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Multi-Shop Bundles On Creative Market

Creative Market Last updated: April 10, 2024 · 5 min read

Recently, we’ve seen a notable increase in multi-shop bundles on Creative Market. These products have done remarkably well in terms of sales and have quickly claimed several spots in our list of top-selling items. While we salute the ingenuity, creativity, and effort of those creating and participating in these bundles, we’ve come to the very difficult conclusion that, for now, Creative Market isn’t the right place for them.

Creative Market Loves Individual Creators

Creative Market was started as a way for individual creators to thrive while doing what they love. That’s who we are and we never want to lose sight of that. It’s important to us that we build a marketplace that values creators’ work, without forcing a pricing race to the bottom, or creating a climate where shops feel like they are forced to participate in bundles to get exposure.
The easiest decision for us here is to ignore these concerns and continue to enjoy the revenue spikes from these bundles, but that’s simply not the company we want to be. In all that we do, we want to empower and lift up the indie creators in our community, and in order to accomplish this, we need to remove the ability for users to bundle together goods from other shops. In addition to the new policy on multi-shop bundles, we’ll also be doubling down our efforts to find new ways to promote great shops and products that deserve more visibility.

Why Multi-Shop Bundles Are Complicated

We don’t have a problem with bundles, or even multi-shop bundles. As many of you know, we have our own multi-shop bundle that we put together every single month. We work hard to make sure these bundles are fair for both shops and buyers.
Unfortunately, allowing our users to create bundles with multiple participants is much more complicated. Unlike our own bundle, we simply can’t ensure that third-party, multi-shop bundles provide the kind of experience that we can stand behind as a platform or as a brand.
We have several concerns:

  • Since each bundle must be controlled entirely by a single account, we can’t be sure that all participating contributors are receiving their fair share of the earnings, or even getting an honest look into the sales numbers for the product that they’ve participated in putting together.
  • It’s extremely difficult for us to track down whether the bundle creators actually have full permission to sell the products of other creatives. It’s important to note that, to our knowledge, the current creators of these bundles have operated with the highest level of integrity, but it’s virtually impossible for us to guarantee that others who seek to replicate their success will be as honest.
  • Several shop owners have expressed concern that allowing too many multi-shop bundles to exist unchecked could have damaging long-term effects on both the community and economy on our site (see previous section).

For these reasons, we will be implementing an official policy that prohibits shops from offering bundles of products from multiple shops and outside contributors.
Note: This policy only applies to multi-shop and/or multi-contributor bundles. Every individual shop owner may continue to bundle together his or her own products.

We Want You To Have Better Bundle Tools

For the most part, the problems surrounding these bundles are on our end, not yours. We want our users to have the tools that they need to succeed, whether that be a way for shops to easily bundle their own goods, or something that allows great, hard-working shops to partner with each other. We’re going to carefully look at all these possibilities and commit to building better bundle tools for shops in 2016.
We’ll do this while working closely with our community to ensure that as we build these tools, the following goals will be our top priorities:

  • Buyers will continue to be able to find great, best-in-industry products and deals on Creative Market.
  • Any bundles that shops participate in will have checks in place to ensure that all contributors are willing participants who are compensated fairly.
  • Bundles will not “take over” Creative Market. The success of individual creators will always be at the core of who we are and what we do.

Timeline For Removing Multi-Shop Bundles

These new policies will be implemented as of February 1st, 2016. We ask that all shops remove (and cease uploading) multi-shop bundles as of that date. Please know that we did not make this decision lightly, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused the shops and contributors behind these bundles.

Thank You For Speaking Up!

Every single time we’re faced with a tough decision at Creative Market, we are comforted by the fact that our community is passionate and outspoken. We’d like to thank all of you, including the great shop owners currently running multi-shop bundles, for kindly telling us your concerns and having patience as we worked through these issues. We hear you and want you to continue to be a critical part of how we shape the future of Creative Market.

