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

FREE 3D Printed Part Pricing Tool - bit.ly/3UGOTxx
Don't miss out on information about the upcoming course! www.printfarmacademy.com
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!
Where I sell my products: www.shopnationstore.com

[@tomperkowski7791]

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.

[@suivzmoi]

rent is a fixed cost. it doesnt scale with your production. if it affects your production, it does so in the form of limiting your maximum output but it doesnt affect the cost of each part produced per se. that is the rent is $1000 regardless if you sell 10 pieces or 10,000. in that sense you shouldn't be counting it as part of the cost of goods sold. this type of cost typically goes under Selling, General & Administrative costs, as do costs like utlity bills to run the AC and lights, the website, wages for labor that doesn't directly have to do with the actual part like janitor, supervisor, etc. if you do include such fixed costs in your COGS then you will find that low volume sales projections make the part look expensive to produce, but high volume sales make it look overly profitable. if you then start adding new SKUs to your pipeline, you will then end up double and triple counting all those fixed costs. the reality is that your spreadsheets will tell you set unrealistically high prices for each SKU. if however the landlord is imposing a percentage of revenue on top of rent, as do some F&B landlords in parts of the world, that directly translates to cost per part sold and that would be a reasonable justification to count as COGS.

[@BowWowPewPewCQ]

@@suivzmoi Not exactly. Regardless of the ratio to part made it is hardly a fixed cost. Space that you wouldn't otherwise need does cost money. Things like shelves, tools, fixtures, furniture, web presence, taxes, licenses, design computers and network, all cost money and need to be accounted for in the cost of products sold.

[@isthattrue1083]

@@BowWowPewPewCQ I would watch what you deduct. I have an accountant for that. You could end up in jail for fraud if you aren't careful and they audit you.

[@suivzmoi]

@@BowWowPewPewCQ yeah there's a place for all that. its not COGS. you have no idea what fixed cost means. just get an accountant.

[@pooppyybuhhole]

@@BowWowPewPewCQ accounting wise, rent is fixed. It’s not variable. Yes, you can increase the available space needed but it is not directly related to output volume. This would an be indirect cost or overhead and should be allocated accordingly.

[@frankrahman341]

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.

[@DeagleBingo]

yep, so true, this is where capitalism can either work for you or against you. thankfully distributed manufacturing like 3d printing can be a really cool way to make capitalism work FOR you by leveling the playing field slightly instead of against you like it does in many cases for small players in this kind of economy. as you allude to the big question is: are you willing to undercut?... aka can you still make money at 25 or 30% margin vs 50%? maybe, maybe not, all depends. if you are shrewd and have done your research properly or are willing to invest larger amounts to produce more units in less time it might be possible... but also the possibility to lose it all increases because if someone copies your idea or someone has a million of the same thing injection molded in china somewhere and then sells them here.... you get the picture. but if you (whoever) follow me here there is another aspect to this: perhaps you are the person who steps ahead and sees the demand and has those particular parts or items batched out from a factory or buys the next level of tool or equipment to make more etc... anyway, not at all being adversarial, more enjoying and summarizing the fact that we can 3d print things and learn not only engineering, materials science, computers/programming possibly but also fundamentals of business and economics .... all of it has direct application to this one little machine or two in our office or shop. Most importantly... the critical thinking skills to put it all together and decide what is or is not important in the given scenario! If i were a high school shop or science teacher i would be doing a month (or whatever reasonable time) of every semester on 3d printing and its direct applications to the subjects being taught, coordinating with other subject's teachers so they could further amplify the effect of tying things together to other aspects students needed to learn. STEM coupled with proper communication skills (making youtube videos in addition to writing and reading) is wonderful eh?

[@bleve97]

There's also choice 4, the "bullshit the market" choice. Works great for Apple :)

[@CuttinInIdaho]

Yep...my rule is to avoid saturated markets...if it is easy then more people will be in it making it a race to the bottom for margins.

[@JasonIdkau-pw8hi]

I use C as well when selling items on Ebay

[@hellterminator]

@@DeagleBingo If you don't know whether you're making money at 30% margin, you're doing your math wrong. A positive margin by definition means you _are_ making money. The question is whether you could make _more_ money making/selling something else.

[@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.

[@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel]

Great honest response. There is also design, your knowledge too. The material cost might be low, but there is so much more to it. At first I was undercharging due to guilt on material cost. It was hard going past that guilt.

[@TranquilityTerrace]

@@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel there is two parts to it. If you create the print file yourself that’s fair to charge more but if it’s not your own creation then you should never rip off people by charging that much as the Printer does the job for you. Power consumption even for a day or two continuous printing is not that much. There are many people that overcharge for just 3d printing a product they did not create themselves.

