How to price 3D prints: the professional formula

The formula

Price = (material + machine time + labor + failure allowance) x (1 + margin). Material is part weight x filament price. Machine time is print hours x your all-in hourly cost - depreciation, maintenance and electricity, typically $1-2.50/hr for FDM. Labor covers slicing, plate prep and post-processing at your hourly rate. The failure allowance (5-15%) makes successful parts pay for failed ones.

What almost everyone forgets

Three silent killers: printer depreciation (a $600 printer over 6,000 hours is $0.10 every hour, guaranteed), failures (an 8% failure rate means 8% of all material and machine time produces nothing), and labor (20 minutes of handling at $20/hr is $6.67 - often more than material and machine combined on small parts).

Margins that survive

Hobby sellers race to material cost x2 and burn out. Professionals charge cost x1.3 to x1.5 for repeat work and x1.5 to x2 for one-offs with communication overhead. If a customer only cares about price, they are shopping for the cheapest print farm - let them go.

Price it in seconds

Our free 3D printing cost calculator does this arithmetic from your uploaded STL - weight and print time estimated automatically, your rates applied, margin included, with a market comparison so you know where your quote lands.