Marcus Lawrence | 

15 Tips to Buy Cricut on Sale & Save Money

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Looking to buy a Cricut electronic cutting machine? Then you’re probably looking for a Cricut discount. Welcome to the club.

Cricut is like a printer, but instead of ink printing on paper, the machines use a variety of blades to cut designs from paper and other materials. That lets you make shapes and letters for your scrapbook, high-quality Christmas cards, your own T-shirt designs, and a ton of other crafts.

Before you join Cricut’s rabid fanbase by getting a machine of your own, you gotta know which kind of Cricut you should get. You’ll want to find out whether or not your favorite store is giving you a good deal on Cricut. We did all the work for you!

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First, decide what kind of Cricut you desperately need.

There’s not just one Cricut machine; there are different types of cutters that all have different capabilities, difficulty levels, and prices. The type of Cricut discount you’ll get on each may vary widely.

1. Cricut Joy: $179.99 MSRP

The compact, portable Cricut Joy is recommended for beginners or occasional users with small projects. Although it’s not as heavy-duty as some of the other models — it has a hard time with thicker materials or more intricate designs. It’s the most popular Cricut for how easy to use it is.

2. Cricut Explore: $249.99 – $319.99 MSRP

The mid-tier Cricut Explore models are the most popular machines for serious enthusiasts and burgeoning businesses. They’re larger, able to handle more materials and bigger projects, and have a wider range of applications.

Cricut Explore has two models right now, the Cricut Explore Air 2 and the Cricut Explore 3.

3. Cricut Maker: $399.99 – $429.99 MSRP

The top-tier Cricut Maker models are commercial-grade machines that are great for serious crafters—they can even cut wood! There are two models available right now: the Cricut Maker and the Cricut Maker 3.

 

1. The best Cricut discount will always be listed on KCL’s Cricut Deals page.

We’re constantly looking for the best Cricut discount, deal, and promo. Check our dedicated KCL Cricut Deals page to see the latest deals and discounts we have personally confirmed!

Download the KCL app for the easiest way to stay on top of all the deals we find, anywhere and anytime. You can even set up notifications to alert you when we find new Cricut deals.

 

2. Buy a machine & materials bundle and save up to 54%.

cricut-explore-2-essentials-bundle-mint

If you’re buying a new machine, you’re going to need materials to actually use it. Retailers have a number of Cricut bundles that include a machine and materials, like classic vinyl, iron-on vinyl, cardstock, and glitter vinyl. Almost every bundle you find is a little bit different; make sure you’re reading about what’s in these bundles.

Craft-e-Corner is the first place to go for Cricut bundles.

Amazon, JoAnn, and Cricut have competitive bundles, too.

 

3. The best price for the Cricut Joy is $121.99 at Walmart.

Here are the best prices we could find on Cricut Joy (reg. $179.99):

 

 

4. The best price for the Cricut Explore Air 2 is $179 at multiple stores.

walmart-cricut-explore-air-machine-emerald-2021a

Here are the best prices we could find on Cricut Explore Air 2 (reg. $249.99):

 

5. The best price for the Cricut Maker is $249 at Amazon, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels.

Here are the best prices we could find on Cricut Maker (reg. $399.99):

 

6. Cricut Black Friday sales are the time to buy materials (not machines).

While many retailers have Cricut Black Friday sales, they don’t significantly reduce the price of the machines during Black Friday. In fact, many Black Friday prices we found were higher or the same as sales at other times of the year. During Black Friday 2020, the biggest discount we’ve seen on machines was 30% off at Cricut.com.

Materials, on the other hand, see big discounts:

  • At Michaels Black Friday sale in 2020, crafting paper was 70% off and adhesive vinyl was 40% off.
  • Hobby Lobby discounts all Cricut vinyl and accessories 40% off, and The Paper Studio materials (that fit Cricut machines) 50% off.
  • Cricut.com discounted materials up to 60% during Black Friday 2020.

 

7. Get a 5% discount on the newest machines with Target RedCard.

cricut-joy-target-2021

We’re starting to see Cricut discounts on The Cricut Explore 3 and the Cricut Maker 3—the newest machines. But if you want to make sure you get at least 5% off the MSRP at Target, use your Target RedCard debit card

With that, the Cricut Explore 3 costs just $284.99 (reg. $319.99), and the Cricut Maker 3 costs $379.99 (reg. $429.99). Not a big price cut, but it’s something.

Unfortunately, Michaels doesn’t match the final RedCard price. But Target will match the lowest price you can find, and then you can get another 5% discount with RedCard.

Knowing this, right now Michaels has the Cricut Maker 3 on sale for $379. With Target’s price match plus the Target RedCard discount, you could bring that down to $360.05.

