When you log in to your Big Cartel admin, Shop Settings is where you manage the core functionality of your shop.

Think of it as the control center that powers your shop. From here you can launch your shop, configure checkout, control inventory behavior, manage communications with customers, and set up how you get paid.

In the admin sidebar, Shop Settings is represented by the gear icon. Clicking this icon opens a set of key areas that allow you to manage everything behind the scenes of your shop.

Where to find Shop Settings

1. Log in to your Big Cartel admin.
2. Look for the gear icon in the sidebar.
3. Click the icon to open Shop Settings.

From here you’ll have access to several areas that control how your store operates.

What you can manage

Shop Settings unlocks several important sections of your admin, including:

• Communications - control which notifications you receive and how you’re alerted about activity in your shop
• Shipping - set up and manage shipping rates, delivery options, and how rates are calculated at checkout
• Payments - connect your payment providers so you can accept payments and get paid from your orders
• Taxes - configure tax rates and rules based on your location and where you sell
• Shop designer - ustomize your storefront’s layout, colors, fonts, and overall look to match your brand

Each of these areas controls a different part of your store’s functionality.

Core Shop Settings

Maintenance Mode

Temporarily pause orders while you update your shop, take a break from selling, or prepare for a launch or officially launch your shop is accessed in Shop settings using the Maintenance mode toggle.

Shop Domains

This section controls your shop’s web address.

Here you can:

• View your Big Cartel shop URL
• Add a custom domain (Premium plan feature)
• Change your shop URL if needed

You can update this at any time as long as the URL is available.

Shop Info

Add the details that describe your shop, including:

• Shop name
• Shop description
• Website link (if you want to link to a main website or blog)

Your shop description helps search engines understand and display your brand in search results, so it plays an important role in SEO. It’s a great place to clearly describe what your shop is about and what you sell—make it count.

Some themes may display your website as a “Back to site” link in your shop navigation.

Inventory Settings

Control how your shop handles product availability.

Options include:

• Turning inventory tracking on or off
• Allowing overselling when products reach zero stock
• Requiring a phone number at checkout for deliveries

These settings help manage stock levels and shipping requirements. This is a premium feature.

Shop Images

Add images associated with your shop, including:

• Profile image (used when your shop is shared on social media)
• Favicon (the small icon shown in browser tabs)

These help create a more polished and recognizable shop presence.

Location, Currency, and Time Zone

Set the operational details of your shop such as:

• Business address
• Time zone
• Store currency

These settings ensure your store processes orders correctly and displays prices in the right currency.

Shop Policies

You can also add important legal or informational policies, including:

• Shipping and delivery policies
• Returns and refunds
• Privacy policy
• Terms and conditions
• Legal notices

These policies help set expectations for customers and may be required in some countries.

Communications

The Communications section controls emails sent to customers and notifications you receive as a seller.

Here you can:

• Enable order receipt emails
• Add a custom message to order confirmations
• Enable shipping status emails
• Send abandoned cart reminders
• Receive notifications for new orders

These tools help keep customers informed and can even help recover lost sales.

Note: Some email features may only be available on premium plans.

Shipping

The Shipping section controls how shipping costs are calculated for orders.

You can:

• Set flat rates for different regions
• Create shipping profiles for different product types
• Offer different shipping methods
• Add multiple shipping regions
• Enabled automatic shipping (US-based premium plan users only)

For example, you might charge one rate for the United States and another for international orders.

Shipping profiles are especially useful if different products require different shipping costs.

Payments

The Payments section is where you set up how you get paid.

Big Cartel supports integrations like Stripe and PayPal, allowing customers to pay using:

• Major credit and debit cards
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Cash App Pay
• Buy Now Pay Later services such as Afterpay, Affirm, and Klarna (Premium users only)

You can also enable subscriptions or donation-style payments if you want to receive recurring support from fans.

If payments aren’t set up, customers won’t be able to complete checkout—so this is one of the most important areas to configure before launching your shop.

Taxes

The Taxes section controls how sales tax is applied to orders.

Taxes are automatically calculated at checkout based on the regions you configure.

You can:

• Enable automatic tax collection for certain locations
• Add custom tax rates when needed

Tax amounts are displayed to customers during checkout and included in the order details.

Designing your shop

Shop design settings allow you to customize how your storefront looks.

From here you can:

• Change themes
• Customize layouts
• Adjust colors and branding
• Upload images

This is where you create the visual experience customers see when they visit your shop.

Launching your shop

Once your settings are configured, you can launch your shop and begin accepting orders.

Typical launch checklist:

1. Set up payments
2. Configure shipping rates
3. Review tax settings
4. Customize your shop design
5. Turn off maintenance mode
6. Start selling

Quick tips

If you’re setting up your shop for the first time, start here:

• Set up payments so you can accept orders
• Configure shipping rates
• Review tax settings
• Customize your shop’s design and branding

Once these are complete, you can toggle your shop out of maintenance mode and your shop is ready to go live.