[@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel]

@@TranquilityTerrace I create my own designs, I don’t rip off from others. One person asked me to print multiples of something they found on thingyverse. I told them before I do that I will contact the creator first before committing and make sure they are credited and compensated for it conditionally on their response.

[@BungeeGum1]

What more is there to say though? He is never going to buy it. He did not even ask a question, he was telling you.

[@windforward9810]

⁠@@TranquilityTerrace There are other cost involved, cost of machine and repair cost, total labor per day, insurance building or space and other expenses if you payed for design and licensing the design. That item he’s sold with everything add should at a minimum be sold for a profit of 60 to 80% for him to stay in business. Best example of that is a product I sold my cost of the bought product was $20 for a per item this item was sold in 12 packs to me. A single item sold was $198, case price was sold for around $1300. My cost where a salesman who made 33% off the sale, building, other labor, insurance, cars, shipping, time spent making the sale as a consultant as advisor than the cost of not making a sale, teaching the customer how to use the product on there 1st use of it.

[@jeremyniemiec9252]

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

[@jeremyniemiec9252]

Consider non sale price for filament. Can not count on always buying it on sale.

[@PrintFarmAcademy]

Totally! To me that would fall into the "labor" category but good point for engineering costs for one-off projects

[@jamesdmc2928]

Charge by the job or hour? Some of the projects I've done in this space have gotten a little crazy. I mean 70 - 80 hours of design and redesign. Basically taking a drawing on a napkin to a viable product.

[@suivzmoi]

@@jamesdmc2928/videos sounds like you are going more into the niche space of design consultation rather than print production. if you are creating something out of nothing, you should obviously charge per hour. this is because your production profit is not guaranteed. they may just say thank you and leave once you have completed the design. at any point if they feel they are not getting the required rate of results vs rate charged, the relationship ends and you still get paid. the hourly rate incentivises the customer to treat everyone's time as valuable, which it is. separate the design cost from the print cost. if the relationship is worth future business (you should be able to tell after working 60hours with them on something), you can do tricks like offer lower rate for the next 20 hrs. or do it for free if they commit a minimum order qty of the final product via which you can recoup the design cost.

[@isthattrue1083]

Well, no crap, design time costs your time and you should be compensated for it.

[@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.

[@MONEYMAN5811]

I worked for a small company that the owner was basically driving into the ground because he was scatter brained and couldn’t keep his ERP in check or managed. Put a whole migration and operations plan together for him to have everything work automatically between website, warehouse, ERP, etc. but he couldn’t follow through and now he is still paying costs related to incorrect stock tracking, unoptimized shipping profiles. Really makes me think how some businesses have made it as far as they have

[@nicholasborrelli7544]

I'm not surprised. I worked as a manufacturing engineer and learned that most companies have a hard time calculating actual labor costs....and estimating labor costs...

[@matthewlaberge]

I work for a Fortune 500 company and you are spot on here.

[@ThePiones]

Spot on, it's a truly mess

[@jerseyse410]

Omg I worked for one of the major automotive manufacturers as cost accountant/data analyst and was responsible for the cost accounting of the entire plant. QAD was a cluster and trying to reconcile BOM cost rollups after ECN's because of 0 costs on the part by materials, engineering not versioning the part, parts not being switched to the correct model and having an older model/different model's part on the BOM, it was a constant mess.

[@stuartkorte1642]

Paint it ugly green. 😂 Utilities, taxes, business licenses, rent, salary. Great honest response that the average person doesn’t realize.

[@isthattrue1083]

Those are all things that are a part of doing business. You couldn't run your business without utilities. Your tax obligation is yours and it's the law that you have charge sales tax. Your profitability is up to you. If what you are selling is worthwhile, useful, etc., then people will buy it and you'll make a salary. If not, then your business will die. That's capitalism.

[@stuartkorte1642]

@@isthattrue1083 that’s right ALL business cost plus salary and any profit is passed on to the consumer.

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

@@isthattrue1083 Remember that when your next auto repair bill hits you!

[@TH3FUNKYFRESH]

@@crisnmaryfam7344 will fix it myself like always because im not to lazy to pick up a book like you apparently

[@Eric_In_SF]

Not to mention there’s like three or four other patents for a very similar devices. Is he paying licensing or just hoping nobody finds out because he’s DIY doing it himself?

[@mark5846]

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

[@MagicStormArt]

Thank you. One additional recommendation I would suggest is adding a % option for VAT costs. Transaction fees, tax, ect

[@RandomMakingEncounters]

When people question my pricing, I’m just gonna send ‘em a link to this video! You have provided a tremendous public service!

[@Slurgical_3D_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.

[@Mojo4884]

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.

[@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.

[@sethphillips4779]

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.

[@Heimbasteln]

If shipping is declared seperately, the buyer can order more items at once, so he and you can both save money.

