The Cricut Circle has been causing quite a “buzz” in the crafting communities lately. The logo has been sitting there on Cricut’s forum and website pages, with a vague “coming soon” thing going on. The wait and suspense is finally over, though. But heres where the controversy begins…
Provo Craft (the company behind the Cricut products) sent out exclusive invitations to what they claim is only the top 3% of members who have registered or are in the rewards program. (*LOL* And for those of you who will undoubtedly ask, yes, I got an invitation.) Part of the controversy is over the exclusivity itself. I have seen so many loyal members feel left out simply because they did not get an invitation. But, from what I understand, they only sent the inital invitations out sparingly. Everyone will get invited eventually.
So, what are the details of this Circle? It’s a membership club, really. The yearly fee is kinda steep… $274.99 to pay the entire year up front, or $79.99 flex pay per quarter ($319.96 a year.) The fee includes the following:
- 4 exclusive cartridges per year (including French Manor) – only available in the Circle
- A bracelet with a Circle charm
- A membership certificate
- 2 rewards points per $1 spent on cricut.com
- 10% off all purchases on cricut.com
- Weekly membership drawings for $25 coupons for cricut.com purchases
- Members only Circle forum
- Exclusive member avatar and forum status
- PDF magazine
- 800 bonus rewards points (single pay only)
- Chance to buy stuff pre-launch at a discount
- Invitations to swarms, galas, and events
- Rebates on new products
- Participation in research panel
- Special rewards program
- Webinars
- Live chat
- More perks to come
At this point, I’ve listed all the perks. The further controvery comes over the price, for starters. For some, this is a lot to pay for exclusive cartridges that you only know the one you are getting. Most members want to see what they are getting beforehand. Yes, we know French Manor is one of them, and granted it IS cute! But what if the others are bad? A lot of frugal members are able to get even new cartridges from some sources for around $30, so the fee is a bit extreme. And those members also would not be shopping at Cricut.com to begin with, so the site based perks are not useful.
I guess it is up to everyone to decide what is best for them. If you are thinking along the lines of getting 4 cartridges, and think what the full prices are, this can be considered a bargain.
On a side note, Cricut also announced their “Lite” cartridges, which are exclusively available at Walmart. These are basically the lower featured cartridges similar to the seasonal and Solutions type cartridges. I have checked in my local Walmart, and saw one available there. The price is $39, here locally, but I can not say if this is the same everywhere.