3D Print Price Calculator

Enter the filament, print time, power, labor and fees for one part to get its true cost and a price you can quote.

You typeWe calculate

How it's calculated

Cost  = filament + power + wear + labor + other
Wear  = (printer ÷ life hours + maint) × hours
Price = cost × (1 + markup) ÷ (1 − fee)
   or = cost ÷ (1 − fee − margin)

Markup is profit over cost; margin is profit over price. Both prices leave the fee out of your profit.

Sources and worked example

Suggested price$15.41Per item · total cost $9.25

Profitable after fees

Total cost$9.25

Profit per item$4.62

Effective margin30.0%

Effective markup50.0%

Marketplace fee$1.54

Break-even price$10.28

Cost breakdown per item
Material	$1.65
Electricity	$0.06
Machine wear	$1.04
Labor	$5.00
Packaging and other	$1.50
Total cost	$9.25

An estimate for pricing your prints, not financial or tax advice. Use your own electricity rate and platform fees.

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How to price a 3D print

Filament is usually not the biggest cost of a print you sell. Your time and the wear on the printer often cost more. This calculator adds every cost for one item, then sets a price that still leaves your profit after the marketplace takes its cut.

1. Material

Divide the spool price by the grams on the spool to get a price per gram. Multiply by the part weight from your slicer, with supports included. Then add a waste allowance for purge, brims, test pieces and failed prints. If you track failures, use your real failure rate here.

2. Electricity

Watts divided by 1,000 gives kilowatts. Multiply by print hours to get kWh, then by your rate. Prusa measured an average of 80 W on an MK-series printer printing PLA and 120 W printing ABS. Enclosed and larger printers can draw more, and the first few minutes of heating draw much more than the average. The EIA reports a U.S. average residential price of 18.31 cents per kWh for July 2026. Your bill shows your own rate, which can be far from the average.

3. Machine wear

A printer wears out with use, so its cost belongs in each print. Divide the printer price by the print hours you expect to get from it. That is straight-line depreciation spread over hours of use, the same idea as the units-of-production method in IRS Publication 946. Add a per-hour figure for nozzles, belts, build plates and other parts. The lifetime and maintenance numbers are your estimates; there is no published standard.

4. Labor and other costs

Count the minutes you spend on the item: slicing, loading, removing supports, sanding and packing. Multiply by an hourly rate you would accept. Add packaging, inserts or hardware per order.

5. Markup or margin, then fees

Markup is profit as a share of cost. Margin is profit as a share of the price. A 50% markup on a $10 cost gives a $15 price, which is a 33% margin. A 50% margin on the same cost needs a $20 price. Pick the one you think in. The calculator shows both for the result.

Marketplace and payment fees are charged on the sale price. So the calculator divides by one minus the fee, which keeps your full markup or margin after the fee comes off. Fees differ by platform and change over time, so check your platform's current fee page and enter the combined rate.

Worked example

A 60 g PLA part from a $25 1 kg spool with a 10% waste allowance. It prints in 4 hours at 80 W, with power at $0.18 per kWh. The printer cost $800 and should last 5,000 print hours, plus $0.10 an hour in maintenance. Labor is 15 minutes at $20 an hour, and packaging is $1.50. The seller uses a 50% markup and a 10% fee.

Worked example, per item
Material: 66 g at $0.025 per g	$1.65
Electricity: 0.32 kWh	$0.06
Machine wear: $0.26 an hour	$1.04
Labor	$5.00
Packaging	$1.50
Total cost	$9.25
Price with 50% markup and 10% fee	$15.41
Less marketplace fee	−$1.54
Profit per item	$4.62

Electricity is only $0.06 of the $9.25 cost, while labor is $5.00. The $15.41 price leaves $4.62 after the fee: a 50.0% markup on cost and a 30.0% margin on price. If the seller had asked for a 50% margin instead, the price would be $23.12. Selling below the $10.28 break-even price loses money on every order.

Things this does not cover

It prices one item at a time. It does not add design time for a new model, shipping charged to the buyer, sales tax, or income tax. Multi-color prints with heavy purge waste may need a higher waste allowance. For a print farm, the real failure rate and real printer hours from your own records will beat any default.

Sources

FAQ

Common questions

How do you calculate the cost of a 3D print?

Add five things: filament (grams used times price per gram, plus an allowance for waste), electricity (kilowatts times print hours times your rate per kWh), machine wear (printer cost divided by its expected print hours, plus maintenance, times print hours), your labor time at an hourly rate, and packaging. That total is your cost before profit and fees.

How much electricity does a 3D printer use?

Less than most people expect. Prusa measured an average of 80 W on an MK-series printer printing PLA and 120 W printing ABS at room temperature. A 4-hour PLA print at 80 W uses 0.32 kWh, which is about 6 cents at 18 cents per kWh. Enclosed printers, big heated beds and high-temperature filaments draw more.

What markup should I use for 3D prints?

There is no standard number. Sellers often start somewhere between a 50% and 100% markup on full cost, then adjust for what similar items sell for and how much design work is in the part. Make sure the markup is applied to a cost that already includes your labor and machine wear, or the price will be too low.

What is the difference between markup and margin?

Markup is profit divided by cost. Margin is profit divided by the selling price. The same sale always has a higher markup than margin: a $10 item sold for $15 has a 50% markup but a 33% margin. Mixing the two up is a common way to underprice.

Should I include marketplace fees in my price?

Yes. Marketplace and payment fees are usually a percentage of the sale price, so they grow as the price grows. This calculator divides by (1 minus the fee) so the fee comes out of the price and you still keep your full markup or margin. Check your platform for its current fee schedule and enter the combined percentage.

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