[@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!

[@SuppaflyZSM]

Lathes, CNCs, Etc. are far less likely to burn down your house since you use them in a shop and don't leave them running unattended. Most 3d print farms are running unattended in someone's basement or attached garage.

[@i-solids]

​@@SuppaflyZSM This is a good point but I would probably assume that most people running small farms in a garage or basement likely don't have full time employees and probably aren't even thinking about workers comp or liability insurance at that scale. I can only truly speak for myself at least and I admittedly wasn't at that phase. Our fleet ranges from consumer grade FDM machines to industrial additive technologies and fire and/or burn hazards are one the biggest concerns but in comparison to a traditional machine shop I think we are far less likely to have major OSHA recordable incidents with employees.

[@DragonCMNDR]

@@i-solids As someone who had to file the reports for OSHA and Corporate HQ, any time there was an injury/accident.... It might surprise you that 80% of the cases I filed weren't the miter saws, table saws, pneumatic gantry, automatic nailers (The things that could mame and/or kill), it was little simple tools that people let their guard down around and assumed it couldn't hurt them. I can unfortunately also attest, that if there is barely even a 2% chance that a machine could deglove a finger, but you had to be especially profoundly unlucky or doing something very massively wrong.... you'll still be filing a degloving report on it given a few years time. Don't even get me started on the number of people wearing any form of working glove while at a saw (it got to the point where if we saw it in the shop, they were warned the first time, fired on the spot immediately the second time.)

[@i-solids]

​@@DragonCMNDR I can definitely relate and agree with this response in its entirety. I spent some time as an engineer in various O&G companies that mostly delt with large rotating machinery. This has led me to have a big respect for anything that spins fast. I never held a dedicated HSE role but as application engineer I would often be pulled into scenario investigations. I personally noticed 2 common trends: 1) major incidents were statistically rare but often involved a senior technician who knew exactly what he was doing wasn't correct and/or some sort of loose clothing (especially gloves) 2) despite heavy equipment being used everywhere, most incident reports were from seemingly "innocent" tool like screwdrivers, hammers, little knives, etc. Here at our print farm the "innocent" tools concept definitely still applies. In 8 years we've had 2 recordable events - both of which involved.... a spatula. We've discarded the darn thing and changed the process to eliminate the need for this tool entirely. Outside of these incident, the most dangerous thing we have in the shop based on non-recordable minor first aid events is little pieces of plastic support material that can either cause little cuts or maybe end up in someone eye.

[@silverbullet126]

Thanks for putting this together; for the most part I was running a 55% margin, but a few were short. Updated my prices accordingly :)

[@RBallarddesigns]

So glad you started this channel! I’ve been a fan for a long time of the Shop Nation channel. Crap. I sound like a bot…. I am working on a 3d printed product right now and this helps me a lot. We will be talking about this tonight on my show. Keep at it sir!

[@MassivePerformance29]

27 dollars for a battery mount is insane

[@DaveNagy1]

It was $27 for 6 battery mounts, wasn't it? My mind immediately went to thinking about how wealthy (or busy) would I have to be to own SIX(6!) Dewalt battery packs. Those things ain't cheap. Somebody who is that rich in lithium cells can probably find $27 in their couch cushions.

[@sygad1]

quality of content, delivery style, production quality...........this is already a 1M sub channel in those terms. Didn't think i'd enjoy an accountancy video so much, but I did.

[@Co-Bolt]

Thank you so much for this, I've always struggled coming up with formulas for pricing my parts... and this just makes a lot more sense. I look forward to checking out the upcoming course!

[@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!

[@feilko2170]

hahaha same and it poped in my recommandations...

[@NutzinHutz3D]

Thanks that's a great tool to start with. I appreciate that you left it open for us to adjust as we need.

[@jaimevaldez3058]

excellent video. many people totally forget machine cost. your video applies to every maker that uses machines whether cnc routers, laser engravers etc. thank you for sharing!!

[@Dresden76]

I’m SO glad you created a separate channel from SN. I’m a long time fan of that channel but also very interested in this as well. Love the content!!

[@brainfarth]

I used to sell high volume 3d printed parts and found that if you treat them like metal die cast, you'll cut down on print time, labor and material cost. Die cast as in thinning the part to the minimum, getting creative with no support prints and creating custom code that knocks the part off the print plate and starts another one with no human intervention.

[@royaldecreeforthechurchofm8409]

can i add that you can also model in your own supports that are superior and can come off easier. personally i have a few models that required supports so what i did was model quick tab pull off supports for these models which were perfected to be the bare minimum required for supports as auto supports and software supports do not have such features yet. i.e my models i pull the supports off clean with my hands time required 5 seconds vs 30secs to 1minute if i used software supports.

