How to Price 3D Prints for Profit
A practical framework for Etsy sellers, side hustles, and professional 3D printing services.
Reality check: if you only charge for filament, you are paying yourself below minimum wage.
The complete pricing formula
Price = (Material + Labor + Overhead) x Markup
Cost components
- Material: filament/resin, supports, purge, failed prints.
- Labor: setup, post-processing, packing, customer comms.
- Overhead: electricity, maintenance, wear, tooling.
Typical markup ranges
- x2.0 to x3.0: hobby / Etsy baseline
- x3.0 to x5.0: professional service pricing
- x5.0+: custom/rush/tight tolerance work
Quick pricing calculator
Common pricing mistakes
- Underpricing: charging for filament only.
- No labor accounting: support removal and customer handling are real work.
- No failure allowance: reprints and QA losses destroy margin.
- One markup for everything: complexity tiers need different pricing.