Lots of shops hit the ceiling on Big Cartel eventually. If yours has, we can help.
As a Shopify Select Partner, we move the product and order data we’ve agreed on, rebuild your storefront in Shopify and check the details that matter, like limited stock, product options, downloads and fulfillment. Your shop keeps its identity and just gets more room to grow.
or call 888-711-2347
Includes 60 days of free post-launch migration support. We stay with you after the move.
Official Shopify Partner
Since 2015 · Shopify store migration, design and development. View profile ↗
Illustrative workflow, not a live project
Attention: 7 items need attention.
Is your catalog bumping into the product cap?
Every Big Cartel plan has a documented product cap, and even the top plan has a ceiling. Imports also drop anything past your plan's limit, and the number of images each product can carry changes with the plan.
If your catalog or image count keeps climbing, see how near the top plan you already are before you decide anything. Shopify copes with larger catalogs, but your plan, apps and theme still decide how it feels day to day.
Does your store look too much like a template?
Reviewers mention a short list of free themes, and a layout editor that mainly reorders products instead of moving page sections around. Editing theme code, they say, takes a paid plan.
Plenty of small brands are happy with a plain, art-led look, and that's fine. If you'd like custom landing pages or more freedom over layout, compare what a Shopify theme gives you with what a custom build would add.
Can you edit page URLs, meta descriptions and redirects?
A detailed review says page URLs and meta descriptions can't be edited and that page redirects take code edits. The same review credits Big Cartel with clean product URLs, an automatic sitemap and editable image alt text.
Every store leans on search differently. If organic traffic matters to you, write down what you rely on today so each page can be mapped and redirected during the move.
Are you stitching together a blog, email and cart recovery from outside tools?
Reviewers point out that there's no built-in blog or email marketing, and abandoned cart recovery is reserved for the top plan. Zapier and a short list of integrations cover some of the gaps.
Make a list of the marketing tools you pay for now. Shopify builds in some of them and needs apps for others, so your total cost depends on what you pick.
Are you short on payment methods, currencies or languages?
Documentation and reviews point to Stripe and PayPal as the payment options, a single active currency at a time, and a third-party app for multilingual stores. Tax automation is described as US-focused.
If you sell in several countries, write down the currencies, payment methods and tax settings you need. What Shopify offers depends on your region and plan, so we confirm it during the store review.
Have flat-rate and free shipping stopped covering your orders?
One review lists the shipping options as free, flat rate and in-store pickup, with no product weight field and no weight-based rates.
Stores with heavy items, shipping zones or carrier rates often want finer control. Work out which rates you need, then see which Shopify plan or app supplies them.
Do your products need more options than Big Cartel allows?
Big Cartel documents a ceiling of 150 variants per product and three variant groups. Reviewers add that customer-entered text at checkout, like engraving, isn't supported.
If you sell personalised or highly configurable items, list every option you need. Shopify has its own variant limits, and personalisation usually takes an app.
Pet supplies
Advance Pet Mart started on WooCommerce, but plugin and hosting problems kept getting in the way. We moved the store to Shopify, and they are very happy with the move. We also worked with them on design, SEO, AI SEO and marketing.
Visit the live store
Electronics & gaming retail
We moved City of Games from a broken OpenCart store to Shopify in four weeks, kept its look, rebuilt the features it had lost and protected its search rankings with 301 redirects.
Read the case study
We moved Contours Rx from BigCommerce to Shopify and redesigned the website with a sleek, user-friendly interface and enhanced product pages.
Visit the live storeMove and rebuild. For stores that need their data moved and a new storefront built on Shopify.
Quote after a free store review
Move a complex business. For large or heavily customized stores with connected systems.
Custom quote after discovery
Every migration includes redirects for your old URLs, titles and descriptions carried over, and 60 days of free support after launch. Your Shopify plan, apps and other third-party costs are not part of our quote.