[@michaelanderson2166]

This was a great tutorial for any business, even a restaurant or food truck has the same principles.

[@JSGilbert]

You may be falling into the same trap that other home based businesses do. To establish pricing, you also need to factor in the square footage that your business occupies, legal and other professional help, permits, insurances, initial time to construct the 3d products you sell, including prototyping, bad debts and returns, marketing costs and other expenses that may be unique to your situation. For example, in my particular case, using your excel sheet I come up with an overall cost of goods sold for a particular item of $18.64. You might think that selling this item for $40 would work out well. But when you factor in sales as a percentage of additional fixed and variable expenses, that number jumps to $29.40 (approximately), making my $40 selling price a bit low.

[@kmoecub]

Another important thing that many do not consider is competition. Is there a product on the market that does the same thing, but costs less and has the same value for the end-user. Some parts aren't worth making, aside from making them for personal use.

[@monstrositygarage]

You're an og for making a pricing template.

[@BriSouth]

Great explanation of the way to think about things, and thanks for the spreadsheet!

[@TShevProject]

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.

[@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.

[@suivzmoi]

i wonder how much is the liability cost per part for having all those battery holders with the DeWalt name on it.

[@isthattrue1083]

@@suivzmoi Get you sued into the dirt.

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@suivzmoi It's annoying because he'd probably win the lawsuit, but still be bankrupt from lawyers fees. A reasonable person would consider the branding to mean Dewalt compatible.

[@jphakola]

For purcased parts, consider adding few % of material overhead to the purchased parts to cover work needed on buying, searching sources etc.

[@a7xfanben]

Awesome video, thanks for the resources!

[@DawidKazmierczak-bj4sr]

great content! Thanks for the calculation table!

[@thehappyextruder7178]

Awesome Breakdown ! thank you for taking the time to detail your process. Happy Extruding and continued success !!!

[@keithosterkamp6207]

This is a great discussion and all entrepreneurs who make items for sale need to watch. It’s easy to go broke with these unaccounted for seemingly little costs that are part of your COGS.

[@miguelandrews]

Very useful tutorial. This is something every small business struggles with. Thank you for demistifying and sharing.

[@FlechetteArchery]

Great video. Glad to see i was pretty close to this with my pricing. :) Another one to remember is transaction fees. Whether it's amazon, ebay, or even directly through your own site, you're usually going to have to pay a transaction fee on sales.

[@farshadbagheri]

Thanks for sharing your pricing system with us.

[@modisumocustoms9374]

I feel guilty sometimes which the prices I charge because filament is cheap but also know some of my products do not exist elsewhere and if it isn’t worth it for me to create, then nobody would even have an option to buy them at all. This video helps me feel better about my pricing plan. I really appreciate what you’ve presented here. Thank you!! You’ve easily earned a new subscriber.

[@shawnmichaelis1609]

every person selling 3d prints needs to see this!

[@deucedeuce1572]

A good example on why injection molding is almost always better than 3D printing. Aside from prototyping and making very small batches of parts, injection molding is almost always the better, cheaper, faster option. The plastic is about 1/5 the cost too. The big cost is the mold and injection welding machine. They usually have a much longer life and lower maintenance costs if I'm not mistaken also. Molds can be used many 10's of thousands or even 100's of thousands to millions of times... and the injection molding machines are build for mass production. With it only taking a couple seconds to make each part too, the other costs all come down. They use far less electricity, produce many, many times more parts per man-hour of work, have lower maintenance costs and lower material costs... but they're like $2000 - $4000 just for the most basic models and the molds are expensive too. You also can't simply change designs of a product if something doesn't work right. It usually requires part or all of the mold needing to be replaced (which is not cheap unless you own your own CNC/CAM lathes and milling machines). With a 3d printer you pretty much just have to change the design and re-slice it. It might take a lot of time changing the part and then making sure it can be printed without any new troubles... but it can be done at little to no cost. There are people that make their own injection molding machines, but they're not very cheap either. The cheapest I've seen a working one that could be used to produce several parts was $250 for the parts. That's not bad if you have it and also the time and patience to build your own... but most people probably couldn't/wouldn't do it.

[@richard3365]

And if you're going to make 100,000 or so of the exact same part, and a thousand different parts that will each require machining the mold, then I would agree with doing injection molding. But there are some geometries that injection molding can't handle properly, and most people doing 3D printing stuff like this are just printing stuff as it's ordered instead of creating a warehouse full of inventory that they have to pay for whether people buy the parts or not. So you're talking the difference between "consumer" level and "industrial" level. If you're a full-blown business with several employees, then maybe 3D printing your parts doesn't make sense. If you're a single person, selling maybe 1000 items a year, then injection molding doesn't make any sense.

[@ChrisFredriksson]

Thanks for an awesome video and the part pricing tool❤

[@bleed4glory10]

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.

