Why I charge $55 for this 3D printed part (how to price)

Calculating the selling price of 3D printed products can be intimidating and LOTS of people out there do it wrong. I'll show you exactly what I do for my successful print farm business. I also put together an excel workbook and PDF worksheet so that you can do it yourself!

[tomperkowski]

I didn't read EVERY comment but the first thing I noticed while watching your video is you never mentioned the cost of "space". Your print farm occupies space, either owned (basement, garage, etc.) or rented. I had a home based consulting business for years and part of my cost doing business was using a bedroom converted to an office. The costs of using that space are deductible by using Form 8829 (Also see Tax Topic 509), Expenses for Business Use of Your Home. It is a legitimate expense and part of the cost of goods sold.

[frankrahman]

There are three choices when analyzing the market. A: Position as superior. B: Decrease your margin. C: Choose to not enter that specific items market. The third choice should always be considered.

[sethphillips]

One thing I'll add is that as an Etsy seller offering free shipping for many years, I have realized that for whatever reason, my buyers do not care about shipping cost, they buy at the same rate whether it's free shipping or $5.50. I don't know whether this is an Etsy specific thing, where people feel more justified paying shipping on a "handmade" item, but it came as a big shock to me. I had assumed that Amazon had spoiled people and anything other than free shipping would scare the buyers off. Not the case, in my experience. Has really boosted my bottom line, since shipping was by far the biggest slice of the pie taken out of my profits. Great production value on the video by the way.

[Jerguu]

As someone who does cost accounting for major manufacturing companies - you'd be surprised how many of them cannot properly get their costs together because their ERP is such a mess.

[Slurgical_D_Terrain_Channel]

I charge $75CDN per hours for custom CAD design, if it’s a small part that would take me way less than 1hr, I charge a basic $25 when it’s person that needs an item for their hobby or small house hold part. For example I just did a small clip for a knitting machine that is no longer in production or sell parts for it. I charged $25 to design and $10 per printed clip. Any future orders for this clip for other people in her knitting guild is $10 since it’s been designed. I got extra orders for 7 of them. No one out there have that part available.

[mark]

I bought your dust collection part for my miter saw and it works well. I was also glad to pay your price and hope you made money on it. Money is an easy way for consumers to benefit from your creativity

[stuartkorte]

Paint it ugly green. 😂

Utilities, taxes, business licenses, rent, salary. Great honest response that the average person doesn’t realize.

[JeroenBouwens]

Such impeccable timing! I was just asked what it would cost to 3D print a fairly simple part an X number of times, but since I don't have a 3D printing business I had no idea how to price this. But now I do! So thanks!

[ryleylamarsh]

I once had someone give me shit on Facebook marketplace for something I was selling. “$130.00 seems very steep for something that costs 10 dollars in filament”

I responded that I was selling a product, not filament.

He didn’t have much to say to that.

[kmoecub]

My father was in manufacturing for 30 years. He worked for a moderately-large manufacturer on the production side. Material costs were no more than 15% of the sale price of a part. Normal stuff that was used on the end-product cost about 1/2 of what was charged when they were sold as replacement parts. Replacement parts for out of production products cost about double what current-production parts did simply because of the time involved in setup for very short runs.

[jeremyniemiec]

Design cost, especially for custom orders. I do custom engineering solutions so I factor in engineering labor into project costs.

[ibcrootb]

Really good video. I feel like a few different 3d print farm creators have thought of this video idea but it can feel weird getting so intimate with the numbers. Thank you for demystifying some of these calculations.

[i-solids]

One thing we've had to factor more as we've scaled is insurance costs. Most hazard and liability insurance companies have no idea how to place 3D print farms on a risk analysis so they tend to put us in a "light manufacturing" category along side companies that, in my opinion, have much more dangerous equipment such as lathes, CNCs, etc.

As always, great content!

[TheElectronicDilettante]

Excellent video and information. Something everyone who’s selling printed parts should consider is insurance. Liability at the minimum. If a part you sell fails and causes damage or injury, that’s it. In the litigious world we live in you have to CYA. Labor cost for an employee should be figured at closer to 3 times what’s stated in the video. Again, insurance. workman’s compensation, Disability….etc and don’t forget taxes. There are payroll services that make it really easy. You should list yourself as an employee and pay yourself through one of these services so you find a huge tax bill at the end of the year.

[Mojo]

I have been discouraged from 3D printing as a business because; there are many products that are available in big box stores for less than it would cost me to Autocad them, trial print them and finish them into a better product than made in China. The most practical and cost effective would be a custom part paid for the cad work per hour; anything mass produced by any other company would be spinning wheels on grease.

[BloodSteyn]

Seriously, thank you so much for the spreadsheet. I've started modifying it for my use by adding a "Material Database" setup sheet where I can do a lookup for the filament prices based on selecting Material Type and Brand on the main input sheet. I've had to adjust the sheet to my local currencies etc, but overall, extremely happy with it. Thanks.

[tshev]

I would consider extra components:
- the cost of 3D-printing accessories and wearable parts (nozzles, bearings, printing surfaces)
- furniture for 3D-printers and renovation of the building including electricity
- the cost of renting the real-estate, associated with the production
- "online" costs (website, ads, processing fees)
- the cost of having an accountant

Maybe it makes sense to take a look how insurance company would have charged your production.

[jeromefeig]

Thank you for spreading the word. I have many years of business experience, a degree in accounting/economics and also teach cost accounting, fixed and variable costs to operate a business, to fledgling inventors. One thing that I noted is that you did not account for the labor cost of processing the order not the time to to the packaging and going to the shipping store, etc.

[willofthemaker]

Great channel and look forward to more. I find people generally grossly underestimate their costs to maintain a business.

There is one thing you forgot to mention: development costs- your time, prototype parts, testing, extra machinery for testing, etc. this is all crucial to account for and is part of every vig company's price.

[bleedglory]

Love this new channel idea! I also spend a lot of time watching you on Shop Nation. Here are a few ideas for videos I would love to see:

1) Material selection for specific use cases / parts and why
2) Settings for the various materials on the Bambu Lab X1C or P1S
2) Post Processing of your 3D Prints


I just started printing functional parts for a friend (for $) and it has inspired me to pursue this as a side hustle. My PA-CF prints are just OK and I'm still learning how to clean them up.