2025 Guide: Discontinuing Self-Launch

We’re discontinuing the self-launch tool. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s changing, when it’s happening, and what you can do to prepare.

Key dates to keep in mind

• As of August 25, we will no longer offer troubleshooting or assistance for issues related to the self-launch tool. Creating and editing projects will still be possible, but it will be officially unsupported.
• September 8: You’ll no longer be able to create new projects or edit existing projects on the site. The self-launch section of your My Projects page will be inaccessible. Any live products will still be available in your Artist Store and in search at this time.
• Week of September 22: All self-launch projects will be retired from the site. At this time, projects will no longer appear in your Store or in search.

Why we’re doing this

• The self-launch tool is one of the older tools in our system and has become increasingly difficult to maintain on the engineering side. As many of you have experienced, the self-launch tool has many bugs and limitations we are no longer able to support.
• We conducted a thorough analysis of all pieces in the self-launch program and found that the return on investment is minimal for both the majority of artists and for Minted, especially when weighed against the significant effort required to launch these pieces to the site.
• As we look ahead, we’re also making major updates to our underlying data systems to support more scalable, reliable infrastructure for Minted’s future. To bring self-launch in line with these changes would require the self-launch tool to be fully rebuilt, which our engineering team does not have the capacity to carry out.
• Based on all of the above, our team has determined the cost to fix and maintain the system far outweighs the return on investment for both artists and Minted.
• We know this might be disappointing, especially for those of you who are frequent users of the tool. We believe this will allow us to focus our energy on tools and features that can serve the artist community better in the long run.

Frequently asked questions

Why do self-launch pieces need to be retired from Minted as part of this discontinuation?

• Broadly, self-launch products cause significant bloat and technical issues on Minted’s website.
• Because these products are outside of the Challenge process, we don’t maintain them when we make any updates for newness on the site.
• This means every time we update internal product data (which happens frequently!), it causes bugginess and sometimes even fully breaks these self-launch products. This creates a poor site experience for customers and a lot of additional work for our team that we do not have the capacity to support.

This has been an issue on Minted.com for some time, and we have been exploring all possible options for this tool and these products. Sadly, Minted is not able to support these products any longer without negatively impacting the site experience.

Can I submit self-launch pieces to Challenges?

Yes, you are welcome to submit your self-launch pieces to Minted Challenges! 

I used self-launch for customer requests! What should I do if a customer reaches out to me about a retired piece or customization? 

As with all instances of customers reaching out to you directly about one of your Minted products, you can direct them to minted.com/help! Our customer service team can help them with their request.

What if I want to sell original art?

You can check out our Marketplace Program if you’re interested in creating original work outside of the Challenge process! If our Marketplace team is interested in moving forward with your original work, they will reach out to you.  

Can I still launch products before September 8?

Yes, you will still be able to launch and edit self-launch projects before September 8. However, Minted will not be able to provide any support for any bugs or issues you might encounter. Additionally, all pieces will be retired the week of September 22.

Can I take my self-launch pieces elsewhere?

Yes! You are free to offer your retired self-launch pieces through other platforms whenever you’d like. Unlike challenge-winning designs, there is no lasting exclusivity or waiting period before you can offer retired self-launch pieces to other partners. 

The only exception to this would be retired pieces that you self-launched that were retired less than 15 months ago. In that case, you would need to wait until 15 months past the retirement date (our cooldown period) before taking them elsewhere.

Can I still view or access the content of my past projects after the shutdown?

No, all self-launch functionality will be removed from Minted on September 8, so you will not be able to view or access any projects. Our team will delete project data internally, so there’s nothing you need to do on your end. Live products will still be available in your Store until the week of September 22.

Will my existing self-launched products still appear in my store and in search results after the tool is discontinued?

They will appear until the week of September 22, at which point they will be fully retired from Minted. 

What happens to commissions from projects created using self-launch?

Any commissions earned from sales of products before September 22 will be paid out through our normal commission process. After the week of September 22, all products will be retired.

Is there a new tool or feature planned to replace self-launch?

Not at this time! As mentioned above, our engineering team is focusing on updating Minted’s underlying data systems. This project will take priority for the future. However, we’re always looking out for ways to allow artists to express themselves creatively on Minted, and we will continue exploring possibilities in the future.

Why wasn’t self-launch prioritized for rebuilding if it was widely used?

While self-launch has been used by artists over the years it was available on Minted, overall self-launch usage has been on a decline over the past few years. Additionally, the current self-launch experience uses several outdated internal tools that our team no longer has the resources to support. This would require significant engineering resources and time to invest in rebuilding, and after careful consideration, we have decided to instead discontinue the self-launch tool.

Was community feedback considered before making this decision?

Yes! Over the years, we’ve taken the feedback shared with us through the annual Community Survey, Camp Minted feedback sessions, and emails from artists about their struggles with self-launch. From this feedback, we know that self-launch caused significant frustration as artists tried to work through technical snags with limited resources. Our goal is always to provide experiences for artists that have a good return on investment, and ultimately we determined that self-launch did not provide the return on investment that would make it an experience we’d want to continue offering to artists.