How much should I charge for a 3D print?

Material plus a machine fee plus setup, with a per-part minimum. In our live engine the minimum is $4.60 for PLA Plus and $8.99 for PETG, and a typical palm-sized part lands roughly between $4.95 and $9.68 including tax.

How much should I charge per gram for 3D printing?

Per-gram pricing alone underprices small parts, which is why a per-part minimum matters more than the rate. Our engine pairs per-gram material rates with floors by material, plus a flat setup fee per order.

Should I charge for failed prints?

Not directly — build failures into your machine fee so every quote absorbs the occasional loss. Customers pay one predictable price; you carry the risk you control.

How do quantity discounts work for 3D prints?

Batches cost less per part because a full plate runs unattended. Our engine discounts 1% per additional part, capped at 20% — ten small brackets quote at $45.02 total right now.

What to charge for 3D prints

The short answer

Charge for the service, not the plastic. A fair price is material plus a machine fee plus setup, with a per-part minimum so small jobs stay worth your time. In our live quote engine that minimum is $4.60 for PLA Plus and $8.99 for PETG, and a typical palm-sized functional part lands between $4.95 and $9.68 including tax. Never price a print at bare filament cost — filament is the smallest ingredient in the job.

The formula

Material: the part's weight × your per-gram rate for that filament.
Machine fee: weight × a per-gram rate for wear, electricity, and the occasional failed print (ours is 1.75¢ per gram).
Setup: a flat fee for slicing, prep, and handoff — ours is $5.00 per order, phased in so it never doubles a tiny job.
Per-part minimum: a floor below which you don't print. This single rule keeps small jobs profitable.

Charge for the service, not the plastic.

A worked example, with real numbers

Everyday bracket — 100 × 60 × 30 mm in PETG, priced by our engine as this page loaded
Line	Amount
Filament used	41 g
Filament cost	$2.38
Machine fee (wear, power, failures)	$0.72
Raw cost so far	$3.10
PETG per-part minimum	$8.99
What the job quotes (incl. 8.75% tax)	$9.68

The lesson in that table: the raw costs come to about $3.10, and the job still prices at $9.68. The minimum does the work. Without a floor, you'd be selling an hour of machine time and your own handling for pocket change.

Per-part minimums by material

Per-part minimums in our live quote engine, right now
Material	Minimum price per part
PLA Plus	$4.60
PETG	$8.99
ABS	$10.00
Polycarbonate (PC)	$10.00
TPU (flexible)	$10.00
ASA	$10.00
Nylon	$20.00
PPA-CF	$30.00

Premium materials carry higher floors because they cost more, fail more, and demand more of the machine. Copy these numbers outright if you like — they're what our network actually charges today.

What real jobs quote

Real jobs, priced by our quote engine as this page loaded

Everyday bracket
100 × 60 × 30 mm · PETG
≈ $9.68
28 mm tabletop miniature
PLA Plus · ultra-smooth finish
≈ $4.95
Large cosplay piece
200 × 180 × 150 mm · PLA Plus
≈ $24.46
Batch of 10 small brackets
60 × 40 × 20 mm each · PLA Plus
≈ $45.02

Totals include 8.75% sales tax, exactly like our quote tool. Your file's real geometry sets the real price.

Price a real file

Quantity, rush, and color

Batches earn a discount because plates run unattended: our engine takes 1% off per additional part, capped at 20%. Rush work costs more — we add 40% to jump the queue. Extra colors cost more, not less: every filament change is labor and waste, so each additional color adds 15%.

The mistakes that make makers print for free

Charging filament cost only. A $2.40 part price pays you nothing for the machine, the failures, or your time.
Skipping the minimum. Ten tiny jobs at $1.50 each is an evening of plate changes for less than minimum wage.
Racing to the bottom against strangers online. Local commissioned work doesn't have to win a price war — it has to be worth a short drive.
Quoting by gut. Use a calculator every time; consistency is what lets you say a price out loud without flinching.

Most makers should expect gas-money to car-payment money, not a salary. Honest prices are how you stay on the good side of that sentence — undercharging is the fastest way to turn a paying hobby back into an expensive one.