BigCommerce Rest In Peace (Alternatives Re: Price Increase)

[Vigilante]

We have a few BigCommerce stores on a medium price tier. We currently pay $39.99/month for use of their platform. I've been using BigCommerce for four full years.

They just announced they are DOUBLING their prices, effective 7/1/16. They can kiss my a$$.

Their platform is inferior to Shopify and several others. The ONLY reason they made sense previously was price.

I'll be getting my money back for the custom template I purchased from them, and migrating to greener pastures. I'll hire a VA to rebuild things on a new platform, and then sit back and watch BigCommerce finish their going out of business strategy.

There are several alternatives which we will be posting about in the forum in the weeks to come. My hope is to have every single forum member here to leave BigCommerce and let them implode from within.

As this thread will be indexed and alerted to BigCommerce, let me be amongst the first to tell you :

 

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[ddzc]

We have a few BigCommerce stores on a medium price tier. We currently pay $39.99/month for use of their platform. I've been using BigCommerce for four full years.

They just announced they are DOUBLING their prices, effective 7/1/16. They can kiss my a$$.

Their platform is inferior to Shopify and several others. The ONLY reason they made sense previously was price.

I'll be getting my money back for the custom template I purchased from them, and migrating to greener pastures. I'll hire a VA to rebuild things on a new platform, and then sit back and watch BigCommerce finish their going out of business strategy.

There are several alternatives which we will be posting about in the forum in the weeks to come. My hope is to have every single forum member here to leave BigCommerce and let them implode from within.

As this thread will be indexed and alerted to BigCommerce, let me be amongst the first to tell you :

Are you planning on going with shopify or do you have any others in mind? I was planning on setting shop up with shopify initially, simple, clean design and quite reliable as per a few folks I know who use it.

 

[Vigilante]

Are you planning on going with shopify or do you have any others in mind? I was planning on setting shop up with shopify initially, simple, clean design and quite reliable as per a few folks I know who use it.

Going to start some research now. Open to opinions. I like Shopify. I specifically like their Amazon FBA integration which BigCommerce doesn't have. Like most changes, this one will likely be for the better in the long run. Short term pain for long term gain.

 

[Greyson F]

PLEASE start a Progress Thread for this, @Vigilante, as one of the reasons our startup will be launching on Amazon exclusively at first is because we don't know the back-end set up of an E-Commerce Website using Shopify, etc.

You would definitely have a #1 fan out of me

 

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[Vigilante]

PLEASE start a Progress Thread for this, @Vigilante, as one of the reasons our startup will be launching on Amazon exclusively at first is because we don't know the back-end set up of an E-Commerce Website using Shopify, etc.

You would definitely have a #1 fan out of me

Someone smarter than me will do it so I can learn from them, and you along with me. There are a lot of eCommerce pros here, and one of them will hopefully illuminate a path.

 

[ddzc]

Going to start some research now. Open to opinions. I like Shopify. I specifically like their Amazon FBA integration which BigCommerce doesn't have. Like most changes, this one will likely be for the better in the long run. Short term pain for long term gain.

Initially, I was planning on being cheap and self hosting Wordpress with Woocommerce, but I decided that it may not be worth the headaches. I'd rather deal with a simple, reliable and powerful platform which Shopify seems to be, judging by many users I know who do high volume sales.

I remember @JasonR posted a thread with a 25% discount from Life Hacker. I see it went down to 15%, but nonetheless, savings! https://www.shopify.ca/lifehacker

Credit goes to Jason for the link.

 

[Trivium iz rC]

@Vigilante

I have stores on Shopify & Big Commerce. We recently just opened another one on Americommerce but they recently just got bought out by capital one. It's going to be interesting to see what they do with the product. You should check out Americommerce out.

 

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[Vigilante]

If I end up with Shopify, I am going to invite them here as an advertiser. They should be a forum sponsor.

Shopify seems like the natural winner of the migration.

 

[Vigilante]

@Vigilante

I have stores on Shopify & Big Commerce. We recently just opened another one on Americommerce but they recently just got bought out by capital one. It's going to be interesting to see what they do with the product. You should check out Americommerce out.