[@PrintFarmAcademy]

Thanks for the idea!

[@rodrigovillate6463]

I have made like 20% of the total cost of my printer selling beta designs basically. I want to design stuff, not just print stls. Some don't get that and want me to just print whatever. Which I get, but it doesn't have a future, I have done it, obviously, but still work as much as I can on my own designs. In over 9 months of learning all this from zero, to have at least 1 product (a phone stand) that I can be proud of, is huge for me. You have a great couple of channels !

[@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.

[@MyTubeSVp]

I came here to comment that too.

[@christopherwilliams1815]

@@MyTubeSVp same.. R&D time.. modeling/design time etc etc.. big difference between just printing/assembling something vs spending a lot of time designing product that you can produce.. he also did not talk about ecommerce.. web site costs.. payment processing costs.. advertising costs.. correct me of I missed him covering all of that..

[@leonardodeangelis4775]

Great vid! One thing I would add to the cost is the prototyping and CAD drawing phase for complex products. Let's say you want to sell a specific piece that is not available in the market or that there is no model for it yet for you to buy. That means you'll need to spend hours in CAD software, which is often paid software, to design this product yourself. Furthermore, CAD drawing is often a considered a more complex and technical job, that assumes you have experience with it that others don't, that means you can charge money for it. So the hourly rate for designing the product should also be more expensive than the assembling of the product done after the print.

[@taomenshuifilmstudio34]

Excellent instruction on operating a 3D Print Business , breaking down every detail and aspect of what it takes to see if the item is actually worth what one is selling it for..... I am attracted to your style because you are making products that people can use in a practical sense, Fun objects are okay and probably sell well, though products that serve a daily purpose are more useful to me, that's only my opinion ...We all like different styles , and that's a good thing...........Great Channel...........

[@qwertyzxaszc6323]

Thank you. I've thought about trying selling parts, but always worry about the reality of making a profit. On parts where i think there would be real demand i circle to trying injection molded parts instead but the upfront cost is high as is the risk. It's not as easy as poeple think and these types of videos are informative as well sobering too,. Helping people make more informed decisions with viideos like this has a lot of value.

[@jeromefeig4209]

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.

[@isthattrue1083]

Well for me, I don't factor that in because a computer does all that work automatically. I do not have to even pay for it. So it would be fraudulent to charge for it. I would bet that there have been some illegal things you've been doing not realizing it. This is where you could start violating racketeering laws.

[@jeromefeig4209]

@@isthattrue1083 - so nearsighted of a comment. Computers are a dumb brick. It's the software that makes your request for a proper answer you whatever you want a correct answer. There is also the old "garbage in-garbage out" syndrome of not enough information or incorrect information will never give you the best possible answer. Once upon a time I was a system designer/analyst and have had to delt with your lack of knowledge to get proper results off of that computer.

[@1dgrdgr]

@@isthattrue1083 rAcKeTeErInG 🤡

[@nevyn38]

I don't know if this will help anyone but: Say I have a 3D printer. The time used in printing something means that the 3D printer isn't available to me anymore. Because I design my own parts, that means I can't be prototyping for example. This is a cost to me... So when deciding whether I have a viable product on my hands, I attribute a cost to the time the printer is occupied in a print. For me, it's around $10NZD/hour (So that'd be around $7.50USD/hour). i.e. A print takes 4 hours, I attribute a cost of $40NZD to it. If it has no post processing, and no additional parts (micro controllers, LEDs, hardware etc.), then that's the "cost" (bullshit figure that I use to justify what I'm charging) I work on. I don't need to worry about how much filament I've used, the cost of electricity etc. That's it. I can then add my "margin" on top of that. Usually only $10-$20NZD because there is plenty left over in that bs figure I'm working from. i.e. Say I'm doing a 4 hour print and I'm charging $50NZD for it. I can produce 5 such items in a day assuming very little or no down time between prints. So on each printer I'm bringing in $250/day. Most of the cost that I was working on is based on the inconvenience of not having the printer so while my actual material costs are probably more like $50 for the week, each printer is bringing in $200 / day. $1400 / week. While the print is happening, I'm not doing much. Perhaps chucking bits in courier bags (assuming I'm doing non-fungible prints). And all I have to do to scale up is add printers... And I mean, it's not strictly linear because I have to factor in redundancy (if I have 5 printers, I should have one printer that isn't being utilized. Instead it should be used in case of a failed print. This is assuming non-fungible prints where keeping to a delivery schedule is important) but for the most part, more printers, more capacity. Shipping is for later. It shouldn't be included in the cost of the thing because I shouldn't be profiting off the shipping. I do not worry about the time to quickly debur and throw it into a courier bag or whatever, because it is such an insubstantial cost (it takes.... all of 3 minutes? If it was something that had A LOT of post processing, that's a whole other thing, but normally for those items, I'm also looking at additional costs like programming a microcontroller and testing etc.). Basically, the cost of filament is such a pointless thing to be basing your costs on, as to be deceptive and get you stuck calculating completely pointless figures.

