Something's Up With Cricut... Let's Talk About It

They went from charging $1,200 for an Autopress to $349. Something strange is happening in the craft industry today. They have been dropping prices like never before. Close to probably nothing profit-wise, but then Cricut answered the call. Y'all, listen. Something strange is happening in the craft industry today, and we got to talk about it because let me tell you, it has been booming over here in our craft industry, and I'm kind of here for it, but we need to talk about it. Cricut just came out with the new Cricut Maker 5 today, and that led me down a rabbit hole of what is happening with Cricut. In a world where the industry is increasing prices, people are not innovating, Cricut has been slowly speeding up in a season where they have been almost completely silent for, I would say, roughly the last year or two, there has not been a lot of innovation from Cricut. There has not been a lot of new stuff, and then all of a sudden, they have been releasing things back to back to back to back, but what is even more interesting is that they have been dropping prices like never before. Like, I'm telling you, look at this. They had an auto press that was over $1,000, okay? They come out with this heat press. Y'all, this thing retails for a fraction of the price. I mean, y'all, they went from charging $1,200 for an auto press to $349, and here's the crazy part. We are vibing with this new auto press. Like, it is so cool, and it makes you wonder, like, what is actually happening with this industry? And let me tell you, one thing about me is because Cricut is a publicly traded company, I actually can go through, and so can you, reading their stock reports. And inside their stock reports, it always gives me such interesting light as to why they are making the changes that they are. Why are they making the decisions that they make? And I want to talk about it in today's video. So have you got any of the new Cricut products, whether it's the new Cricut Explore 5, Cricut Maker 5, Auto Press 2? They have even came out with a Joy 2, as well as a brand new Mini Easy Press. We are going to cover it all in today's video. We're going to catch up. We are going to have a full conversation. So you go ahead, start with your thoughts in the comments down below, and let's dive in. Before we get started, I do want to introduce myself. My name is Tanner Bell, the founder of Maker's Gun Alert. We post craft videos every single week, either teaching you how to make or how to sell right here on YouTube. If you are not already subscribed, hit that subscribe button because we are constantly posting new videos for you. So we have brand new videos about the Cricut Maker 5. If you haven't checked it out, go ahead, find those on the channel. Very important, as well as videos on the new Auto Press and videos on the new Cricut Explore 5 as well. But what I want to talk about in this video is that in an industry, in a world where all the prices are going up, one thing we're noticing with Cricut is that the prices are actually going down. And I think the stock reports that we've researched and read and I've studied since they went public in 2021, tells the story of why they can afford to drop prices while maintaining quality. And what they call is connected devices. If you ever read one of their stock reports, it's always talking about like the cells of these connected devices, right? And they are meaning these machines that are helping drive the profit in their organization. Cricut CEO Ashish has actually told me, he's like, Tanner, for the amount of value that we give for one of these machines and the support that we give and the time energy efforts of not just selling it one time, but supporting it through the years of ownership, they don't make money on these machines. They make money used to be in product. And not to say they don't make profit in product, they do selling vinyl, paper, all the different pins, things like that. Where Cricut actually makes their profit is their access subscription. Their membership is the profit generator of the entire Cricut ecosystem. So for Cricut to be able to lose money on all of these machines, they have to be able to make a profit somewhere. And what they have been really doubling down on is their membership subscription. You can tell they are promoting it more than ever. They are trying to make sure that there are even more tools that you pretty much have to be one. Now, full disclaimer, many of my Makers Gonna Learn members don't have Cricut access because we give so many tools in our membership. And if you didn't know, you don't have to be an access member to actually use any of the Cricut machines. It is actually a free tool to use. But the way they make profit in their business is through Cricut access. Now, here is what I want you to think about when we think about this from a industry and a business standpoint. If Cricut drops or lowers their machine sales, it won't happen immediately, but there will be some sort of lag to where there will be less people joining and staying inside their subscription. Because the way that they feed the subscription is what? These connected devices. Whether you buy a Maker, a Joy, an Explore, you have to have a machine to ever consider their subscription. There's not one person in the world that has their product and is going to join the membership that doesn't have the machine. That's just not gonna happen. So one thing that I think is gonna be interesting to watch is as that they've had a decline in machine sales, now they're having to fix that. Are they going to lag and have a decline in subscription late? That will be very interesting to watch. But what is starting to be more certain than ever for me is that Cricut is following the journey of the customer and they're realizing, hey, we've got to make it cheaper and we have to