Log into your BigCommerce platform office tonight and see if you get the alert for their new pricing.

 

[Greyson F]

Someone smarter than me will do it so I can learn from them, and you along with me. There are a lot of eCommerce pros here, and one of them will hopefully illuminate a path.

I personally think yours would be better. And here is my reasoning:

Most Ecommerce pros here will be telling me from the standpoint of a Consultant or an Expert.

YOU are near my experience level, and will be more interactive to your learning.

Not to mention, you are in a very unique spot, having to integrate everything over and almost do MORE work than if a professional was talking about starting from scratch.

I already have your title "Progress Thread: Jumping Boats and Starting Fresh"

 

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[Vigilante]

The new bigcommerce threshhold for $80/mo is $125k in 12 months rolling sales. If you exceed $125k in sales, the fee jumps to $200/mo.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Wonder if Shopify will follow suit... like airline ticket pricing. Lets hope not.

 

[Vigilante]

Here's shopify price model before the promo code

https://www.shopify.com/pricing

So similar price structure, but better features especially for Amazon integration.

 

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[Greyson F]

The new bigcommerce threshhold for $80/mo is $125k in 12 months rolling sales. If you exceed $125k in sales, the fee jumps to $200/mo.

I didn't know that Ecommerce platforms scaled pricing with the success of the business...

Wonder if Shopify will follow suit... like airline ticket pricing. Lets hope not.

Usually when stuff like this happens, a newer (and hopefully better) competitor arises that offers everything that Bigcommerce does + Bells * Whistles.


This would be a really unique opportunity for Amazon to become king of the hill in this industry.

 

[Trivium iz rC]

@Vigilante

I got the alert for the price increase. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Vigilante]

http://www.volusion.com/brand-landi...MCIt-eVoAEBe35S7jjWmT6hP4zWMNpOwMYBoCc9nw_wcB

Here's another alternative.

And formally AmeriCommerce :

https://www.sparkpay.com/sellonline

 

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[Greyson F]

http://www.volusion.com/brand-landi...MCIt-eVoAEBe35S7jjWmT6hP4zWMNpOwMYBoCc9nw_wcB

This website is exactly what I need.


QUICK THOUGHT: USD is currently strong against the AUD (I think its ~130%), so are there perhaps any Australian E-Commerce Platforms?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

BigCommerce pissed me off years ago when I was running an Interspire cart (paid for an infinite license) and they bought the company, or did some kinda corporate switcheroo.... I got a notice that support would stop for Interspire and I would need to upgrade to BigCommerce. Of course, that switch would come with a new monthly bill which I didn't have before.

Told them to pound sand.

They died for me years ago.

 

[Greyson F]

Told them to pound sand.

My hope is to have every single forum member here to leave BigCommerce and let them implode from within.

This forum is turning into a Political Action Committee for Entrepreneurs.

 

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[Vigilante]

BigCommerce pissed me off years ago when I was running an Interspire cart (paid for an infinite license) and they bought the company, or did some kinda corporate switcheroo.... I got a notice that support would stop for Interspire and I would need to upgrade to BigCommerce. Of course, that switch would come with a new monthly bill which I didn't have before.

Told them to pound sand.

They died for me years ago.

I bought a custom web design from one of their designers. You can bet your a$$ they'll be giving me a refund, either the easy way or happily in small claims. The forgot to mention to me when I bought the customization that they were doubling their rates.

 

[Vigilante]

This forum is turning into a Political Action Committee for Entrepreneurs.

Always has been. It's just been a while since an external stimulus has served as a catalyst. The forum gets hundreds of thousands of visits a month. The value of advertising here for the right (www.Shopify.com) advertiser is tremendous. The return on investment for the right (Shopify) advertiser is a no brainer. Our members RALLY around great advertisers (https://www.shopify.com/)

Please note this post is NOT an official solicitation of https://www.shopify.com/ to become an advertiser. To do that, they would want to email mj@thefastlaneforum.com for special rates. All rights reserved. BigCommerce can F*ck off. Shopify should maybe create a PROMO CODE to go along with their forum advertising campaign here.