[@nickmcalinden5661]

Great video. Will be using this as I want to start a side business with my 3D printing. 🤓

[@ArisMelachroinos]

That's awesome thank you so much for the information!

[@TheMrDrMs]

$0.15/kwh - ha I WISH residential in CT is closer to $0.32/kWh (inc. delivery/transmission.) Commercial power? nearly triple that.

[@allent555]

I really like how you broke down the cost buildup for the landing cost. I would suggest a G&A calculation also. This general Margin and "what the market will bear" is good. The one issue with the labor calculated per part is that labor (FTE) is hired at one man year or a % of a man year. That can include Product Design and Development costs. Not trying to complicate things, its more information start-up awareness.

[@joedog86]

An excellent tutorial on pricing of manufactured goods or services for any entrepreneur! Beware of hidden costs, they could be $180 per day if you’re not mindful of them!

[@Iliketomakestuff]

Great info!

[@PrintFarmAcademy]

Thanks, Bob!

[@Ron-yj4rh]

Helpful video. Trying to get an idea of what it's going to cost to 3D print something I designed. Thank you for uploading.

[@thomasmcgravie6932]

brilliant video taking into account al lthe hidden costs and explaining why thing cost what they cost!😁👌

[@dalewyatt230]

This guy is awesome!

[@hanswurstusbrachialus5213]

Things like this should be in a slicer :)

[@Westy-1]

They are in Cura. It's how I calculate the prints I sell.

[@benjenkins183]

One suggestion on the pricing sheet - if you could move the advanced inputs into the calculation sheet (maybe an expandable section), then I could have all my products in the same workbook, one on each tab. Then you could also add a rollup worksheet that could show all products in that workbook to see the important data across them at a glance. Still would allow others to use them as individual workbooks if that works for the as well. Just a suggestion, otherwise love it!

[@maxisp1000]

Having worked in commercial factories on mature products, 10X material cost was the start of pricing. Not to be confused with engineering development or new products from scratch. Pass through parts are usually 3-10x cost or more depending on availability.

[@Trytec96]

I bought the dust collector for my Bosch mitre saw and actually seeing your cost to make it, I don't feel as bad paying that price tag haha. Haven't used it much but have definitely noticed a reduction of dust was cutting.

[@smtkelly]

I used to do resin casting. The mistake I made was not factoring failure cost. I realised how important that was when a biggest mould failed after the 2nd pull it pushed back my break-even by a chunk. I prefer to work on break-even work out my fixed costs and then variable costs. I'd want to break even after X amount. Then you have to work out you opportunity cost which is a whole rabbit hole balance of fix cost/time and profit

[@NigelTolley]

That's his "efficiency factor" - but x1.1 is tiny. That's only 1 in 10 things going wrong in any way!

[@Jononor]

Good point! In manufacturing, this concept is mostly described as yield - the ratio of working parts to not. Was 90% here. But that seems like it could easily be on the low side. Ideally, one would track it, to know one's actual number.

[@skyak4493]

FWIW, you missed some large costs in overhead and infrastructure. The cost of the machine and the electricity might be far less than the cost of the room they are running in and the cost to maintain (cool) it. Depreciation has tax consequences so you want to get it right. Otherwise you will end up out of business because you paid tax on the value of your home for no reason. The labor likely needs better consideration. There is a lot of inefficiency to a small number of machines building random schedules.

[@42sol]

Thanks for the great video. I am no accountant but your calculation are really helpful

[@chuysaucedo7119]

Thanks for this!

[@jessebrewington9283]

What about your labor costs in developing the CAD and G-code designs and prototyping your products in the first place? Do you calculate that into any of your products, or do you figure you will sell enough that the per-unit R&D cost will be negligible at best?

[@bett0diaz]

Great video!!!! Very useful!! Greetings from the Netherlands!😊

[@Packman332]

This is awesome. I started doing this on my own worksheet when I was preparing to sell items, but this was quite a bit more in depth than I was doing. Still ended up with similar numbers off by a few %. However one of the biggest things to consider is taxes or any fees for the place you're selling. Where I'm at, I'm looking at 21.8% on every item for taxes when you calculate state sales tax and then federal taxes since I would hope to make over $400 in a year. So for a $25 item with $13 as the FLC, I would add $5.45 to the "cost" of the item as well or subtracted from total profit. Which gives you only 6.55 or 26.2% as the total profit which really isn't good enough I would think. So I'm modifying your worksheet for myself to include those tax numbers as a consideration, so I can look at the profit margins and make an even more informed decision.

