How the print cost calculation works
Most people price a print by the filament alone. That number is real, but it is only part of the bill. A printer running for eight hours draws power, wears out nozzles, belts, fans and build plates, and some prints fail and have to be run again. This calculator adds those parts together so the figure you quote covers what the print actually takes out of your pocket.
The total is built from four pieces:
- Filament:
grams / 1000 × spool price per kg - Electricity:
watts / 1000 × print hours × price per kWh - Machine wear:
printer price / expected life hours × print hours - Failure allowance:
subtotal × failure %
The sum of those is your cost per print. The suggested sell price is cost × markup multiplier. The multiplier is where your time, design work, packaging, platform fees and profit live, because none of those are in the cost figure.
Measuring the inputs
Filament weight
Take the grams from your slicer after slicing, not from the model alone. The slicer figure includes supports, brim, purge and infill. On multi-color printers with a purge tower or filament flushing, the waste can be as large as the model, so make sure the slicer total includes it.
Spool price
Use what you paid per kilogram including shipping. A 1 kg spool at $20 plus $4 shipping is $24 per kg. Specialty materials such as carbon-fiber nylon can be three to five times the price of PLA.
Power draw
The power supply rating on the label is a maximum, not what the printer uses. A plug-in power meter is the honest way to measure it. Average draw for a typical bed-slinger printing PLA is about 100 to 150 W once the bed is up to temperature. ABS with a hot bed and an enclosure runs higher. Heat-up spikes are short and matter little over a long print.
Expected life hours
This spreads the printer's purchase price over the hours it will run before needing major replacement or retirement. 2000 to 5000 hours is a reasonable range for hobby machines. If you print commercially, add regular spare parts such as nozzles and PEI sheets into the printer price.
Worked example
A 120 g PLA part takes 6 hours. Filament costs $22 per kg, the printer averages 150 W, electricity is $0.15 per kWh, the printer cost $600 and you expect 3000 hours of life. You allow 10% for failures.
- Filament: 120 / 1000 × 22 = $2.64
- Electricity: 150 / 1000 × 6 × 0.15 = $0.14
- Wear: 600 / 3000 × 6 = $1.20
- Subtotal: $3.98, failure allowance 10% = $0.40
- Total cost: $4.37
With a 3× markup the suggested price is about $13.12. Note that machine wear cost almost half as much as the filament. On long, light prints it can cost more.
Typical values
| Input | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PLA / PETG spool | $15–30 per kg | Bulk buys at the low end |
| Engineering filaments | $30–90 per kg | Nylon, PC, CF blends |
| Average power draw | 80–200 W | Enclosed, hot-bed jobs higher |
| Electricity | $0.10–0.40 per kWh | Check your utility bill |
| Expected life | 2000–5000 h | Hobby printers |
| Failure allowance | 5–15% | Higher for tall or new designs |
| Markup | 2–5× | Depends on design and labor |
Common mistakes
- Using the power supply rating. A 350 W supply does not mean 350 W draw. Using it can triple your electricity figure.
- Leaving out purge waste. Multi-material prints can waste tens of grams per print.
- Ignoring labor. Removing supports, sanding and packing take real time. Either charge for it in the markup or add an hourly rate on top.
- Setting failure at zero. Even a well-tuned printer loses the odd print to a clogged nozzle or a bed adhesion problem.
Practical tips
- Measure your printer's power once with a meter and save the number. It does not change much between jobs of the same material.
- For batches, price the full plate and divide by the number of parts. The setup and cooldown time is shared.
- Raise the failure allowance for first runs of a new design and lower it once the file is proven.
- Keep platform fees and payment processing in mind. Marketplace fees of 10 to 15% can eat a thin markup.
- Revisit your numbers when filament or power prices change. Small changes add up over hundreds of prints.