Stop selling Cricut products on HSN

It’s good that they responded to the outrage from their customers. But they didn’t reverse their policy. They attempted to placate customers for the time being, hoping this will go away until they are public. They are only grandfathering people in for as long as you own your current machine. Your machine dies or you upgrade, then you have to pay. You buy a used machine and re-register it to you as the new owner, you pay. You are a new customer, you pay. You are a teacher or a library, you pay. They have been adamant up to this point that uploads will be unlimited forever. The company has always stated that using basic functions – which has always included creating/using your own svg files – will always be free & unlimited. Always. This statement is the reason why artists/sellers have invested hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in this product line. It is not ok that they are changing their minds. The CEO’s apology letter is vague with open-ended statements about the future, no commitments from the company. Yes, they can do whatever they want. But consumers don’t have to back them. They make PLENTY of money – record sales during COVID. Yes, they CAN do this, sure, but they don’t need to. Yet they are. We speak with our pocketbooks. Some people think it’s no big deal, but it is. It is how companies take advantage of loyal customers more and more, bit by bit. My money is better spent elsewhere.

Cricut just reversed this decision. Everyone was upset and Facebook was buzzing. I think it startled Cricut and they realized just how damaging that decision was. You can go to cricut facebook and read the CEO’s letter of apology.

I’ve always wondered if Cricut would one day pull way back on free Design Space. But I look at it a little differently. I have the yearly subscription for Premium Access to Design Space. It pays for itself because of the discounts on materials and it has paid for itself many times over. The partnership with HSN also benefits me when new items are sold in bundles because Cricut discounts those specials so heavily. $309 for the Cricut Maker bundle was a mind blowing price. HSN and Cricut are a great pair. Anna Griffin brings her enormous presentation skills and ideas to us is as a big bonus. But Cricut has innovated at an extreme level. It costs. Design Space requires a great deal of software engineering with each new innovation. New designs must always be created as well as materials. And partners like Disney cost. And we get unbelievable customer support. The costs of technology mount up. The pandemic put a lot of pressure on Cricut. They are not a gigantic company like an Apple even though they are apple-esque in quality. This means something has to give, and Design Space needs to be more of a profit center. HSN is fortunate to be a Cricut vendor and I hope it stays that way.

I don’t see what the big deal is! You’re grandfathered in, it doesn’t affect you! If someone buys a machine after December 31st, 2021….then they are already being told about the charge….so what’s the deal? Companies need to make a profit also!