Names, descriptions, prices and identifiers, where available
Option menus, grouped choices, prices and quantities
Main and additional images, quality and order
Collections, navigation and artist information
Live, hidden, sold-out and upcoming releases
An agreed date range, with items, totals and statuses
Buyer details we can reach, plus lists you supply
Custom pages, metadata and a tested redirect map
Where each item goes in Shopify, and what we check before launch.
| Big Cartel | Where it goes in Shopify | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Products & descriptions | Products and suitable custom fields. | Names, text formatting, prices and identifiers where available. We don’t invent SKUs your shop doesn’t have, and if you need a new scheme we agree one with you. |
| Options & variant groups | Agreed options and variants. | Valid combinations, prices, quantities and naming, with no combinations customers could never buy. |
| Images & galleries | Product media and agreed files. | Access to originals, quality, image order and anything still loading from the old shop. |
| Categories & artist information, where used | Collections, navigation and suitable vendor or custom fields. | Product membership, browsing routes and how artist information will actually be used. |
| Big Cartel | Where it goes in Shopify | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Visible, hidden & sold-out listings, future releases | An agreed publishing and availability setup. | Hidden items don’t get published by accident, and sold-out work doesn’t come back on sale. |
| Digital products & other special records | A delivery or destination solution, after assessment. | Files we can reach, delivery requirements and the access existing buyers have. |
| Big Cartel | Where it goes in Shopify | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Historical orders | Agreed history, using a suitable import method. | Dates, items, totals, statuses, refund information where available and references that match. |
| Buyer details & separate lists | Agreed customer contact records. | Available addresses, duplicates, and any evidence of marketing consent from the source. |
| Big Cartel | Where it goes in Shopify | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Custom pages & content | Rebuilt Shopify pages and agreed sections. | Formatting, images, navigation and the forms your new shop needs. |
| Old URLs & useful SEO information | Relevant destination map and metadata. | Domain control, redirects and content we can reach. |
We don’t assume every field, app, password or saved payment credential will transfer. Customer records are based on the buyer details we can access.
How many products and options you have, and how much order history comes along.
What route we have into your products, orders and contact records.
Recreating your look, refreshing it, or starting from a new Shopify theme.
Downloads, print-on-demand and any other connected services.
Release timing, restricted products and anything that calls for an app.
Release and checkout tests, final updates and the links we need to map.
Your proposal keeps our one-time project fee apart from Shopify, theme, app and payment costs. Price and schedule get confirmed after the review.
FreeShop review and quote before you hire us
60 daysFree post-launch migration support included
Migration tools can move the common records, and some vendors add human support. If a tool suits your shop, we’ll use it as one part of the project. What we add is the work around it, meaning your storefront, the product behavior you agreed, connected tools and a planned launch.
Send us your shop URL and tell us what your business depends on. We go through your products, options, downloads, fulfillment and design, then lay out what moves, what changes and what the project will cost.
A small shop gets a proportionate scope. You don’t need exports or logins to start, and we set up secure access later.
The visual elements we agree on, such as colors, type, layouts and the small details that make the shop yours, rebuilt in a Shopify theme.
A cleaner, more flexible storefront that still looks and sounds like you.
Stronger product presentation, the information pages you need and sections you can edit for launches and everyday updates.
We look for an authorized way into your catalog and original images, including listings that aren’t public. We confirm coverage before committing to a scope. Big Cartel’s developer API is one option, where access allows.
Big Cartel documents order CSV downloads. We open the real file and compare its date range, filters and detail with the history you need. The file gets validated, not just the first screen of orders.
Contact records come from the buyer details we can reach, plus any subscriber or customer lists you keep elsewhere. A complete customer-account export may not exist, so we don’t count on one.
Print-on-demand, reviews, email and download tools can each hold their own data, so we track it down instead of assuming it all lives in the shop.
App data may need separate access.Before we process everything, we check a sample of products and orders with you. If something can’t be accessed, we explain the gap and agree on an archive or another option. We can’t promise to recover records that aren’t available.
