Based on the feedback that I have begun to get for my e-commerce product survey I have figured that many people out there would like a free big cartel css theme.

Many of my readers use Big Cartel or are considering switching to Big Cartel for their small shop. It seems that many of you are choosing to use Big Cartel to make the site unique and brand it with your own style. Well since Big Cartel currently only offers 2 templates when you sign up many of your are looking for more options.

So I have decided to look into creating a big cartel css modification that you can use on your site to make it more unique than the 2 default choices you and thousands of others have.

If I am off base with this assessment please leave a comment or fill out the survey and tell me exactly what you would like me to create for you.  I will be collecting feedback for a few more days on the short survey about what product or information would be a great value to your e-commerce efforts. Remember to provide your email address to get notified when I release the free product and any future updates from me.

Let’s take a look at why BigCartel.com is the right place for you to sell your products online.

Inexpensive Hosted Solution

For a hosted shopping cart Big Cartel is inexpensive. Starting with a free option, basically allowing you to kick the tires, then going to $9.99/mo and up. Compared to Shopify.com the price is a no-brainer for a hosted solution. Basically $9.99/mo is the cost of web hosting at most places.

Custom Domain Name

Want to brand your site, make it unique with a memorable name. Big Cartel, like other hosted solutions allows you to use your very own domain name, such as myshop-name.com.

Paypal integration, no listing fees

Big Cartel keeps things simple and has the setup in place to integrate with PayPal for collecting payments. If you haven't used PayPal before it is perfect for accepting payments online and getting the money into your account for a small transaction fee. At Big Cartel there are no transaction fees except from PayPal to accept payments. So unlike Etsy you will not have to pay a listing fee per item.

Customizable Templates

Are you a designer or an artist thats feels like the boring grid or identical site to others is cramping your style?  Don't worry Big Cartel allows the css to be modified for all plans and for the paid plans allows full customization of the design. Do it yourself or hire a designer to give you a truly unique shop that will make for a memorable shopping experience.

Simple Interface

Adding products, viewing inventory, editing content pages are all a breeze with Big Cartel's admin interface. We had no problem learning the system without ever reading the help documents. The forms to create products and upload photos was intuitive and simple. Your store will be setup in no time.

SEO Opportunities

Since you will have your own domain name and control of the templates and content pages you can build out pages and other special keyword changes to help improve the probability your site will be better ranked in the search engines such as google.

Get in the Store Directory

Similar to Etsy, Big Cartel offers a store directory where the stores are categorized.  The directory isn't nearly as powerful as Etsy but here the sellers are much more varied and the shopping carts aren't shared. So each store is unique but you have the opportunity to be listed and also you have the chance to be featured on the Big Cartel blog as a feature store.

So those are the 7 reasons I would choose to use Big Cartel. BigCartel.com is a great hosted shopping cart solution for shops with less than 100 products looking to have customizable and simple to setup online shop.

Let's take a look at why Etsy.com is the right place for you as an creative handmade artist.

The Community

Of course the biggest reason to use Etsy is the vibrant community they are so proud of creating. With thousands of buyers and sellers on the site at all hours of the day, forums and rotating feature products it is a great place for an artist to start.

I create things

If your products are handmade then Etsy.com is definitely the best place to start. Etsy is a community of buyers and sellers of handmade goods. If you want to instantly fit into a marketplace then this is where you want to start.

I sell vintage items

Do you love vintage items? Have you been collecting them for years and now find yourself in the perfect position to start selling vintage clothing and other items? The Etsy community loves vintage items. The artists and buyers are always looking for new vintage finds and Etsy provides great tools for your shop products to be searched by all buyers.

I sell crafting supplies

If you are selling supplies that are used exclusively in the craft and artisan creations then again Etsy will help expose those supplies to thousands of artists.

No web designer needed

With Etsy there is no technical knowledge required other than following forms and directions. If you can run the digital camera and upload your photos and fill out some forms online then you should be all set. No HTML, no custom designs, no web designer needed.

Payment Gateway and Security

When you sell with Etsy you inherit their chosen payment options and security.  The buyers have the same payment choices on all shops within Etsy and are comfortable with it.

Complimentary products and shared carts

One thing that is often overlooked is that the shopping carts carry from store to store on Etsy. So someone can shop for handmade cards and also get a necklace from two separate shops in the same transaction. This can allow partnerships or simply a better shopping experience for buyers.

So those are the 7 reasons I would choose to use Etsy. Etsy.com is a great resource for those making handmade products or selling vintage items. The community is the greatest benefit along with taking out some of the technical challenges of other options.

So I have been thinking a lot lately about e-commerce and related shopping cart products. While working with products like bigcartel.com, Spree, Cubecart and others I have realized there is need to be filled. I see lots of people coming to my website and I have received emails of people looking for help with Spree, bigcartel, analytics and more.

I have several ideas for products that I know would sell upwards of $100 but I have decided I would rather support my readers with a free giveaway.

Here's what I need from you

If you found this blog because of your interest in e-commerce solutions or trouble working with an existing product and you need further help I would appreciate if you would take just 3 minutes to fill out a quick survey.

Just provide me some of your thoughts and answers to questions as simple as, What *free* product would you like for me to create for you?

If you are able to take the time to fill out this quick survey, and provide me with your email address, I will make sure that when product is ready you will get a copy without having to pull out your credit card.

Thank you so much for reading my blog.

Survey Link

--Matt

The tools for your muse

Tim mentions many great tools to get your muse up and running. At Tonka Park we use many of this such as wordpress, wufoo, skype, google adwords and analytics and more that he doesn't mention. I feel that we have a good handle on these tools and have made them work for different projects.

So that brings us to a new service from Tonka Park. Test, Rollout and Automation.

Test, Rollout and Automation

4 hour work week introduces many of the concepts but not all readers are going to be familiar or even comfortable with these tools. Perhaps you have already outsourced your life and you have another muse but you don't want to go through the test, rollout and automation process by yourself. This is where Tonka Park will step in.

Outsource your muse

If you have a great business product idea and don't have the time or desire to work on websites, contact forms, pay-per-click advertising or online shopping carts, then you need to contact us today, hello@tonkapark.com or fill out the form on on our homepage.

Find out more about our plans to help you test, rollout and automate your muse.