[@mincooper]

Excellent video and super informative. Rather than adding the 10% filament amount at the end, how about loading it at the front? Example, for a $33 roll of filament, use $36.30 in the slicer. That way a 40 gram print is costed at 40 grams rather than 44 grams. Yes, same result but different optics.

[@lordquan31]

Great information thanks for sharing! You should see my scrap paper of notes from your video. Yes I know everything will be on the free worksheets you so kindly shared with us, but I need to reinforce it by doing it as you moved along. 😊

[@alexcavalcanticosta1585]

This is not a criticism of the channel, on the contrary this channel has so many good ideas but unless I'm wrong and please correct me, unfortunately here in Brazil it's a little expensive to work with 3D printing. Follow my story...here's another piece of research I did about filaments here in Brazil; Recently, when comparing filament costs between the United States and Brazil, I came across a significant disparity. While in the United States the average cost of PLA filament is approximately 25.52 dollars, in Brazil, this cost is substantially higher, reaching around 127.08 reais on average. This price disparity led me to reflect on the accessibility of filaments for 3D printing in the Brazilian market. While in the United States the cost of filament represents approximately 2% of the average minimum wage, here in Brazil, this cost corresponds to approximately 9% of the minimum wage. This difference is considerable and raises questions about the access of these inputs to a wider audience. I understand that there are economic and logistical differences between the two countries that can influence production and distribution costs. However, the similarity in filament prices, despite these differences, suggests the need for a more in-depth analysis of pricing practices in the Brazilian market (I may be talking nonsense but in my opinion the value in Brazil should be at least 4% which is already twice as much as the United States and also some companies say that they are 100% Brazilian with raw materials from Brazil, so why this value of 9%) I can be one of the few to raise this flag and discuss ways to make PLA filaments more accessible and competitive in the Brazilian market, and accessible to more people. However, for personal reasons I may not directly enjoy this benefit if filaments become accessible to a wider audience. However, I insist and reiterate, I sincerely hope that more and more people raise this flag, firmly believing that a review of pricing and recycling policies for materials that went wrong or leftover printing (returning to that issue of multicolor printers), we will have more people with access to this incredible technology, and nature thanks you. este não é uma critica do canal , ao contrario este canal tem tantas ideias boas mais a menos que esteja errado e me corrija por favor , infelizmente aqui no Brasil fica um pouco caro trabalhar com impressão 3d . segue meu relato ...aqui vai mais uma pesquisa que fiz sobre filamentos aqui no Brasil; Recentemente, ao comparar os custos do filamento entre os Estados Unidos e o Brasil, deparei-me com uma disparidade significativa. Enquanto nos Estados Unidos o custo médio do filamento PLA é de aproximadamente 25,52 dólares, no Brasil, esse custo é substancialmente mais alto, chegando a cerca de 127,08 reais em média. Essa disparidade de preços me levou a refletir sobre a acessibilidade dos filamentos para impressão 3D no mercado brasileiro. Enquanto nos Estados Unidos o custo do filamento representa aproximadamente 2% do salário mínimo médio, aqui no Brasil, esse custo corresponde a cerca de 9% do salário mínimo. Essa diferença é considerável e levanta questões sobre o acesso desses insumos a um público mais amplo. Entendo que existem diferenças econômicas e logísticas entre os dois países que podem influenciar nos custos de produção e distribuição. No entanto, a similaridade nos preços dos filamentos, apesar dessas diferenças, sugere a necessidade de uma análise mais aprofundada sobre as práticas de precificação no mercado brasileiro (posso estar falando besteira mais na minha opinião o valor no Brasil deveria ser de pelo menos 4% que já é o dobro que os Estados Unidos e também algumas empresas falam que são 100% brasileira com matéria prima do Brasil, então porque este valor de 9%) Posso ser um dos poucos a levantar esta bandeira e discutir maneiras de tornar os filamentos PLA mais acessíveis e competitivos no mercado brasileiro, e acessíveis a mais pessoas. No entanto, por motivos particulares talvez eu não usufrua diretamente desse benefício se os filamentos se tornarem acessíveis para um público maior. Contudo, insisto e reitero, espero sinceramente que mais e mais pessoas ergam esta bandeira, acreditando firmemente que uma revisão das políticas de precificação e reciclagem dos materiais que deram errado ou sobras de impressão (voltando àquela questão das impressoras multicoloridas), teremos mais pessoas com acesso a esta incrível tecnologia, e a natureza agradece.

[@MutsUnited]

Thanks for this break down I keep getting print requests and don't know how to charge.

[@sunriseshell]

I think the importance of unique parts cannot be stressed enough, especially starting out. One needs realistic pricing for things to sell. For example injection molded power tool battery holders/hangers are about $2 on the open market. Buyers are not likely to choose ones that are over 10$. However once one has an established brand, loyal customers may be willing to pay more for that product.