 

8. Cricut heat presses seem to be the cheapest at Amazon.

Cricut heat presses are separate machines that apply your Cricut designs onto fabric and ceramic mugs. Here are the best prices we found on the current models:

 

9. Don’t settle for less than 30% savings on Cricut materials.

Never pay full price for Cricut materials. Besides shopping sales, look out for materials bundles. Like the machine bundles, these groupings are good ways to save money on materials. Here are some deals we’ve found on Cricut materials:

Craft-e-Corner

Cricut.com

Amazon

TIP: Surprisingly, sometimes Cricut.com has better deals on materials than their Amazon storefront, so do your due diligence and compare prices. It may be more cost-effective to order some materials from Cricut.com and others from Amazon.

 

10. Get the Standard Cricut Access Subscription to save on the newest machines.

A Cricut Access Subscription gives you discounts on Cricut products via Cricut.com and access to more than 500 fonts, 200,000 images, and thousands of preloaded projects.

The Standard Subscription costs $9.99/month or $95.88/year if you pay up front, and the Premium Subscription costs $119.88/year, paid up front. While the Premium Subscription offers a noteworthy 20% off materials, both subscriptions save you 10% on machines.

If you’re not sure about the ongoing subscription, you can purchase just one month of the Standard Subscription for $9.99 to get the 10% discount (which is $29.99 for Explore 3 and $39.99 for Maker 3), and cancel before the month ends to save on your one-time machine purchase.

Cricut.com orders over $99 qualify for free shipping, using the month’s abbreviation + SHIP (example: OCTSHIP). Shipping on orders of less than $100 costs $12, and shipping is free on orders of $50+ with Premium.

 

 

11. Don’t buy Cricut at Kohl’s — unless you have lots of Kohl’s Cash.

Use expired Kohl's Cash for up to 10 days.

Cricut prices at Kohl’s aren’t great — they typically match the top-end MSRP — but the good thing about Kohl’s is that you can create your own discounts using Kohl’s Cash.

Learn more about how to earn and spend Kohl’s Cash.

 

12. Save around 40% by getting used Cricut machines online.

Facebook Marketplace listings of used Cricut machines for sale

If you’re looking to save some money and are willing to deal with a preowned Cricut machine, you could save a lot of money. Here’s some of what I found:

eBay

  • Cricut Joy, $99.99 — 44% off the MSRP of $179.99
  • Cricut Maker, $179.99 — 55% off the MSRP of $399.99

Facebook Marketplace

  • Cricut Explore Air 2, $140 — 44% off the MSRP of $249.99
  • Cricut Joy Bundle, $120 — 48.5% off the total value of $232.99

With a used machine, it’ll most likely be past its warranty. Keep in mind that discontinued Cricut models may be able to use new materials if you use the machine mat (on sale for $13.19, $21.99 MSRP).

 

13. Make sure you know the other costs that come with a Cricut machine.

To use any of the machines to their full potential, you have to purchase accessories (blades, attachments, cutting mats) and specialized materials that fit in the machines. You may also have to pay to download specific fonts, designs, or use project space on their servers.

For example, in addition to a Cricut cutting machine and a Cricut heated press, you’d need to buy:

 

14. Know your store’s Cricut return policy.

You’re able to return a Cricut machine if you keep it in the original packaging and depending on where you bought it, you could have as little as five days to act. Here’s a rundown:

  • Cricut.com: Email support team within five days of receiving the order, return within 15 days, must be unopened.
  • Michaels: Return within 60 days, with the receipt and unopened packaging. (Oh hey, we’ve decoded Michaels return policy.)
  • JoAnn: Return it anytime, with the receipt and unopened packaging. There is a $25 restocking fee.
  • Target: Return within 90 days, with the receipt. The packaging may be opened and the machine may be used.
  • Walmart: Return within 90 days, with the receipt and unopened packaging.
  • Amazon: If you’re buying from Amazon (and not a third-party seller), you’re most likely eligible for a return — but the criteria surrounding it all depends on what you bought and how you bought it. When in doubt, don’t open the package. The Amazon Return Policy gives you a brief outline of how to request a return.
  • Hobby Lobby: Return within 90 days with the receipt and unopened packaging.

If you bought a Cricut item at a store, you can’t return it directly to Cricut — unless it is part of a valid warranty claim. Speaking of which. . .

 

15. Don’t forget: Your Cricut warranty is only good for a year.

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Your new Cricut machine can be claimed under Cricut’s one-year warranty if you purchased it from authorized resellers like the ones we’ve mentioned — and you must contact Cricut directly to make a claim.

You can make a warranty claim when there are “defects in materials and workmanship” within a year of buying the product, according to Cricut.

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