Accept payments in your Big Cartel shop

Accepting Payments in Your Big Cartel Shop

When it comes to opening an online shop, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is selecting the payment options for your customers. Big Cartel provides a range of payment methods to accommodate your customers’ preferences, locations, and availability. These options include popular choices like PayPal, credit/debit cards, and alternatives such as Afterpay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

How it works - Payment Processors

Payment processors transmit your customer’s payment info to the customer’s bank, PayPal, Afterpay, etc., for the transaction’s approval. Big Cartel shops can use two payment processors: PayPal and Stripe. While accepting payments using either PayPal or Stripe is possible, connecting both processors to your shop’s checkout gives your customers more options to pay you. To use either Stripe or PayPal, or both, you’ll need to set up those accounts, which you can do directly from your Big Cartel admin.

Stripe

Millions of companies, from startups to Fortune 500s, use Stripe to process online payments. By connecting Stripe to your Big Cartel shop, you can accept Apple Pay, Klarna, Google Pay, USD bank transfers, and major credit and debit cards from customers around the world. The connection process is straightforward, and Stripe's robust security measures provide peace of mind to both you and your customers.

Heads up! You'll need a paid plan to enable Buy Now, Pay Later checkout options such as Afterpay, Clearpay, Affirm, and Klarna. Gold sellers, upgrade now to access this feature.

Some of the payment methods we currently support via Stripe are:

It’s important to remember that certain payment methods may only be available to customers in specific regions. Additionally, transaction fees for these various payment methods may differ. If you have any questions or concerns about a particular payment method, we suggest contacting Stripe for further assistance. They’ll be able to provide you with the most current information regarding any region-specific limitations, fees, etc.

Express checkout with Stripe

In addition to more payment methods, enabling Stripe in your shop also gives your customers access to Express checkout. Buyers with compatible devices and browsers can speed through checkout using payment methods they’re already familiar with, saving time and increasing conversion rates in your shop. Express Checkout currently supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link as possible payment options, which appear at the top of the page during the checkout process.

When a buyer selects an Express Checkout option it’ll submit their pre-saved shipping, contact, and payment information, allowing them to skip the rest of the checkout page and purchase items in your shop with confidence and ease.

Stripe Transaction fees

Stripe Pricing will vary depending on location and payment method.

Cards and wallets - Starting at 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge
Installments - Starting at 6% of the order total + $0.30.

Stripe Payment Schedule

If a customer pays through the Stripe checkout, using their credit or debit card, Afterpay, or any other of Stripe’s payment options, then you’ll want to look at the payment info in your Stripe account to find out which payment method your customer used— you can also see this in your shop’s Orders section. From there, you can check the payment schedule for that method in your Stripe admin Stripe Payouts.

Paypal

PayPal is another popular payment option that offers a secure way for customers to pay for their purchases. With its widespread recognition and reputation for reliability, PayPal can enhance your shop’s credibility and encourage customer trust. Connecting your Big Cartel shop to PayPal allows customers to pay using their PayPal account or with their linked credit card, debit card, PayPal Credit, or Venmo (for U.S. domestic orders only). Customers without a PayPal account may also have the option to pay with a credit or debit card via guest checkout.

Note: PayPal does have limitations and restrictions with guest checkout and sadly we have no control over these. To ensure all customers have the option to pay with a major credit/debit card, we recommend connecting Stripe to your store as a checkout option if you want to accept card payments in your shop.

PayPal Processing Fees

PayPal's fees can vary depending on the country and payment method, but 2.99% plus $0.49 USD is the rate for most transactions, regardless of location.

PayPal's Advanced Credit and Debit Card option

PayPal's Advanced Credit and Debit Card option is ideal for sellers who exclusively use PayPal and wish to offer a card payment option to customers. With this feature enabled, customers can stay within your storefront instead of being redirected, ensuring a faster checkout experience. However, this checkout option does require approval. Check the process for enabling it in this help article.

PayPal Payment Schedule

If your customer pays using PayPal, those funds will hit your account balance almost immediately. You can then transfer funds from your PayPal balance, which usually takes 3-4 business days for the transfer to make it to your bank. Once you’ve landed on how you’d like to accept payments in your shop, you can set up your checkout in your Big Cartel admin by following the instructions here: How to set up checkout.

Pro Tip: If you’re reviewing transactions on your payment processor’s platform, you may notice a “Partner Commission” or “Application Fee"—this isn't a transaction fee that we keep. This is the U.S. sales tax that your customer pays, and that we’re required to send to the appropriate state. The amount will match the Sales Tax on the order details in your Big Cartel admin.