make it more accessible for people to get these machines. I want to go over the price of these machines for you. For the essential bundle on this brand new Cricut Explore 5, it is only $229. That is $229 for you to get what I am really impressed by. I love my Cricut Explore 5. The cut quality is great. It is so quiet. And this machine is incredible. Like y'all, $200 and you can have a connected device. That is insane. There are people that I coach inside my program that can make an order well over $200 within a day. So for you to have a Cricut that is going to last you multiple years, that is insane. Now the Cricut Maker 5 is still very affordable. What we just paid for our essential bundle with the Maker 5 was $399. That came with some additional tools, some support, things that you don't have to have, but nice to have. And that is right there at the legacy price of a Maker. They've always been priced roughly $399. So you're able to maintain the price and now you're even getting some additional tools and things like that to get you comfortable using their material and getting inside their subscription. So that's one thing that I think is really fascinating. They're able to probably drop down to almost close to probably nothing profit-wise to get these devices sold. And then they hope to make the profit on the backend. And I mean, this new auto press coming in at $349, that is incredible. This is something that we can stand behind. This is something that we support. This is something that we love because it is a quality heat press. We have been struggling to find a heat press we like. The heat press that we've recommended for since 2021 is always sold out. It was well over $600 and it was great, but it wasn't feasible for an average crafter. So then we went and we were like, okay, I was like, this is it. We're finding one that we love. So we bought this one from Heat Press Nation and it is okay. I can't tell you I love it, unfortunately. I thought I would, but it was kind of lower quality for the money savings. But then Cricut answered the call. They answered the call and said, Tanner, I got you. Not really. Like I didn't even tell him I was struggling with this. I hadn't made videos about it, but they came out with this beautiful auto press too. And one thing I love about the auto press is that if you struggle with any grip, any hand mobility issues, this is so helpful for you to continue crafting. This is so helpful because you don't have to do any of the pressing. And we used to support a Chinese company and gave away a ton of their heat presses. Unfortunately, something happened last year that they got me involved in like illegal craziness that took a lot of my time that I no longer can support that company. But what I can say is that that auto heat press and others at this price point are nowhere near the quality of the Cricut auto press too. From picking it up, from using it, from watching the dial, the things that really make this auto press stand out, it is really, really nice. Having this area to pull it out, the full space. I mean, this is huge. It's really, really helpful and I love having it. And for the price, it is insane. So one thing I love about this industry is that companies like Cricut have the ability to innovate and it seems like they had been working behind the scenes on this new revolution, this new innovation for quite a while. And I'm loving seeing it come to fruition. Another product we could reference is the Cricut Mini LT heat press. It has one setting. It gets up to 350 degrees. It is priced so affordably. And if you don't have a really awesome heat element, I think this one's at like 29 or $39. It's very cheap at $29. You'll be able to craft like never before and we use those a ton. So they are really making, you know, crafting back to an economical place where almost anyone that wants to get involved can. That makes me really excited for like what is next to come. I obviously think that Cricut will have more higher-end machines coming. I think they will have to stay up to date with the way that, you know, X-Tool is competing, the way that Eufy printers are. Like there's innovation happening here for this market. And I do believe there are area for us to invest more into our crafts because I don't know about you, when I craft, I save money. I have so much fun making. I have so much fun giving. Being able to have nice tools to do so is a necessity. It is important. So I'm excited to see where they're at, but I really love that they're starting to focus on what they already were known for first before bringing new innovation. Here's what I want to tell you. You know, the industry is always growing and evolving. And listen, I think more competition in this industry is only going to do better for you and I. And whether, you know, it's Cricut or another company coming up, what I will tell you is I am starting to have more and more faith in where Cricut is leading this industry. And I'm here for it. I'm ready to see what they have up their sleeve next for me. I'm having so much fun with these new machines, these new tools that they're providing. Thank you, Cricut, for your contribution. It's not every day that I get to say that, but I've been saying it so much this year because they are crushing it. And I'm really ready to see what happens with XTool, Eufy, Cricut, all the other laser machines, all these other DTF printers, like all these, you know, white tone printers. Like I am ready and I am here for it. It is going to be awesome. But I want to hear from you. Where do you think Cricut is crushing it right now? Where do you think the whole industry has to improve? I love to be here. And one thing's for certain is we are going to be around telling you and giving you all the coverage that you need. So I'll meet you in the comments down below. I'll see you back here real soon. Happy crafting. Bye guys.