How to calculate the true cost of a 3D print
Build a repeatable cost estimate using filament, power, machine wear, labour and fulfilment.
A slicer tells you how much material and machine time a job needs. It does not tell you what the finished product costs to sell. A useful quote starts with the whole job, then spreads shared costs across the items that are actually saleable.
Start with material you really consume
Multiply the batch weight in grams by the spool price, then divide by the spool weight. A 120 g batch from a $25, 1,000 g spool uses $3 of filament. If that weight excludes purge, supports or setup waste, add an allowance. A 10% allowance makes the material estimate $3.30. If the slicer already includes all that waste, leave the extra allowance at zero to avoid counting it twice.
Add power and machine time
Electricity cost is watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × price per kWh. At an illustrative average of 120 W, a six-hour batch uses 0.72 kWh. At $0.18/kWh, that costs about $0.13. These are example inputs, not a standard for every printer. Measure average consumption over a complete representative print when possible.
A machine-hour allowance can recover wear and replacement costs. For example, a $1,000 printer spread over an assumed 4,000 productive hours contributes $0.25/hour before maintenance. Use your own expected life and avoid recovering the same expense twice in separate allowances.
Pay for hands-on work
Count setup, removing supports, assembly, quality checks and preparing the order. Fifteen minutes at $20/hour costs $5 for the batch. Printing time and labour time are separate: six hours of unattended printing do not automatically mean six billable labour hours.
Divide shared costs, then add per-item costs
Enter total batch weight, total batch print time and total batch labour in 3D PrintMargin. Set the number of items produced. Packaging and fulfilment are entered per item. For a four-item batch, a $5 labour cost becomes $1.25 per item; $0.75 of per-item packaging stays $0.75.
Use the failed-batch rate for production losses, then add selling fees and a target margin. The result is a cost-based starting price. Compare it with actual customer demand and your records rather than assuming every product is profitable at that price.
Run the numbers for your own print
Use your actual costs and batch size to calculate a price and profit estimate.
Open the free calculator