 

[Greyson F]

Always has been. It's just been a while since an external stimulus has served as a catalyst. The forum gets hundreds of thousands of visits a month. The value of advertising here for the right (www.Shopify.com) advertiser is tremendous. The return on investment for the right (Shopify) advertiser is a no brainer. Our members RALLY around great advertisers (https://www.shopify.com/)

Please note this post is NOT an official solicitation of https://www.shopify.com/ to become an advertiser. To do that, they would want to email mj@thefastlaneforum.com for special rates. All rights reserved. BigCommerce can F*ck off. Shopify should maybe create a PROMO CODE to go along with their forum advertising campaign here.

Hahaha I literally didn't notice your cute fine print until I quoted your post. and then the last "F*ck off" made the rest of my evening in this snowy hell I call a temporary home.

Well, back to work! I suck at product research on Amazon, but as they say, "Rome wasn't built by Bigcommerce"

*Man I'm bad at jokes

 

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[ilrein]

@Vigilante

@biophase and I discussed some of the merits of Shopify versus WooCommerce here.

We both found it to be an unattractive long term option, because of hidden transaction fees. Otherwise a solid platform, but really greedy.

I think it's good to start off with, but too expensive in the long haul.

 

[Vigilante]

Hey BigCommerce, this thread has 250 views in the last two hours. www.bigcommerce.com

 

[Greyson F]

@Vigilante

@biophase and I discussed some of the merits of Shopify versus WooCommerce here.

We both found it to be an unattractive long term option, because of hidden transaction fees. Otherwise a solid platform, but really greedy.

I think it's good to start off with, but too expensive in the long haul.

What platform would you suggest then for long-term positioning?

 

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[Vigilante]

Greed. BigCommerce is just the latest in a string of people with their hand out, wanting YOUR money. At which time the value offered is less than the fee demanded, it's time to find a better solution. I'd pay more for better service, but am certainly not going to pay more for what is arguably an inferior platform. Greed. Miscalculation.

At one point, KMart was the #1 discount retailer in the United States. It was just one management team's miscalculation away from it's inevitable bankruptcy.

 

[biophase]

Yeah, their new pricing sucks. But Shopify's is not any better. Both these companies are trying to make money on credit card processing. Both their rates are higher than what I currently pay.

Maybe I'll dust off the Interspire software. I have 5 BC stores right now. There's no way I'm staying with them at $80/mo.

Volusion's pricing looks decent, but their templates are hard to modify.

Shopify has an insane 2% fee if you use an external payment gateway.

@MJ, what are you running? It's being self hosted right?

IMO, Bigcommerce is not run be people who have online stores. I met them in Texas a few years ago and also spoke to their support when I went from Interspire to BC. Their support does not know how to use their own stores and their training department has given really bad advice in how to run an online store. I've stuck with them for almost 5 years now. But it's probably time to move on. Or course migrating 5 stores will be a big headache but I just have to bite the bullet and do it now.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@MJ, what are you running?

OpenCart. Cost is $0/mo with my own processing.

 

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[Vigilante]

Yeah, their new pricing sucks. But Shopify's is not any better. Both these companies are trying to make money on credit card processing. Both their rates are higher than what I currently pay.

Maybe I'll dust off the Interspire software. I have 5 BC stores right now. There's no way I'm staying with them at $80/mo.

Volusion's pricing looks decent, but their templates are hard to modify.

Shopify has an insane 2% fee if you use an external payment gateway.

@MJ, what are you running? It's being self hosted right?

IMO, Bigcommerce is not run be people who have online stores. I met them in Texas a few years ago and also spoke to their support when I went from Interspire to BC. Their support does not know how to use their own stores and their training department has given really bad advice in how to run an online store. I've stuck with them for almost 5 years now. But it's probably time to move on. Or course migrating 5 stores will be a big headache but I just have to bite the bullet and do it now.

My thought was once I pick a new platform, I will just hire a VA to do 90% of the migration, and I can put the finishing touches on it.

 

[biophase]

"better platform: Because merchants who use more platform resources pay accordingly, we’re able to reinvest more in new features, enhancements and stability."

This is a joke. Processing a few more orders does not take up that much more resources. They are basically saying that as you make more money, we want more of it.