Big Cartel Reviews 90

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

2.7

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The young lady GlamedBYT that’s on this platform is taking money for orders that she is not fulfilling. Not only is she not completing orders she’s is unresponsive via telephone and email that’s liste... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

As much as I would like to shop on Big Cartel, it is impossible, there is not a log in for shoppers. At least not a clear one. I have googled, searched and even asked people on ETSY and I cannot fin... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I love big cartel but I wish they had more themes and more cursive fonts and they should have the codes for discounts automatically instead of my customers input code they hate that. I understand to g... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The willingness, patience and responsiveness of service was very helpful. I like the way the service starts with AI but then a person steps in and answers tricky queries. I also found the service peop... See more

Company details

  1. e-Commerce Service

Written by the company

Big Cartel is an e-commerce platform that gives creators, artists, makers, and small brands from all over the world the power to open their own online stores and make a living doing what they love. Since 2005, we’ve helped people sell over $3.5 billion of their work while remaining a 100% independent company. Driven by our passion for creativity and innovation, we stand as a haven for small brands connecting their passion with opportunity.


Contact info

2.7

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

90 reviews

5-star
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2-star
1-star

Asks customers to review

This company invites their customers to review, whether positive or negative

Replied to 18% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 2 weeks

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The young lady GlamedBYT that’s on this…

The young lady GlamedBYT that’s on this platform is taking money for orders that she is not fulfilling. Not only is she not completing orders she’s is unresponsive via telephone and email that’s listed on her contact me page. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this platform and its sellers it’s filled with thieves and scammers!

April 4, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Impossible to Shop

As much as I would like to shop on Big Cartel, it is impossible, there is not a log in for shoppers. At least not a clear one. I have googled, searched and even asked people on ETSY and I cannot find away to shop on this site. It is Ridiculous! Maybe the artists would make more money if the site was easy to access. Really poor platform. Spend the extra money and get on ETSY.

May 8, 2026
Unprompted review
Big Cartel logo

Reply from Big Cartel

Hi Judith,

Big Cartel is a platform for sellers to host their own shops outside with their own domain and owned audience. One of the reasons sellers choose to host their independent shops outside of the marketplace is to avoid the crowded environment. We hear from a lot of sellers that they use marketplaces like Etsy for distribution and also have their own shop so they can curate their audience. Each shop is independently responsible for it's own traffic. While this is different than some other discovery focused platforms, it is the model that works for our community of independent sellers.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I love Big Cartel

I love Big Cartel and their love for artists. I sell on Big Cartel and I have so far really enjoyed it. My only complaint is that it is a little bit strange to make people pay for apps and custom pages. I reckon the paying in person option should be free, as Big Cartel could take taxes from it, leading to more profit on their behalf. Sounds bad, but overall it leaves more people satisfied. Win-win

April 28, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I love big cartel but I wish they had…

I love big cartel but I wish they had more themes and more cursive fonts and they should have the codes for discounts automatically instead of my customers input code they hate that. I understand to get that feature you would have to upgrade but everyone don't be having funds like that and I feel that option should be open for the $15 plan as well.

March 23, 2026
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Patient and Helpful Service

The willingness, patience and responsiveness of service was very helpful. I like the way the service starts with AI but then a person steps in and answers tricky queries. I also found the service people knowledgeable and friendly. They got my jokes too. Thanks for your help and for answering my many questions.

March 3, 2026
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scammed by a shop on big cartel

I pre-ordered some stickers from Mudkip Bros Inc. Muddy Shop on Big Cartel months ago. I have sent made several attempts to contact them about when my items are supposed to arrive, and still haven’t received a single reply, much less my order. Simply put, don’t buy from this shop, it’s a scam. Still trying to get a refund.

October 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Not the Right Fit for My Needs, but Excellent Customer Service

I ultimately decided not to stay with Big Cartel, but I do want to give credit where it’s due.

Big Cartel wasn’t the right platform for my business needs because I require a wider selection of ready-made, visually robust templates. While I did purchase the top-tier plan, I realized I would need to either build a custom template myself or hire someone to do it, and I simply didn’t have the time for that.

Initially, I was frustrated because the chat bot indicated a customer service agent would be available within 30 minutes, but I waited over an hour with no response. That part was disappointing.

However, I want to highlight the excellent follow-up from Big Cartel’s support team. I contacted them less than 24 hours after signing up to request a cancellation and refund, and Karen from customer support responded promptly, explained the bot delay, apologized for the inconvenience, and handled everything with grace and professionalism. She confirmed the cancellation and processed the refund quickly, which I truly appreciated.

While the platform itself wasn’t a fit for me, I was impressed with how the situation was resolved. Because of the initial support delay but strong resolution, I feel a 4-star review is fair.

Thank you to Karen and the Big Cartel team for handling this professionally.

January 30, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Pretty good store builder - most 1* reviewers have misunderstood what Big Cartel is.

The majority of people leaving 1-star reviews seem to have gravely misunderstood what Big Cartel actually is.

Big Cartel is a platform that allows people, mainly artists, to build their own independent stores. It is not a marketplace like Etsy or eBay, where you can browse multiple shops and expect the platform itself to step in if something goes wrong. Big Cartel is essentially a very, very simplified version of Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify. I think what confuses people is the fact that every shop uses a .bigcartel.me domain, which makes many assume it’s a centralized marketplace or social media-style platform. It isn’t. It’s much closer to creating a Ko-fi shop page.
If you’re having an issue with a store like creator.bigcartel.me not shipping your order, that is 100% the responsibility of the creator, not Big Cartel. In that case, you should contact PayPal, Stripe, or your bank to request a refund. Leaving a 1-star review for Big Cartel over this is equivalent to giving Google a bad review because someone didn’t reply to an email you sent via Gmail.

