3D Print Cost Calculator

Most online 3D print cost calculators only count the filament. This one adds the four hidden costs that actually determine whether you make money on a print: electricity, printer depreciation, failure overhead, and labour. The total cost formula is: (filament + electricity + depreciation) × (1 + failure rate %) + labour cost.

Worked example. A 50g PLA print at £18 per kg uses £0.90 of filament. On a 350-watt printer running for 2 hours at £0.28 per kWh, electricity is £0.20. A £350 printer with a 5,000-hour lifespan adds £0.14 of depreciation per print. Subtotal: £1.24. With a 10% failure rate that becomes £1.36. Add 20 minutes of post-processing at £12 per hour (£4.00) and the true cost is £5.36. The filament alone was just 17% of that. This is why charging customers "twice the filament cost" leaves you working for free.

If you are honest, your failure rate is probably 10 to 15%, not the 5% most makers claim. That includes prints that come out usable but with visible defects you would not sell, prints that fail mid-way and waste filament, and prints you have to throw away because of warping, layer separation, or stringing.

FDM printers with a year of tinkering and a known-good profile can hit 5%. Resin printers fresh out of the box are closer to 20% until you dial in exposure times for each new resin. Bigger and longer prints fail more often than small quick ones (a 36-hour print has 36 hours of opportunities to go wrong). Bumping the failure rate slider from 5% to 15% on a £20 print adds £2 to the cost; that £2 covers the eventual print you bin. Underestimating failure rate is the single most common reason makers run their Etsy shop at a loss without realising.

Depreciation is the printer's purchase price spread across its expected lifespan in print hours. A £600 Bambu P1S with a realistic 5,000-hour lifespan costs you £0.12 per print hour. On an 8-hour print that is just £0.96, but at 50 prints a month that is £48 a month going toward eventual replacement.

Pick a lifespan honestly. A budget Ender 3 might give you 3,000 to 4,000 hours before major repairs become uneconomical. A premium machine like the Prusa MK4 or Bambu X1C will last 8,000 to 10,000+ hours of regular use. Halfway through the lifespan you will probably replace the hot-end (£30 to £50), nozzles (£5 each), build plate (£20 to £50) and eventually the mainboard. Add roughly 30% to the printer purchase price to estimate true total cost of ownership; the calculator does this implicitly when you set lifespan accurately.

If you are selling prints, the cost figure is the floor, not the price. Most successful Etsy 3D print shops use a markup of 200 to 400% on the calculator's total cost figure, then test against what comparable items actually sell for on the platform. The calculator's markup field defaults to 40% which suits commission work; for retail you usually need much more.

A £5.36 cost item with 40% markup sells for £7.50, which leaves £2.14 profit per print before Etsy's 6.5% transaction fee, the £0.20 listing fee, payment processing, and shipping costs. After all of that you might keep £1.20. To make Etsy worth your time you generally need either much higher per-item profit (charge £15 to £20 for that £5.36 item) or volume that lets you batch prints. Use the [filament comparison](/filament-comparison) tool to find cheaper material alternatives and the [filament usage calculator](/filament-calculator) to plan whether your current spool is enough for a job.