How much to charge for 3D printing: from cost to price
The pricing formula, in two steps
Step 1, cost: material + electricity + machine + failure reserve + labor + supplies and packaging
Step 2, price: cost × (1 + markup) ÷ (1 − platform fees − tax)
The first step is arithmetic: what the part takes out of your pocket, and it does not change with where you sell. The second step is a decision: how much you want to earn and who takes a cut of the sale. Each cost line has its own formula:
| Line | How to calculate it | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Material | grams ÷ 1,000 × price per kg | weight in the slicer summary |
| Electricity | watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × price per kWh | average printer power and your power bill |
| Machine | printer price ÷ useful life in hours × hours + maintenance per hour × hours | what you paid and how long you expect to use it |
| Failure reserve | % × (material + electricity + machine) | the parts you lost, on record |
| Labor | (prep minutes + finishing minutes) ÷ 60 × your hourly rate | your time, not the printer's |
| Supplies and packaging | what the order uses | paint, glue, magnets, box, bubble wrap |
Two details prevent mistakes. The weight your slicer shows already includes supports, brim, the prime tower and the purge from color changes, so do not add a waste percentage on top of it; add only what the slicer cannot see, like a spool end too short for a whole part. And the markup is applied to cost, so it is a markup, not a margin on the sale. The difference between the two is in the guide to profit margin vs markup.
Example: an 85 g, 5-hour part
Suppose a PLA headset stand that the slicer estimates at 85 g and 5 hours of printing. You spend 15 minutes slicing and preparing the printer and 20 minutes removing supports and packing it. The other numbers are the calculator's US reference values: $20 per kg of filament, $0.17 per kWh, a $600 printer with a 6,000-hour useful life, $0.05 per hour for maintenance, 120 W of average power and $30 an hour for your work. The 10% failure reserve is an assumption: use your own.
| Line | Math | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 85 g ÷ 1,000 × $20 | $1.70 |
| Electricity | 120 W ÷ 1,000 × 5 h × $0.17 | $0.10 |
| Machine | $600 ÷ 6,000 h × 5 h + $0.05 × 5 h | $0.75 |
| Failure reserve | 10% × ($1.70 + $0.10 + $0.75) | $0.26 |
| Labor | (15 + 20) min ÷ 60 × $30 | $17.50 |
| Supplies | glue and sandpaper (example) | $0.50 |
| Packaging | box and bubble wrap (example) | $1.50 |
| Total cost | $22.31 |
A worked example, not a quote. Each line is rounded to the cent; the calculator, which does not round along the way, may show a cent of difference.
With the cost done, the price comes next. The markup here is 60%, the calculator's starting value:
- Direct sale, no fees (cash or a fee-free transfer): $22.31 × 1.60 = $35.70. Profit is $13.39.
- Marketplace whose fees add up to 20% of the sale (an example value): $22.31 × 1.60 ÷ (1 − 0.20) = $22.31 × 1.60 ÷ 0.80 = $44.62.
Checking the second one: 20% of $44.62 is $8.92 in fees. That leaves $35.70, the same as the direct sale, and profit stays at $13.39. That is what the division is for. Adding 20% to $35.70 would give $42.84; the marketplace would take $8.57 and you would keep $34.27, less than you planned.
Look at the weight of each line, too. Material, which many people use as the basis for the price, is under 8% of the cost here; labor is 78%. Each line is covered in detail in the guides to cost per gram of filament and 3D printer cost per hour.
Why "2x or 3x the material" does not add up
Multiplying the filament cost is popular because it is quick, but the rule looks at one line only. On the example part:
- 2x the material is $3.40, and 3x is $5.10. The full cost is $22.31, so both fall short.
- Leaving your time out, the cost drops to $4.81. Doubling does not cover that even on a direct sale. Tripling covers it by $0.29 for 35 minutes of work, about $0.50 an hour.