As a store builder, however, Big Cartel is actually very good. The learning curve is extremely small, and in under an hour I had a fully functional store set up with all the integrations and extensions I wanted.
The pricing is also pretty okay.
My main recommendation is to make the purchasing of domains for Big Cartel easier. When I opened the page to look into getting one for myself, I noted that the domain store was in French for some reason and...well, that was confusing for me.

December 23, 2025
Unprompted review
Big Cartel logo

Reply from Big Cartel

Thanks for taking the time to write a review! Sorry to hear you're having issues with custom domains. If you still need help, please don't hesitate to reach out to support@bigcartel.com and someone will be happy to guide you through.

Best,

The Big Cartel Team

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not trumps fault

They say I won't get my product until Dec. And it's trumps fault. No it's not trumps fault. He is only matching tarrifs on our country's goods. So actually it's Portugals fault. They could of lowered thier tariffs but wouldnt.

November 9, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

BIG SCAM THTAST YOUR REAL NAME

I set up my business on this garbage platform after a 3 weeks i got only 1 visitor, and i believe that was their moderators. few days passed i noticed my account was deleted or compromised because i haven't used their ads and paid services.
I see lots of 1 star honest feedbacks, and all those 5 stars are their mods trying to cover up their scams!
STAY AWAY FROM BIG CARTE, Im suprised they were able to use this name for their scamm web

October 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolute crook

Absolute crook. Do not buy from this website at all unless you want fake items and an awful interaction with the seller. Really really unprofessional. Believe all the negative reviews you see about this.

August 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Do believe all the negative reviews!!!!

Do believe all the negative reviews!!!!
I run a great small business and this platform is disappointing in every way! They want to charge high fees and then they don’t want to assist you in a timely manner when their platform goes wonky. I sat in a chat for two hours the other day waiting for a very basic reply from a team member. Other artist love Shopify. Do not waste your time or give any more money to Big Cartel. I have been w them since 2022 and done more than 30k in sales. I have always had an annual plan and my simple conversation on Saturday took about 5 hours to yield a helpful response. I’m with the other one star reviewers, you need a better way to resolve issues for those of us you are providing service to. If that means responsive chats, great. But clearly that is not working for you here at Big Cartel. No matter their response here, stay away. Save your money and invest in a platform that will invest in you!

August 23, 2025
Unprompted review
Big Cartel logo

Reply from Big Cartel

Hi there,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and I’m truly sorry to hear how frustrating this has been. We know that when you’re running a business, waiting hours for a reply, especially on a weekend, can feel unacceptable, and that’s not the experience we want for you.

Our goal is to keep fees low and offer independent artists a simple, affordable platform to sell their work. We also take feedback like yours seriously, and we’re actively working on improvements to response times, including expanding live chat coverage and making sure urgent issues get escalated more quickly.

We’d really like to review what happened with your conversation so we can learn from it and follow up directly. If you’re open to it, please reach out to us at support@bigcartel.com
with your shop name and we’ll take a closer look.

Thank you again for sharing your perspective. It helps us get better.

— The Big Cartel Team

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

NO DOWNLOAD PLUGIN

Hello!
On April 6th, I purchased the 'Omnisphere 2' plugin, but I have not yet received any download link. I would like to know the reason for this.
Thank you. I look forward to a prompt response

April 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous site, I’ve been using Big Cartel for years…

I’ve been using Big Cartel for years and it’s perfect.
Initially I used the free plan, but soon moved on to a paid plan with inventory.
There are no hidden charges and 0% taken on sales, just the monthly or annual charge.
I am an artist and I love the way that the theme I chose is visual. Customers can see the artwork instantly and also 4 more images if required.
Any queries I have had when using the site, which have been few, have been answered quickly by a friendly customer service team and resolved.
I don’t understand the negative reviews, in my experience it’s been a great shop window and website/shop for me.

March 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Big Cartel logo

Reply from Big Cartel

Thanks for the kind feedback! We're glad to hear you're enjoying Big Cartel. Goes without saying, but please let us know if you ever need any assistance!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

We never received the product we…

We never received the product we ordered and can't get a response from anyone. Our software was supposed to be delivered via email within 30 minutes to 24 hours. I don't recommend buying from this site.

February 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Big Cartel logo

Reply from Big Cartel

We’re so sorry to hear you haven’t received your order from the shop you purchased from. To clarify, Big Cartel is a software company that powers nearly a million online stores around the world, but we are not directly affiliated or associated with any of these stores.

Since we do not play a role in the order fulfillment process or manage store operations, we are unable to provide product or shipment details, issue refunds, modify orders, process returns, or put you in contact with a store owner (whether they are a past or present seller) for orders placed through a store using our software.

If you’re looking for help regarding a missing order, we’d recommend filing a chargeback with your bank or card provider for the payment made to that shop if your goods have not been received. Please see the resources we’ve put together at the following link on how to start that process: https://help.bigcartel.com/missing-orders

You can also register a formal complaint so we can keep a record of this on file: https://bigcartel.wufoo.com/forms/file-a-store-complaint/

The vast majority of shops using Big Cartel to run their businesses do right by their customers, so it’s definitely a bummer to hear about these cases. We hope the resources above can point you in the right direction for getting your money back if the seller does not come through with a refund or fulfilling the order.

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