What does it actually cost to 3D print something?
Two answers, depending on who's asking. For hobbyists, the cost of a print is basically filament + electricity. A typical 45g PLA print costs about $0.90 in filament and $0.12 in electricity — roughly a dollar total. Even a large 300g print on a budget printer rarely cracks $7.
For sellers, the cost of a print includes all the stuff hobbyists get to ignore: your labor (prep, post-processing, packing), machine depreciation, failed prints that eat filament, and the platform fees you'll pay when someone buys it. A 45g print that costs a hobbyist $1.00 typically costs a commercial operator $4–$8 to deliver, and sells for $10–$30 depending on market positioning.
The five real costs of a 3D print
1. Filament (the obvious one)
Spool price divided by spool weight, times grams used. Cost-per-gram ranges from ~$0.015 (budget Sunlu PLA) to ~$0.040 (premium Prusament PLA). For specialty materials like TPU, PLA-CF, or resin, it can climb to $0.060 per gram. See our filament cost calculator for per-brand breakdowns.
2. Electricity (the smallest one)
For almost every hobbyist, electricity is a rounding error. A 110W printer running 8 hours at the US average $0.16/kWh costs about $0.14 — less than the filament by 6×. For print farms running 20+ printers 24/7, it adds up to $30–$100 per month, at which point it matters. Full breakdown at our electricity cost calculator.
3. Labor (the expensive one)
This is where hobby "businesses" bleed money. Every print has setup time (prep, slicing, first-layer baby-sitting) and finishing time (support removal, sanding, painting, packing). A typical small commercial print uses 5–15 minutes of prep and 5–30 minutes of post-processing, depending on complexity.
At a modest $20/hour rate, 15 minutes of total labor costs $5 — five times the filament cost. If you're selling prints for "cost plus 50%" and not counting labor, you're losing money. Labor is almost always the single biggest cost of a commercial print.
4. Machine depreciation (the easy-to-miss one)
A $600 printer amortized over 3 years of daily commercial use (roughly 2,200 print hours) works out to about $0.27/hour in depreciation. Small per print, but over 1,000 prints it's $270 — funding the next printer. Commercial operators should always bake this in. Hobbyists can ignore it.
5. Platform fees (the sneaky one)
If you sell on Etsy, eBay, or Amazon Handmade, the platform takes a meaningful cut of your revenue. Etsy currently runs about 6.5% on listings plus payment processing plus optional offsite ads (which are mandatory for larger sellers) — all together often 10–13% of final sale price. Shopify with your own store is cheaper (~2.9%) but you eat traffic acquisition costs instead. Factor this in or your "double your cost" pricing will end up below break-even.
How to price 3D prints for sale
The standard formula for commercial 3D printing is cost-plus-markup:
Base_Cost = Filament + Electricity + Labor + Depreciation
Sale_Price = Base_Cost × Markup_Multiplier
Profit = Sale_Price − Base_Cost − Platform_FeesTypical markup multipliers by seller type:
- 1.0× – 1.3× — cost recovery (friend-and-family orders)
- 1.5× – 2.0× — low-margin commodity prints (replacement parts)
- 2.0× – 3.0× — standard Etsy seller
- 3.0× – 5.0× — custom commissions, hobby gear, figurines
- 5.0×+ — design work, specialty jewelry, highly finished items
The calculator above handles all of this, including platform fees, so you can set a markup and immediately see what your actual profit looks like after Etsy takes its cut.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 3D print cost?
For a typical hobby print (45g PLA, 3.5 hours, no labor costs), the total is about $1.00 — roughly $0.90 in filament and $0.12 in electricity. If you're selling prints, add labor (prep + post-processing), machine depreciation, and markup. A 45g commercial print typically quotes at $8–$25 depending on how much labor and margin you build in.
How do you price 3D prints for sale?
Use cost-plus-markup: (filament + electricity + labor + machine depreciation) × markup multiplier. Typical markups are 1.5× to 3× for Etsy sellers, 2× to 5× for custom commissions. Don't forget to add platform fees (Etsy 6.5%, eBay 12.9%, Shopify 2.9%) and shipping costs to the final quote.
What should I charge for 3D printing labor?
Most small print operators charge $15–$30/hour for labor. Split it into prep time (designing, slicing, setting up the print) and post-processing (support removal, sanding, painting, assembly). A typical print has 5–15 minutes of prep and 5–30 minutes of post-processing, depending on complexity. Don't undercount — labor is where hobbyist "businesses" lose money.
Should I include machine depreciation in my 3D print costs?
Yes, if you're running a business. A $600 printer amortized over 3 years of daily use (~2,200 hours) works out to about $0.27/hour in depreciation — small per print, but it adds up and funds your next printer. Hobbyists can skip this.