Investing in a cricut is expensive, starting out and not knowing what machine can be costly if you don't know what you want to make with it or what size items you will be making for your projects
I have heard of so many people investing in a little machine and finding they should have purchased a bigger one. Or finding some of the things they want to make needed the maker, not the explorer
I purchased the maker3, and it's brilliant, but I wanted a smaller machine for my children to work with, so I can carry on with what I'm doing, I wasn't keen on buying a new one for it to be bashed about or damaged let alone the cost of a new one and loosening money from not using it
buying a 2nd hand machine. You can find many places selling machines 2nd hand and this is my advice to buying a second hand machine.
- No matter how old the machine, once It's registered to someone the warranty is with them, so once you own it the warranty is void
- never buy one from someone a long distance away, cricut deactivate faulty machine so they can't be used again, some people will try to sell them on eBay,
- never believe the hardly used comment unless you can prove it as your idea of hardly used, and the sellers will differ.
- Look around, don't rush to buy one as there may be better priced ones to turn up and will give you a better idea of what a 2nd hand one will sell for
- set a price in your head of what you can afford, not what you see a price of on the internet
- collect in person and ask for a demo of it working before you hand any money over
- haggle a bit don't just hand over the money, a few pounds off will help buy some other things you may need to use the machine
- you can save money using cheaper blades and consumables as it's not in warranty id doesn't matter
- most importantly, remember if the machine fails it's gone. You have lost that money so if you can't afford to loose the money you're putting into a 2nd hand machine then you need to save up and get a brand new one with a warranty
when I purchased the joy I didn't see much need for it myself, but it's brilliant for making a cricut insert card for people, making small projects and making use of the scraps we with get with the maker 3 along the road. I also find I can work it better on my phone app