- On a marketplace that keeps 20%, the triple brings in $4.08, a $0.73 loss before you are paid anything.
The cheaper the filament is compared with your time, the worse a material multiplier works, and at $20 a kilo a gram of PLA costs two cents. The rule also ignores machine time. Two 85 g parts can take 3 or 9 hours depending on size, layer height and infill, and the 9-hour one uses three times the electricity and wear. A multiplier might work for a quick part with simple finishing and expensive filament, but it can leave electricity, wear, labor and fees uncovered, as it does here.
For a friend, for your shop or for a business
The cost of the part is the same. The price changes with who is buying and where.
| Who it is for | What changes in the math | Price in the example |
|---|---|---|
| Friend or family | no markup; charging for your time is optional | $4.81 to $22.31 |
| Direct sale (Instagram, local pickup, craft fair) | full markup, no platform fee | $35.70 |
| Marketplace (Etsy, eBay, Amazon Handmade) | fees in the divisor, plus any fixed fee per order | $44.62 |
| Business (B2B order) | quote per batch, invoice and payment terms | depends on the batch |
Same part as the example. The 20% marketplace fee is an example value, not any platform's rate.
For a friend, the fair price is cost. If you want to give your time as a gift, the floor is $4.81: below that, you are paying to print.
On a marketplace, fees go in the divisor, never added on top of the cost. If the platform charges a fixed fee per listing or per order, it weighs proportionally more on cheap parts. Current rates are in the guide to selling fees. Sales tax usually works differently in the US: it is added at checkout, and on orders shipped to US addresses Etsy generally calculates, collects and remits it (Etsy Help, checked November 2026), so it does not come out of your price. In the calculator that is the "Add to the price" option. A tax that is included in the price, like VAT outside the US, goes in the divisor instead. Income tax is charged on profit, not on each sale, so it does not belong in the divisor; check your case with an accountant.
For a business, three things change. Quantity spreads the prep time, because you slice once for many parts. An invoice may bring sales tax or a resale certificate into the picture. And payment terms, net 30 for example, hold your money for a month. Quote per batch and charge for modeling separately, by the hour: it happens once, and the client can reorder without paying twice for the same design.
What usually gets left out
- Business bills. Rent, internet, software subscriptions. Add up the month and divide by the hours you print; the calculator has a "Business bills, per hour" field.
- Customer service time. Answering messages, quoting and going to the post office is work. If it happens on every sale, put those minutes in "Time after printing".
- Your real failure rate. The 10% in the example is an assumption. The right number comes from your own history, and the guide to failure rate pricing shows how to measure it.
- Shipping. Passed on to the customer, it goes into the final price but stays out of profit. If the platform also charges its fee on shipping, tick that option in the calculator.
- Returns. A part that arrives broken costs a reprint and a second shipment.
Frequently asked questions
Can I round the suggested price?
Yes. Going from $35.70 to $36 or $39, for example, only adds profit. In the calculator, type the round number in the price field: it shows how far you moved from the suggested price and how much profit is left.
What is my time worth?
The $30 in the example is the calculator's starting value, not a market benchmark. Think about how much you would need to earn per hour to prefer printing over doing something else. The hourly rate pays for your time; the markup comes after it and pays the business and the risk.
How do I price several identical parts printed on one plate?
Enter the weight and time of the whole plate and the number of parts in "Parts in this print". The calculator splits the cost among them. Since prep happens once per plate, each part comes out cheaper than printed alone.
The customer says it is too expensive. How low can I go?
Down to cost, and fees raise that floor: on the example marketplace, the lowest price without a loss is $22.31 ÷ 0.80 = $27.89. Before cutting the price, offer another version of the part: smaller, with less infill, unpainted or in the color already loaded in the printer.
Do I need to charge for labor if printing is a hobby?
If you sell, yes: without it, what looks like profit is just your wage under another name. For a gift, it is your call, and the math without labor shows what the part really cost you.