

store.ftnclothing.com





didnt think so


oh yeaa thanks Jon!!!!

 

Go here and tell me if you can even tell im using BigCartel

store.ftnclothing.com





didnt think so


oh yeaa thanks Jon!!!!

i can tell because cartel has that linear side by side look but that Grunge back is very nice.. once you add your text everything will be seemless

 

FTN, your big cartel store looks great. A suggestion, if you are trying to run a business, you should make your facebook profile public. Potential costumers shouldn't have to friend you in order to view your page. Shirts look great!

 

Travis, you also need more stock.

 

Thanks Guys!! Yea we're working on the new tees right now. And I have no clue on how facebook works. aha

 

Gotcha. I admit I am not that familiar with the formatting. I am used to seeing something like mysite.com/blog or mysite.com/store. But thank you for pointing that out.

 

"
My second tell was that when you go to check out you are taken away from the site to a paypal page that looks nothing like your site.
"

The fact that the shopping cart transfers off the main page to a paypal site I consider a main advantage. Paypal is rapidly becoming one of the most frequently used and most trusted payment methods on the web. I think there are people that would be more willing to give their card details to paypal than there would just inputting them into a form or simalar on a t shirt site.

My site is also done with bigcartel, you will all be able to tell immediatly as I havent yet drifted very far away from the standard template, but I know for a fact that bigcartel is very, very customisable (sp), I have seen some amazing looking sites, and you dont need to keep their standard layout with the frames etc.

 

I am thinking about the same thing.

I am debating between doing a fully customized zen-cart or just going the easy way and modifying the bigcartel page and hosting it on a subdomain on my site, so nobody would know it is a bigcartel powered system.

I am also thinking that users might be more hesitant to enter their credit card information into a company they have never heard of before, whereas paypal is trusted and if there is a problem the customer can get their money back from them.

what do you think?

 

I am thinking about the same thing.

I am debating between doing a fully customized zen-cart or just going the easy way and modifying the bigcartel page and hosting it on a subdomain on my site, so nobody would know it is a bigcartel powered system.

I am also thinking that users might be more hesitant to enter their credit card information into a company they have never heard of before, whereas paypal is trusted and if there is a problem the customer can get their money back from them.

what do you think?

Embed it into your current site and work from there. I dont use BigCartel anymore for my current shopping cart because Im on Joomla..however, i did leave my stand alone bigcartel accct open. I've made various connects from BigCartel. I've had people contact me about interviews or fulfillment leads...and i'll go ..."where did you find me" and they'll mention "bigcartel" so even if you migrate from BigCartel i would still recommend keepingit open.

 

Big Cartel is perfect for some.


If you are just starting out I suggest to everyone the following advice..



Buy your domain name FIRST. (its 10 bucks)

Then just FORWARD it to Big Cartel or any other
start up site and YOU control your destiny and your
business from that point on.

If you are using the premium Big Cartel
they allow you to use your domain name
without their added bigcartel.com.


It may not be a giant but giants are born somewhere.