The six pieces of the cost
The cost of a printed part is a sum, not a guess:
material + energy + machine-hour + failure allowance + your finishing time + packaging
Each one has its own way of being calculated, and all of them fit in the 3D printing cost calculator — it does this math as you type, and also shows what's left on each sales channel.
1. Material
This is the easy one: grams ÷ 1000 × price per kilogram. With PLA at $20 a kilogram (≈ €20), a 133 g part uses $2.66. Use the weight the slicer shows for the part, not the whole spool, and remember the purge tower when you print in several colors — it's paid-for filament too.
Resin follows the same logic, swapping the kilogram for the liter (around $40 as a reference) and adding the isopropyl alcohol for washing, which goes missing from almost everyone's math.
2. Energy
Power in kW × hours × rate. A desktop machine averages between 100 W and 200 W while printing — the peak while the bed heats up is much higher, but it doesn't last long. At 120 W, $0.20 per kWh and 15 hours of printing: 0.12 × 15 × 0.20 = $0.36. In the US the average residential rate is around $0.17; in Europe it is often €0.25 to €0.35, and at €0.30 the same print costs €0.54.
It's the item most people overestimate. Energy rarely goes past 5% of a part's cost — and it still goes in, because margin is lost in a sum of small things.
3. Machine-hour
Here lives the cost almost nobody charges for. The printer wears out: nozzle, belts, build plate, fans, extruder — and one day it gets replaced. Divide what the machine cost, plus the wear parts, by the useful life you expect from it:
| Math | Example | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Printer price ÷ hours of life | $600 ÷ 3,000 h | $0.20 |
| Wear parts and maintenance | nozzles, belts, build plate, servicing | $0.07 |
| Space, internet, small tools | shared out | $0.03 |
| Machine-hour | $0.30 |
$0.30 per hour is a good starting number. If your machine cost more, or you change nozzles every week, go higher.
4. Failures
A part that comes loose, spaghetti, a clog: it happens, and the filament and hours spent don't come back. Instead of pretending it doesn't exist, apply a percentage to material, energy and machine-hour. 10% is an honest start for someone with a tuned profile; if you're just starting, or you print tall, thin parts, use more.
Notice that the failure allowance applies only to those three items. A part that came off the plate never got to use finishing or packaging.
5. Your time and 6. packaging
Taking it off the plate, removing supports, sanding, assembling, checking, photographing and shipping use up your time — and your time has a price. Set your hourly rate and count the finishing minutes per part. Five minutes at $20 an hour is already $1.67.
Packaging is the box, bubble wrap, label and the little thank-you card. Add it all up: bought in bulk, it usually lands somewhere between $0.50 and $1.50 per order.
Two worked examples
Both on the same printer, with PLA at $20/kg, 120 W, a $0.20 rate, a $0.30 machine-hour, 10% failures, five minutes of finishing at $20/h and $0.50 of packaging.
Large part: 133 g and 15 h
| Item | Math | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 0.133 kg × $20 | $2.66 |
| Energy | 0.12 kW × 15 h × $0.20 | $0.36 |
| Machine-hour | 15 h × $0.30 | $4.50 |
| Failures (10%) | on the three above | $0.75 |
| Finishing | 5 min at $20/h | $1.67 |
| Packaging | $0.50 | |
| Cost of the part | $10.44 |
Look at the first line of the table and the third: the machine-hour cost far more than the filament. It's what happens on every long print — and it's why "just the filament" is so misleading.
Small part: 30 g and 1 h 50 min, in PETG
| Item | Math | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 0.030 kg × $22 | $0.66 |
| Energy | 0.12 kW × 1.83 h × $0.20 | $0.04 |
| Machine-hour | 1.83 h × $0.30 | $0.55 |
| Failures (10%) | $0.13 | |
| Finishing | 5 min at $20/h | $1.67 |
| Packaging | $0.50 | |
| Cost of the part | $3.55 |
Here your time and the packaging add up to $2.17 — about 60% of the cost. On a small, cheap part, the bottleneck is your hands, not the machine: it pays to print in batches and pack in series.
From cost to price
Cost isn't price. On top of the cost goes the markup, and on top of the price go the channel's fees: commission, fixed fees and, when you offer free shipping, the label. On Etsy, for example, about 9.5% of the price goes to the transaction and payment processing fees, plus $0.45 in fixed fees per sale (US reference values, October 2026) — and if shipping is free for the buyer, the label is on you.
That's why our calculator shows, for each channel, what's left and the break-even price — the one at which you neither win nor lose. Start from it and go up to the margin you want.
Four mistakes that eat the margin
| Mistake | What happens |
|---|---|
| Counting only the filament | The machine-hour disappears and the long print runs at a loss. |
| Ignoring failures | One lost part in every ten eats the margin of all the others. |
| Working for free | Finishing and packing are your hours. Without a price, they become a discount. |
| Confusing markup with profit | A 150% markup isn't 150% profit: the channel still takes its share. |
The part only makes a profit once the whole bill fits in the price.
Do yours in two minutes in the cost calculator, and also see how to price a 3D printed part and what to sell 3D printed.