How to Price 3D Prints: The Complete Formula
7 min readUpdated
The most common way to price a 3D print is to weigh the filament and multiply by two or three. It feels safe, but it ignores the things that actually cost you money: your time, the wear on your printer, electricity, packaging and the prints that fail.
This guide walks through a complete pricing formula, one cost at a time, with a worked example you can copy.
The formula
Every item is easy to measure on its own. The rest of this guide explains each one and shows typical values.
1. Filament
Take the weight your slicer reports after slicing and multiply it by your price per gram (spool price ÷ net spool weight). Use the total that includes supports, brim and purge — not just the model.
Example: 85 g from a $25 / 1 kg spool = 85 × 0.025 = $2.13.
2. Electricity
Use the printer's average draw, not the power-supply rating. A 4 h 20 min print at an average of 150 W and $0.17/kWh costs about $0.11. Small per print, but it adds up across a print farm.
3. Machine wear and maintenance
Your printer is a tool that wears out: nozzles, belts, build plates, fans and eventually the whole machine. Spread that cost over the hours it will print.
A $800 printer plus $200 of parts over 5,000 hours is $0.20 per hour. Many sellers use $0.50 per hour to include upkeep and downtime. For 4 h 20 min at $0.50: $2.17.
4. Labour
Count every minute you spend on the job, not just the print time: slicing, preparing the plate, loading filament, removing supports, sanding, checking quality and packing.
25 minutes at $20 per hour is $8.33 — often the largest single item for small parts.
Batching lowers labour per unit: one plate of 20 parts takes far less than 20 times the handling of a single part.
5. Extras
- Hardware: magnets, key rings, threaded inserts, screws.
- Packaging: box, bag, padding, label.
- Shipping, divided by the number of items in the parcel.
- Marketplace and payment fees — on Etsy-style platforms they often total 10% or more of the sale. Check your platform's current fee table.
6. Failure rate
Some prints fail: a detached first layer, a tangle, a power cut. The material and time are gone, and the good prints have to pay for them. Multiply the cost by your failure rate.
5% is a reasonable start for a tuned printer. Measure your own rate: Slice&Price learns it from the actual results you log for each printer.
7. Profit margin
Only after every cost is counted do you add profit. Slice&Price applies the margin as a markup on cost: a 60% margin on a $13.90 cost gives $22.24.
Markup and margin are not the same thing. A 60% markup is a 37.5% share of the selling price. Make sure you know which one you mean when you compare prices.
Worked example
An 85 g PLA part, printed in 4 h 20 min, with 25 minutes of hands-on work:
| Item | Calculation | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Filament | 85 g × $0.025 | $2.13 |
| Electricity | 0.15 kW × 4.33 h × $0.17 | $0.11 |
| Machine wear | 4.33 h × $0.50 | $2.17 |
| Labour | 25 min × $20/h | $8.33 |
| Packaging | $0.50 | |
| Subtotal | $13.24 | |
| + 5% failures | × 1.05 | $13.90 |
| + 60% margin | × 1.60 | $22.24 |
The "filament × 3" rule would have priced this part at $6.38 — less than half of what it really costs to make. Filament is only 16% of the cost here; labour is 63%.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for a 3D print?
Add up filament, electricity, machine wear, labour and extras, multiply by your failure rate, then add your profit margin. For small parts, labour usually matters more than filament.
Is "filament cost × 3" a good rule?
Only by accident. It ignores labour and machine time, so it underprices small, fiddly parts and can overprice large, simple ones.
What hourly rate should I use for my time?
Use what you would want to earn in any other job. If the price that results is too high for the market, reduce handling time through batching rather than working for free.
What failure rate is realistic?
Around 5% for a well-tuned printer and a familiar material; higher for new materials, long prints and tall parts. Track your real results and adjust.