How I think about pricing 3D printing jobs (the framework that stopped me losing money)

One of the most common questions I see in this community is about pricing. And I get it. Pricing is genuinely one of the hardest parts of running a print shop. Price too high, you lose jobs. Price too low, you're basically working for free.

After digging into this properly, here's the framework that actually makes sense:

The four components every quote needs:

1. Real material cost (not just part weight)

Slice the file and use your slicer's filament estimate, not the finished part weight. Add 10 to 15% for support waste, brims, and purge lines. Multiply by your actual cost per gram (what you paid divided by spool weight).

A 200g finished part might actually use 240g of filament once you include all the waste.

2. Machine time cost

Figure out what your printer actually costs per hour to run:

• Electricity: most FDM printers use 100 to 250W. At $0.15/kWh, that's $0.015 to $0.04/hr. Not huge, but it adds up.
• Depreciation: if a printer costs $400 and you expect 2,000 print hours out of it, that's $0.20/hr in depreciation.
• Maintenance: build plates, PTFE tubes, nozzles. Budget maybe $0.05 to $0.10/hr across printer life.

Add these up. You've got a real cost-per-print-hour.

3. Failed print allowance

Depending on material and geometry, 5 to 20% of your jobs will fail at some point. A job that has a 10% chance of failure adds 10% to your real cost of goods. For complex PETG or resin jobs, I'd factor in 15%.

4. Overhead and your time

Rent, software subscriptions, packaging, and the time you spend on non-printing work (quoting, invoicing, customer communication). Divide your monthly overhead by the hours you print in a month. That's your overhead per hour.

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The quick formula:

(Material cost) + (Print hours x hourly cost) + (Failed print allowance %) + (Overhead per hour x print hours) = Cost floor

Then add your desired margin on top. If you want 40% margin, divide cost floor by 0.6.

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One thing I see people skip: post-processing time. Supports don't remove themselves. Sanding, painting, assembly. If you do any of that, it's labor and it needs to be in the price.

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This framework took me from "I think I'm making money" to actually knowing. Happy to answer questions or discuss how others approach this differently.

(I've been building a tool that automates this calculation inside an order management system for print shops. Happy to share if anyone's curious, but that's not what this post is about.)