What Big Cartel does

Big Cartel, LLC is a US-based, privately held SaaS ecommerce platform founded in 2005 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and purpose-built for independent artists, makers, musicians, bands, and small creative businesses. The platform enables sellers to launch customizable online storefronts for physical goods, digital products (up to 1GB files), print-on-demand merchandise, and in-person sales through native iOS and Android mobile apps with tap-to-pay functionality. Underlying technology is a cloud-based multi-format commerce architecture with integrations spanning payments (PayPal, Stripe, Venmo, Afterpay), print-on-demand fulfillment (Printful, Printify, theprintspace, Art of Where), shipping (built-in label printing with up to 90% discounted carrier rates, Pirate Ship, ShipStation), social commerce (Instagram, Facebook, Google Shopping), and workflow automation (Zapier exposing 7,000+ apps).

The company operates a three-tier subscription model: Gold (free, up to 5 product listings), Platinum ($15/month or $12/month annually, up to 50 listings, custom domains, digital products, shipping labels), and Diamond ($30/month or $24/month annually, up to 500 listings, abandoned cart recovery, scheduled drops, Zapier access, priority support). Critically, Big Cartel charges zero transaction fees on any plan, positioning against Etsy (6.5% + $0.20 per listing) and Shopify (monthly subscription + payment processing fees). Go-to-market is exclusively self-serve, product-led growth with no sales team; users sign up, choose from 12 templates, import products from Shopify/Etsy/Squarespace, and launch in four steps.

The company has cumulatively served 3M+ shops hosting 6M+ products and facilitating $2.5B+ in global sales over 20+ years of operation. It remains bootstrapped with no disclosed venture capital funding, no parent company, and 1-10 employees. Customer segments include independent artists and makers (jewelry, ceramics, art, printmaking), bands and musicians selling merch, digital creators selling downloadable products, print-on-demand entrepreneurs, and market/pop-up sellers using the mobile POS.

Name

Big Cartel

Legal name

Big Cartel, LLC

Website

https://bigcartel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Big Cartel is a bootstrapped US SaaS ecommerce platform, founded 2005, serving independent artists, makers, musicians, and small creative businesses with zero-fee online stores across physical, digital, and print-on-demand products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Salt Lake City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Three-tier subscription model: Gold (free), Platinum ($15/mo), Diamond ($30/mo). Revenue comes from monthly/annual subscription fees with no transaction or commission charges.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Big Cartel provides a cloud-based SaaS ecommerce platform that enables independent artists, makers, bands, and small creative businesses to set up customizable online stores for selling physical goods, digital downloads, and print-on-demand products. The platform includes integrated payment processing, shipping label printing, sales tax automation, mobile point-of-sale via iOS/Android apps, and multi-channel social selling (Instagram, Facebook, Google Shopping).

