How this calculator works
Most people price 3D prints by filament weight alone and end up working for free. A print also consumes electricity, wears out the printer, sometimes fails, and takes your time to prepare and finish. This calculator adds all of it up:
- Filament = grams used ÷ 1000 × price per kg.
- Electricity = average watts ÷ 1000 × print hours × price per kWh.
- Printer wear = printer cost ÷ expected lifetime hours × print hours. This spreads the purchase price and upkeep across every print.
- Failure allowance: if 5% of prints fail, every successful print has to pay for the failed ones, so machine costs are divided by (1 − failure rate).
- Labor = hands-on minutes × your hourly rate. Printing time itself is not labor; the machine does that.
The selling price applies your markup and then grosses it up for marketplace fees, so the fee comes out of the buyer's price instead of your profit.
Where to get the numbers
- Filament grams and print time: your slicer shows both after slicing (PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio and Cura all do).
- Power draw: a cheap plug-in energy meter gives you the real average. Heating the bed takes the most power at the start; after that the draw drops a lot.
- Electricity price: check your utility bill for the price per kWh, including taxes and fees.
- Printer lifetime: 3,000–10,000 hours is a reasonable planning range for hobby printers. Use a lower number if you run the printer hard or replace parts often.
Tips for pricing prints you sell
- Charge a minimum per order. Small prints are dominated by labor and packing, not plastic.
- Track your real failure rate for a month. Many sellers underestimate it.
- Price multi-color and support-heavy prints separately; purge and support material add up fast.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to 3D print something?
For a typical small PLA part, the filament costs only a few cents to a couple of dollars. Once you add electricity, printer wear, failures and your time, the real cost is often 2–5× the filament cost. Enter your own numbers above for an exact figure.
How much electricity does a 3D printer use?
A typical desktop FDM printer averages roughly 70–200 W while printing, depending mostly on bed temperature and enclosure. A 6-hour print at 120 W uses about 0.72 kWh.
What markup should I use when selling 3D prints?
Many sellers use 30–100% on top of full cost, more for custom design work. Make sure your cost includes labor first; markup on filament alone is not profit.
Should I include design time?
If you designed the model for the customer, charge design time as a separate line item rather than hiding it in the per-part price.