Capturing your public catalog won’t recover private order history or hidden customer information. Big Cartel’s product-import guide covers moving data into Big Cartel, so we don’t treat it as an export method.
Single option menus and grouped choices mapped to the items you really sell, at the right prices, with no combinations customers could never buy.
We check remaining quantities, stock tracking and overselling settings, and reconcile sales made during the migration. Final quantities get confirmed at the cut-off.
We agree whether past releases stay visible, become an archive, are left out or get restocked later. A sold-out item is never deleted or republished by accident.
We review visibility, scheduled dates, time zones and access restrictions, then agree on a Shopify feature or app that fits.
We don’t assume scheduled-drop settings transfer.Tests run on the private preview store. Access controls and launch tools can work differently on Shopify, so we agree the approach with you and don’t promise identical behavior.
| Art print · A4 1 remaining | $45.00 |
|---|---|
| Art print · A3 sold out | Sold out |
| Summer edition hidden · future release | Hidden |
| Choices on sale | 1 |
| A4 variant, stock 1 | $45.00 |
|---|---|
| A3 variant, stock 0 | Sold out |
| Summer edition | Unpublished |
| Choices on sale | 1 |
Release goes live only when you approve it
What we review
What we review, for Printful or your provider
We agree which system and which team handle outstanding fulfillment, returns, refunds and download support for purchases made before the switch. Importing a history record doesn’t move the original payment.
Which providers are supported, whether your region and business qualify, the methods you need, approval and fees.
Your Stripe or PayPal account won’t set up Shopify on its own, and we don’t promise saved payment details will transfer.We test single-item and mixed baskets, destinations, pickup where used and fulfillment rules. Big Cartel combines rates its own way, so Shopify may need a different setup.
We configure the agreed Shopify tax settings and confirm who is responsible for what with you and your adviser. Your old platform’s tax service doesn’t come along.
We review order emails and connected services before history is imported, so old orders don’t send purchase emails or trigger fulfillment, print production or marketing flows.
Buyer details, contact records, subscribers, account access and saved payments are all different things, so we plan each one. Passwords may not transfer, so we plan the Shopify account experience, which may use email sign-in codes. Marketing needs its own permission, and a purchase email doesn’t count as consent, so we keep whatever consent evidence is available.
Importing products doesn’t reconnect your channels, and product identifiers, ad history or audience matching may change. Your proposal defines this work.
Shopify has its own URL structure and redirect limits, so identical URLs and full coverage aren’t possible in every case. Rankings can shift after any migration, and a new platform brings no audience of its own.
Example mapping. We work from your shop’s actual paths, and artist pages and bigcartel.com addresses are reviewed one by one.
Layouts, product templates and editable sections that hold on to your brand’s personality.
Explore theme & design →Custom features and integrations for when no existing app does the job.
Explore app development →The migration checks we agree on for links and metadata, then ongoing optimization as its own service.
Explore Shopify SEO →SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, email and other fitting channels to support growth after launch.
Explore ecommerce marketing →Migration is quoted on its own. Redesign, new features and ongoing marketing come in only if you want them, each with its own scope and price.
It can usually connect to Shopify without a change of registrar. We review DNS, email and other services, then time the switch.
Big Cartel owns that address, so we can’t promise control over redirects once the account closes. We review the transition options and how you tell customers.
Shopify hosts your store but not your email inboxes. We review mailboxes and email DNS records before anything changes.
Hold off cancelling Big Cartel on the day the new homepage goes live. We agree on when it’s safe, and access is always arranged securely, never through the public enquiry form.
The online store migration was seamless without having 0 downtime. The staff is properly trained, well communicated and proactive Highly recommended
Web commerce pros created a really lovely design for our website. They also changed the layout for our images and updated/resized images so that the site is overall much more attractive. We have been receiving a lot of positive feedback from customers on the ease of use and the overall look of our site. In addition, we are very grateful to Roy for coming up with a creative solution for allowing customers to easily create their own quotes, which has been very helpful to both our operations and our customers.
