How to price your 3D prints – so you actually make money

You've got your printer churning out beautiful things, and now friends are asking if they can buy one. But what should it cost? Here's the down-to-earth guide to setting a price that covers your costs, pays for your time – and leaves a little profit in your pocket.

Most people who start selling their prints price them far too low. It's easy to think "the filament cost almost nothing," forget everything else, and end up earning 4 kroner an hour. The good news: a fair price isn't hard to calculate once you understand what's actually involved.

This guide goes through the five building blocks of a price: materials, electricity, machine wear and tear, your time, and your profit. Finally, we'll put it all together in a simple formula you can use every time. You don't need to be a math whiz – just a calculator and ten minutes. Otherwise, you can use our price calculator.

1. Material: What does the plastic itself cost?

The first and most obvious. A roll of filament typically costs a fixed amount for a known number of grams – usually 1,000 grams (1 kg). You need to know two things: the price per kilo and how many grams your print uses.

You can most easily find the weight in your slicer (Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Cura, etc.). Once you've sliced your model, the program shows the estimated consumption in grams. This value is golden – use it.

The calculation is straightforward:

Remember to include all plastic, not just the model itself: support material, brim/skirt, and any "purge" for color changes also use filament. Fortunately, the slicer's total figure includes this.

2. Power: the printer runs for hours

A 3D printer isn't an energy guzzler like a tumble dryer, but over a long print, consumption adds up. You need three figures: the printer's power in watts, the print time, and your electricity price per kWh.

Most hobby printers use, on average, between 70 and 150 watts during printing. A small printer without an enclosed chamber will be lower; a large machine with a heated bed and chamber will be higher. Note the word "average" – consumption fluctuates constantly, and initial heating briefly draws much more. For pricing, a reasonable average is sufficiently precise.

The electricity price in Denmark fluctuates, but an average of around DKK 2.50/kWh including taxes is a useful starting point. Feel free to check your own electricity bill for a more precise figure.

As you can see, electricity is rarely a major expense for a small print – but for long prints (10+ hours), it starts to matter, so don't skip it entirely.

3. Machine wear and tear: your printer won't last forever

This is the item beginners almost always forget. Your printer wears out as it works: nozzles clog, parts need replacing, build plates lose their grip, belts and bearings get tired. If you want to make money in the long run, customers need to contribute to the cost of maintaining and eventually replacing the machine.

You don't need to make it complicated. A simple method: take a rough estimate of what the printer and expected spare parts cost over its lifespan, and distribute it over hours.

A print of almost two hours thus carries approximately DKK 2 in wear and tear. It might feel like small change, but it's precisely this small buffer that ensures a new nozzle or build plate doesn't eat into your profits when it needs to be replaced.

4. Your time: the most important and most overlooked factor

This is where most people lose money. A print doesn't take care of itself from start to finish. You spend time preparing the model, starting the print, removing it from the plate, peeling off supports, sanding, gluing, assembling, packing, and answering messages. That time is real, and it's worth getting paid for.

Choose an hourly rate you feel is reasonable for your craftsmanship – many hobbyists land somewhere between DKK 150 and DKK 300 per hour. Important: this is your working time, not print time. You shouldn't be paid for the two hours the machine runs on its own, but for the 15 minutes you spend on the item yourself.

Notice how much this item accounts for compared to the material. This is completely normal – and it's the whole point. People don't just pay for plastic; they pay for you to do the work and deliver a finished product.

5. Profit: your reward for taking the risk

Once you've added up material, electricity, wear and tear, and your time, you have your cost price – what it actually cost you to make the item. But if you sell at cost price, you essentially earn nothing. On top of the cost price, you therefore add a profit (also called markup).

A profit margin of 30–50% is a common starting point for physical products. This covers what the calculation never quite captures: a failed print that needs to be redone, a little wasted filament, underestimated wear and tear, and the simple fact that a business needs to make money to survive.

All combined: your pricing formula

Now put the five building blocks together, and you have a formula that holds every time:

Let's go through a complete example – a 50g print that takes 1 hour and 47 minutes, and where you spend 15 minutes on post-processing:

Notice how small a part the material and electricity constitute (a total of DKK 12), and how much your time accounts for. This is the most important lesson in the entire guide: you are not selling plastic – you are selling a finished product and your work.

An important note about VAT

If you sell as a private individual and your turnover is small, you generally do not need to add VAT to the price. You only must – and should – charge VAT when you are VAT registered, which typically becomes relevant when your annual turnover exceeds DKK 50,000. If you are in doubt about your obligations, consult the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) or an accountant. This is not tax advice, just a friendly reminder to be aware of the rules before you start selling on a large scale.

Five quick tips before you sell your first print

That's it. With material, power, wear and tear, your time, and a reasonable profit, you now have a price you can stand by – one that covers your costs, pays you for your work, and leaves a little profit for the next roll of filament. Happy selling, and welcome to the fun part of the hobby: seeing it pay for itself.

Do you have questions about pricing or materials? You are always welcome to write to us – we are happy to help new printers get started.