Product overview

Big Cartel is a single-platform ecommerce solution designed for independent artists, makers, and small businesses. The product portfolio centers on a tiered pricing model (Gold at $0, Platinum at $15/month, Diamond at $30/month) that progressively unlocks features. The core offering includes physical product sales with integrated shipping and inventory management, digital product delivery with up to 1GB file support, print-on-demand through Printify/Printful/theprintspace, and social commerce via Instagram/Facebook/Google Shopping. Additional capabilities include a no-code shop designer with 12 templates, built-in marketing tools (scheduled drops, discounts, abandoned cart recovery), in-person POS via mobile app, and a free pricing calculator. The platform emphasizes no transaction fees and real human support as differentiators against competitors like Etsy, Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gold Plan Free tier of the Big Cartel ecommerce platform allowing up to 5 product listings with basic storefront, payment acceptance (cards/PayPal), sales tax autopilot, real-time stats, and access to 1 template (Cosmos). No Big Cartel transaction fees.
• Platinum Plan Subscription tier at $15/month (or $12/month annually) including up to 50 product listings, custom domains, digital product sales, discount codes, shipping label printing, order tracking, and full template library.
• Diamond Plan Premium subscription tier at $30/month (or $24/month annually) including up to 500 product listings, abandoned cart recovery, scheduled product drops, password-protected products, Zapier integration with 7,000+ apps, and priority support.
• Physical Products Selling Complete ecommerce tools for selling handmade and physical goods online and in-person, including inventory management, shipping label printing, and in-person payments via the mobile app.
• Digital Products Selling Platform for selling digital goods including art prints, templates, music, photos, PDFs, e-books, and 3D printing files with automatic instant download delivery and support for files up to 1GB.
• Print on Demand Integration with Printify, Printful, theprintspace, and Art of Where enabling sellers to create and sell custom printed products without holding inventory, with providers handling printing, packing, and shipping.
• Social Selling Built-in tools for syncing products to Instagram Shopping, Facebook Shop, and Google Shopping, enabling multi-channel selling without managing separate storefronts.
• In-Person Selling / Mobile POS Mobile point-of-sale capabilities allowing sellers to accept card payments, cash, and tap-to-pay at markets, craft fairs, and pop-up events through the Big Cartel mobile app, with inventory sync between online and in-person sales.
• Shop Designer No-code storefront customization tool with customizable templates, color/font editing, layout tweaks, and optional custom code/CSS for advanced users.
• Marketing Tools Built-in marketing capabilities including scheduled product drops, discount codes, password protection for exclusive collections, and abandoned cart email recovery (Diamond tier).
• Pricing Calculator Free standalone tool for calculating optimal product pricing by factoring in material costs, shipping, platform fees, markup, and profit margins.
• Store Templates Collection of 12 customizable, mobile-friendly shop themes including 1 free template (Cosmos) and 11 premium templates (Luna, Netizen, Lunch Break, Picklejuice, Ranger, Neat, Roadie, Sunscreen, Sidecar, Trace, Foundry).
• Big Cartel Mobile App Native mobile applications for iOS and Android enabling store management, inventory management, order tracking, and in-person card/tap-to-pay payments from anywhere.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sellers keep 100% of profits with no Big Cartel transaction fees
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration26 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary payment processor integration enabling PayPal, Venmo (US), Pay Later options, and credit/debit card processing. Claims 46% higher checkout conversion and 55% higher AOV with Pay Later. Venmo integration reaches 92 million active accounts.
• PrintfulcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrint-on-demand partner for custom apparel and products. Prints, packs, and ships directly to customers. Enables sellers to offer products without inventory.
• PrintifycoreTechnology or IntegrationPrint-on-demand partner offering thousands of custom products delivered worldwide. Integration allows sellers to create and sell POD products through their Big Cartel store.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Shopify: Shopify is the dominant SaaS ecommerce platform for SMB and direct-to-consumer brands, competing with Big Cartel across the same product category (hosted store builder with subscription pricing). Big Cartel explicitly positions against Shopify with comparison pages highlighting its lower price point for sub-scale sellers.
• Etsy: Etsy is the leading marketplace for handmade, vintage, and craft goods and serves the same indie creator audience as Big Cartel. Big Cartel actively markets itself as the lower-fee, anti-Etsy alternative for sellers who want their own branded storefront instead of selling on a crowded marketplace.
• Squarespace: Squarespace is a website builder with integrated ecommerce capabilities targeting creators and small businesses. Big Cartel explicitly compares itself against Squarespace, competing for the same indie creative seller persona with a simpler, lower-priced ecommerce-focused offering.
• Wix: Wix is a website builder with ecommerce functionality, frequently positioned against Big Cartel in comparison pages. Both target independent creators and small businesses, though Wix offers broader general-purpose site building versus Big Cartel's pure-play ecommerce focus.
• BigCommerce: BigCommerce is a SaaS ecommerce platform serving SMB and mid-market merchants with multi-channel selling capabilities. While it targets larger sellers than Big Cartel, it competes in the same hosted-storefront SaaS category with similar subscription pricing architecture.
• Sellfy: Sellfy is a creator-focused ecommerce platform for selling digital products, subscriptions, and physical goods. It serves the same indie creator persona as Big Cartel with a similarly simple pricing model, making it a direct comparable in the creator-commerce niche.
• Gumroad: Gumroad is a creator-first platform for selling digital products, memberships, and physical goods directly to audiences. It overlaps heavily with Big Cartel's digital goods, print-on-demand, and indie seller use cases and competes for the same creator economy customer.
• Weebly (Square Online): Weebly, now Square Online, is a website builder with built-in ecommerce that targets small businesses and creators. It competes with Big Cartel for entry-level sellers and offers product import paths similar to Big Cartel's Shopify/Etsy/Squarespace import tools.
• Ecwid: Ecwid is a SaaS ecommerce platform that lets small businesses add a store to an existing site or sell across channels and social platforms. It competes with Big Cartel on the multi-channel, social-selling, and small-merchant dimensions of the market.
• WooCommerce: WooCommerce is the leading open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, widely adopted by indie creators and small businesses. While not a hosted SaaS, it is the primary open-source alternative that sellers outgrowing Big Cartel migrate to as they scale beyond listing caps.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-cartel
• Xx.com/bigcartel
• Facebookfacebook.com/bigcartel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Cartel