How to email Big Cartel tracking to a buyer
Your customer has an email in your store's branding listing the items that shipped and the tracking link that follows them.
Checked against Big Cartel: Send Shipment Tracking Info on September 13, 2026.
Before you start
- The tracking number for the parcel, before you start
- A paid plan, because Big Cartel says "The shipment tracking feature is available in our paid plans."
- The buyer's email address on the order, which Big Cartel already holds
Steps
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Open the packed order
Sign in at app.bigcartel.com, go to Orders and select the order.
You should see the order detail, still sitting in Unshipped.
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Open the shipment tool
On the order, select Mark as shipped.
You should see the tracking number, tracking link and carrier fields.
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Fill the tracking in first
In the tracking fields, enter the tracking number and check the carrier Big Cartel detected.
You should see a tracking link built from the number you pasted.
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Turn the notification on
On the same shipment, turn on the notify of shipping status toggle.
You should see the toggle on, which is what sends the email when you save.
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Send it
On the order, select Mark as shipped to save the shipment and send the email.
You should see a customer notification listing which items shipped, with the tracking link.
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Read the order page back
On the order details page, check what was saved against the shipment.
You should see what was shipped and when, plus any tracking information you included.
If it goes wrong
- The buyer got a notice with no link in it
The email is built from what is on the shipment at the moment it sends. Big Cartel puts it plainly: "With the notify of shipping status toggle turned on, your customer will get a notification as soon as you hit Save." Fill the tracking in before saving, not after.
- You cannot unsend it
Marking an order unshipped deletes the shipping and tracking info you added, and Big Cartel warns that it "does not unsend any email notifications that have already gone out." A wrong number therefore needs a second email from you, not a quiet correction.
- The link points at the wrong carrier
Carrier detection reads the number's format, and lookalike formats exist. Read the carrier back before saving, or choose it manually and paste your own tracking URL.
- The email arrived without your branding
Big Cartel formats the notification to match your store, so a plain looking email usually means the store's own branding settings, not the shipment. Check the order page shows the tracking before you go looking at templates.
What happens next
The customer has 1 email carrying the item breakdown and the tracking link, and the order leaves Unshipped. Nothing further is sent when the parcel moves, so the tracking link is the only ongoing update they get from you. Splitting a shipment sends its own notification per shipment, which is worth saying in the first email if a second box is coming.
A tracking page that matches your store
Every label bought with I'd Ship That gets a branded tracking page, so the link you send stays yours after the parcel leaves. USPS and UPS are priced side by side for the parcel you packed, and you see the full price before you buy. Big Cartel is not a connected store for us today, so the tracking number goes onto the order by hand.
Related questions
Leave the notify of shipping status toggle off and the details are still saved against the order. That is the route for a parcel you have not actually handed over yet, or for a correction you would rather explain yourself. The status change still tells the buyer the order is on its way.
A breakdown of which items in their order have shipped, along with the tracking link, formatted to match your store. That per item detail is what makes it useful on a split shipment, where the buyer needs to know which box holds what.
Not automatically. Correcting a shipment means marking the order unshipped, which deletes the tracking info you added, then re-adding it. Emails already sent stay sent, so tell the buyer directly which number is the live one.
It is normal for a link to show nothing until the carrier scans the parcel, and buyers read that gap as a problem. Dropping a batch with a USPS SCAN form closes it sooner, because one scan covers every parcel on the form. Our guide on USPS SCAN forms covers when that is worth the extra sheet of paper.