You added a Cricut to your cart, saw the price, and quietly closed the tab, yeah, we've all been there.

The good news? If you know where to buy a Cricut on sale, you can save anywhere from $30 to over $100 on the same machine you'd otherwise pay full price for. You just need to know which stores to watch, which sales are worth waiting for, and which "deals" are actually traps.

This guide breaks it all down so you can stop refreshing Amazon and actually make a smart purchase.

Why You Should Almost Never Pay Full Price

Cricut machines go on sale constantly. Not occasionally — constantly. Target, Amazon, Michaels, JoAnn, and Walmart all run promotions throughout the year, and Cricut itself drops prices during major shopping events. Full retail price is really just the ceiling, not the norm.

The machines don't change between sales. A Cricut Maker 3 on sale in November is the exact same machine as one sold at full price in September. There's no "new model" trick here. Cricut doesn't refresh its lineup that often.

If you're still figuring out which model fits your budget, check out this breakdown of How Much Does a Cricut Machine Cost in 2026? before you buy. It'll help you set a realistic savings target before you start hunting.

Best Stores to Watch for Cricut Deals

Not every store discounts Cricut the same way. Here's what you'll actually find at each one.

  • Amazon: Probably the most reliable place for ongoing deals. Amazon discounts Cricut machines during Prime Day, Black Friday, and random flash sales that pop up with no warning. The real hidden gem here is Amazon Warehouse Deals, open-box or lightly returned machines at a steep discount, often in "Like New" condition.
  • Target: Target runs Cricut sales during major holiday weekends and their own Circle Week events. If you have a Target RedCard, you'll get an extra 5% off on top of any sale price. That stacks, and it adds up fast.
  • Michaels: This one trips a lot of people up. Michaels does carry Cricut machines, but their famous 40–50% off coupons typically exclude Cricut. Watch for their dedicated Cricut sales instead, those do happen, just separately from the general coupons.
  • JoAnn: Similar story to Michaels. JoAnn's weekly coupons often exclude cutting machines, but they run their own sitewide or category sales where Cricut machines are included. Worth signing up for their emails to catch these.
  • Walmart: Walmart quietly offers some of the lowest everyday prices on entry-level Cricut models like the Joy and the Explore 4. They also run rollback deals during major sale periods. Easy to overlook, but worth checking.

Honestly, I'd keep Amazon and Target at the top of your list, they discount more aggressively and more often than the craft stores do.

The Best Times of Year to Buy a Cricut

Timing matters more than anything else when it comes to Cricut savings. There are a handful of windows every year when prices drop across multiple retailers at once.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest. This is when you'll see the deepest discounts on Cricut machines, sometimes $80 to $120 off on higher-end models. Every major retailer participates, so you can compare across stores in real time.

Amazon Prime Day (usually in July) is the second-best window. It used to be Amazon-only, but now Target and Walmart run competing sales at the same time. That's a good thing for shoppers, more competition means better prices.

Back-to-school season (late July through August) often brings mid-range discounts, especially on the Explore series. It's not as dramatic as Black Friday, but if you don't want to wait until November, this is a solid fallback.

Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and craft-specific promotions occasionally pop up too, especially at Michaels and JoAnn. These are smaller discounts, usually $20 to $40 off, but they're worth watching if you're buying during those months anyway.

How to Stack Deals for Maximum Savings

The real savings come when you layer multiple discounts on top of each other. Here's how to do it without losing your mind.

  • Use a cashback credit card or app. Rakuten, Honey, and similar tools often have cashback offers on top of store sales. Activate them before you check out, it's free money.
  • Combine sale price + store loyalty perks. If you're buying at Target during a sale, pay with your RedCard for that extra 5%. If you're at Michaels during an actual Cricut promotion, you can sometimes use a Rewards coupon on accessories in the same cart.
  • Check Amazon Warehouse Deals during Prime Day. Open-box inventory gets refreshed constantly during big sale events. An open-box Maker 3 marked "Like New" during Prime Day can be a genuinely excellent deal.
  • Look for bundles. Cricut sometimes sells machine + mat + tool bundles that work out cheaper per item than buying separately. These appear most often on Cricut.com during the holidays.

One thing to know: price-matching can work in your favor too. Target and Walmart both have price-match policies that cover select competitors. If Amazon drops its price and you'd rather buy locally, it's worth asking.

What to Do If You Missed a Sale

First, don't panic-buy at full price. Another sale is almost always coming within a few weeks.

Set a price alert. Both Google Shopping and CamelCamelCamel (for Amazon specifically) let you track price history and get notified when a machine hits your target price. It takes five minutes to set up and saves a lot of refreshing.

Consider the open-box route. Amazon Warehouse and Facebook Marketplace both surface gently used or returned machines pretty regularly. If you're comfortable inspecting what you receive, you can get a Cricut Maker 3 or an Explore 4 for significantly less than retail, even outside of a sale window.

And if you're still not sure whether a Cricut is worth the investment at all, this honest breakdown of Is Cricut Worth It? will help you decide before you spend anything.

The bottom line: patience pays off. Cricut machines are some of the most consistently discounted craft tools on the market, and you rarely need to wait more than a month or two for a meaningful deal to appear.

Wherever you find the deal, these are the two machines worth shopping for.