Arfat and team were proficient with BigCommerce Page Builder and Shogun to create and modify pages. We successfully completed the migration with their assistance and were happy with their work. We would hire again soon for our next project.
We confirm data access, product requirements, design and connections, then agree on a scope that suits your shop.
We prepare Shopify while Big Cartel keeps trading, and go over sample products, records and checkout journeys with you.
One last update of selected orders, contact details, prices and stock at an agreed cut-off.
Domain and channel changes, updated links and a check for late orders. With a one-off item, a single sale matters.
So the switch follows a plan.
This is a coordinated migration with a defined cut-off, with no permanent two-way synchronization between Big Cartel and Shopify. We work to keep risk low, but we can’t promise zero downtime or zero errors.
Big Cartel is still operating, so nobody is forcing you to move. Most merchants who switch have outgrown something specific, like catalog size or design control. We review your store for free and tell you straight whether moving makes sense.
It depends on your catalog size, how much custom design you want and how much order history you need. A small catalog moves faster than a large one with many variants. You get a timeline after the free store review.
Yes. We go through your products, pages, plan, apps and traffic sources, then tell you what moves cleanly, what needs rebuilding and what it will likely cost. You're under no obligation to go ahead.
Our team does the setup, data move, theme work and testing, and you approve each stage. You won't have to run any technical steps yourself. We'll ask for access to your Big Cartel admin and domain settings.
It depends on your Shopify plan, any paid apps, your theme and your payment fees. Big Cartel lists a free plan and paid plans, and Shopify prices things in a different structure. After the free review you get a side-by-side estimate.
Possibly. Some features Big Cartel has built in are also built in on Shopify, and others will need apps. Before you commit, we list the apps we recommend and what they cost.
Big Cartel's help pages describe a CSV download for orders and a CSV import for bringing products in, but we found no official article on exporting products. Some guides point to the store's product data feed instead. We confirm the best route for your store during the free review.
Titles, descriptions, prices, SKUs, option names and values, inventory counts and image links can generally be mapped to Shopify's import format. A few details may need manual cleanup. We run a small test import first, so you can check the result before the full move.
Big Cartel lets you download orders as a CSV, but Shopify's own help says historical orders can't be imported through the admin and need an app or the API. In many cases we bring them in with a migration tool, and we always archive the original files as a record.
Big Cartel documents up to three option groups and 150 variants per product, which fits Shopify's import format for most stores. Unusual options may need manual attention, and we check them during the test import.
Not as a standalone list. Reviewers and migration guides say customer details sit inside the order records instead of a separate customer database. A customer list is usually built from order exports and de-duplicated by email, and we do that as part of the move.
Yes, most likely. Passwords are stored in a form that can't be copied between platforms, so customers should expect to create or reset one on Shopify. We help you write a short announcement so nobody is caught off guard.
No. For security reasons, saved card details can't be exported between platforms, so customers enter their payment details again on their next order.
Your addresses will change, so the old ones need redirects. Shopify uses different patterns, such as /products/ and /collections/. We map your existing addresses and set up the redirects, and we watch Search Console after launch, because no move can promise unchanged rankings.
Yes. You can leave your domain where it is and point it to Shopify, or transfer it to Shopify. Your domain email normally keeps working, and we check DNS records carefully so it isn't disturbed.
Your Big Cartel store stays live while we build the new one. We test orders and payments on the new store, then switch the domain at a time you choose. Short interruptions can happen at the switch, so we plan it for a quiet period.
Close, but not identical. Big Cartel and Shopify themes work differently, so we rebuild the design instead of copying it. We can match your branding closely, and many merchants use the move to improve layouts and add pages.
Every migration includes 60 days of free post-launch migration support within the agreed scope. To start, send your shop URL, roughly how many products you have and your key requirements. We arrange deeper access securely after we talk.
Tell us about your shop, what you need to keep and what you want to do next. We’ll review your setup and put together a migration scope and quote.
Or call 888-711-2347
60 days of free post-launch migration support within the agreed scope.