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71 Comments
  • This is great news! Thanks for looking out for the shop owners that put a ton of time into making quality stuff. I feel like this statement is exactly the reason I wanted to be part of Creative Market in the first place. "In all that we do, we want to empower and lift up the indie creators in our community" 9 years ago
  • Dear Creative Market staff, I wish that CM market could grow as much as people here do! Thanks for showing care not only about profit, but to cherish human relationship even more. Sincerely, Maya 9 years ago
  • Thanks guys. Very smart decision. 9 years ago
  • This is a great response, thank you Creative Market staff for hearing our concerns and responding like this. Very happy with these new policies. 9 years ago
  • Fantastic news as many authors were very concerned about this. I believe this is for the best. 9 years ago
  • God dammit @Sean Coady that was a fast response. 9 years ago
  • Amazing. You guys really care about your community, thank you. 9 years ago
  • Sense has been seen. At last. Thank you. 9 years ago
  • Best decision for sure! thanks CM 9 years ago
  • Super, smashing, great! 9 years ago
  • Thanks for the response and for listening to our collective concerned CM. I feel like this is the correct decision for the community as a whole. One of the main reasons I joined Creative Market was the community ethos and platform you give to independent creatives was and still is second to none. This step really solidifies this ethos for me. 9 years ago
  • Thanks so much for this, a company that really cares! You guys rock! 9 years ago
  • I love you Creative Market! 9 years ago
  • Once again, I am completely in LOVE. I have the highest respect for you guys and the hard work you put into these difficult decisions. I feel confident selling with you and I just love how you continue to treat your sellers with kindness. I am so impressed and pleased with this decision! 9 years ago
  • Yes, simple and nice solution. Thanks :) 9 years ago
  • Love the transparency that CM provides us with. Great decision and thank you for acting quickly and listening to your users. 9 years ago
  • Thank you! 9 years ago
  • The team did an amazing job at taking everyone and everything into consideration. Glad you took your time to think this through thoroughly. I hope it's something you feel content with and that the inconvenience for the sellers involved is minimal. Thanks again for caring. 9 years ago
  • Hey folks, thank you all for the support! And and extra huge thanks to all of you who took the time to talk with our team directly and/or present your thoughts in the Discussions area. I LOVE how thoughtful, vocal, and active our community members are, it shows just how much you care :) 9 years ago
  • bravo! *slow claps* 9 years ago
  • Awesome! A market place with difference! Look forward to the single shop bundle feature :) 9 years ago
  • Thanks for the update. It seems as if my biggest concerns were taken into consideration here. I have no issue with multi-bundle deal provider that have a good reputation but my biggest concern is making sure the independent product creators are getting treated fairly. The last thing we want is for someone getting shorted money due to lack of ethics. Thanks! 9 years ago
  • Standing ovation. Bravo. 9 years ago
  • Thank you guys! Much love. 9 years ago
  • Thanks CreativeMarket for the right decision. 9 years ago
  • great decision! 9 years ago
  • So glad to hear this decision. Thank you Creative Market for taking sellers concerns seriously. 9 years ago
  • Give me a "C"! Give me an "M"! Woo Hoo!! 9 years ago
  • As a shop owner, I commend the staff at CM for listening to the community on this issue. 9 years ago
  • Woohhoooooo 9 years ago
  • Thank you for listening! 9 years ago
  • Yeaaah..... Great Decision...! *standing ovation* 9 years ago
  • Great! Now even more creative creators will join Creative Market! 9 years ago
  • Anonymous
    Correct solution! Earn and develop should be creators rather than intermediaries. 9 years ago
  • Win solution 9 years ago
  • This is great news. Thank you so much for keeping the individual creators at the heart of CM. 9 years ago
  • Great stuff. Thank you @Creative Market Clearly the right thing to do. :) 9 years ago
  • Once again CM has proven to be a shining example of a company that puts its community first. It can't have been an easy decision to make, but when you have a community that's so passionate about the platform and its future, I have no doubts that in the long run it'll prove to be the right one. Thanks, guys! 9 years ago
  • Thank you Guys for such prudent decision - it means a lot for all of us. Have a great day! 9 years ago
  • Yay, thank you! 9 years ago
  • Thank you guys for keeping CM the best market in the world! I believe it's a good (and win-win) decision in the long term anyway. Those revenue spike from bundles might look good now, but in the long term without new awesome products from designers that have enough spotlight they deserve + decreased value and lover quality it's just a race to the bottom. Thank you! 9 years ago
  • Huge thanks for always listening to and supporting the core community. You guys/gals are awesome. 9 years ago
  • thank you! 9 years ago
  • This is great news. Thanks CM! 9 years ago
  • *Thumb up* I don't even look at the bundles though. Those "amazing" offers that everyone buy in mass end on products that look almost the same. 9 years ago
  • Anonymous
    Thanks for sharing this awesome news. Time to start hustling. 9 years ago
  • Nicely done CM :D 9 years ago
  • Great news. Thank you, guys! 9 years ago
  • This is why I love Creativemarket. Unlike other marketplaces, they care about their community. Thank you! 9 years ago
  • @secondfret ...And this is why you guys ROCK on a level that surpasses all other online markets....you are literally one in a billion :) We are all feeling the love....and can't wait to give back :) xx 9 years ago
  • Thanks so much for this! Very happy with these policies. Thanks! 9 years ago
  • Wow, this is great news. Congratulations to Creative Market for sticking up for the indie seller, it's a fantastic feeling to be part of such a caring and thoughtful community who aren't trying to step all over each other. I look forward to those new features for 2016, anything that helps create a better selling experience for all. Thanks again, Bill 9 years ago
  • Thank you CM for being with us. 9 years ago
  • This is great news. Thank you guys! 9 years ago
  • Thank you all the staff at Creative Market. This is good news. I like the idea you mentioned about shops creating our own bundles / participating in group ventures and the tools to do so. 9 years ago
  • This just made our day! Thank you guys! 9 years ago
  • Fantastic. Finally! I was considering just selling on my own website? Glad you care about the individuals here that have a true desire to create for others and make a living from it. 9 years ago
  • Great news! Thank you CM for listening and taking action :) 9 years ago
  • This line -The success of individual creators will always be at the core of who we are and what we do. Creative Market proves to be one of the best place for us designers. Makes me proud to be part of this comunity. Thanks CM! 9 years ago
  • Thank you guys !! Great news! 9 years ago
  • I am a user only and not a seller of these products, so I might be missing something but I'm curious: Did CM not intentionally create the capability for sellers to do multishop bundles in the first place? And if you created it, why can you not tweak it to address some of the major concerns (such as making sure shop participation is consensual and the ability to track or split payments fairly)? 9 years ago
  • Thanks so much Creative Market for this great response. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this community! 9 years ago
  • Thank you! 9 years ago
  • Thanks! CM are great ! 9 years ago
  • Thank you! i Love CM 9 years ago
  • Thank you so much, guys. 9 years ago
  • Saw this coming. The bundles were too cheap to be true... Thanks of this. It was really getting crazy. 9 years ago
  • Thanks Creative Market! 9 years ago
  • This one is very cool, "The success of individual creators will always be at the core of who we are and what we do". 9 years ago
  • I'm a little late to the party here... Thank you for listening to everyones concerns! I spoke over the phone with some of the people on the Creative Market team a couple of months ago and they were very understanding. This was in the midst of all of this and they were trying to find a solution. Hats off to the team at Creative Market for supporting the individuals behind the products. 9 years ago
  • Anonymous
    This is amazing! Love to be individual :D 9 years ago