[@fireheadpet2039]

However you want to call it, landex costs, total cost of goods sold, etc., you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Your video was a fantastic overview and excellent when homebased biz and when other incomes (e.g., spouse) exist. As soon as you buy or rent space, and this is 100% your income source, then it's a whole different ballgame.

[@PrintFarmAcademy]

I’m in that exact boat and still rely on this method

[@wittworks]

Great info

[@DrD6452]

Excellent video.

[@nigelyam38]

basically same for leathercraft, a $130 handmade wallet material cost is $20 max, the rest is labor cost and profit

[@david32835]

Great video, lots of good information. Consider working the cost of the UPS into the machine cost. Also UPS maintenance as the batteries inside them need to be replaced every couple of years (2-3 has been my experience). Over time the battery capacity depletes.

[@paulmeynell8866]

Excellent video thank you

[@Captn_Grumpy]

I am impressed with your logical approach to this. There are a few things that could be shifted around or assessed in other ways to improve analysis. A couple of (possibly) minor things werent included but at a high level, well played good sir, well played indeed.

[@tjflynn7509]

I have your vacuum attachment for my Bosch and it’s perfect. Worth every penny. If I could get my Prusa running well on ASA I’d love to sell parts

[@B-RadAlstonRiverCityRVA]

Hey just ran across your channel from KZbin recommendation. I have been into 3D printing since about 2016. I now have a Bambu Lab P1S and still have multiple Ender 3 models but they are collecting dust these days. I look forward to new content on your channel as I just Sub'd. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@JeffreyAnthony]

Repair/Maintenance labor. R&D costs. UPS systems. Taxes. More taxes. Cost of storage of materials (something that becomes more of a scale thing).

[@MathieuTechMoto]

Thank you very much !

[@stinkeyecustoms]

I'm very close to the same but I also factor in my design time, especially on more complex parts. If I have 10 hours of design time I generally like to pay myself back for those hours on the first 100 sales of that item.

[@joefurr1717]

Yeah I would suggest adding a percentage in there for general overhead to accommodate rent and to pay yourself back for all of the hours spent designing.

[@wasand2]

I agree with the design and copyright comments. What I didn't see is the cost of your computer, training, slicing the design etc, etc. Whenever I design and print something, the bulk of my time is spent designing. And don't forget about slicing and reslicing to make prototypes and different batch runs. There's a lot of time. And, since you can deduct part of your house on taxes for business use, you should also be able to account for a percentage of your home. So, just make sure to round everything up, and you'll be closer to being accurate. In other words, if you try to get everything into the price, you'll probably price yourself out of the market. It always costs more than you think to produce a part. You said your labor for the Stop Block was 12 minutes. How did you do that? You also have to maintain your inventory, set up your equipment, clean your work area etc, etc. I think you are drastically underselling your time. There is more to labor than just the time you are touching the part. I think you should have a labor minimum. Say a 1/2 an hour. Looking at your Stop Block again, I would expect your total design time (this includes flushing out the idea, measuring your saw, finding the parts to use, etc.) to be somewhere around 30 hours (this may even be low). You will probably sell a couple hundred, so that design cost would be around $4.50 per part @ $30/hr. So, with a 1/2 hour minimum and your design time, your labor should be $19.50. A rough guess on your machine cost, when you factor in your computer and design software, you're looking at an additional $0.35, so your machine cost would be $0.65. Making the total landed cost of $33.92. So, at your $40 price point, your actual profit would be around 15%. At least you're still making a profit. This is all very subjective. I'm not trying to beat you up. I'm just saying I agree with you. There is a lot that is not accounted for when you're a one-person small business. And the majority of people give it away. I know I do! Before I watched this video, I didn't account for all the labor. But you got me thinking, and WOW, it added up!

I’m curious about other costs such as insurance, software licensing, website costs, fees from Etsy and any other items. I’m assuming these are factored as well for your business. BTW great job. Love both channels.

[@mmcfreds]

Honestly, that adapter works so well on my Bosch slider I’d have happily paid twice that.

[@SirTools]

Master Class for 3d business 101. Very well stated and covered this topic nicely and REAL world numbers

[@joshvaughn2743]

Thank you for this video! It really opened my eyes! I’m way under charging for my stuff. Would you do anything different if you were selling business to business?

[@ghosn33]

Love the in depth breakdown of the costs. Do you know of a cost breakdown of selling a stl/model?

[@RuntOfTheLitter6]

Nicely planned video. Thank you. Care to share which filament you used for the Bosch color match? It is a bigger trying to match that blue-green reliably. Kudos again.

[@MinusStatue11]

I have no idea how I landed here, but the video was amazing. And it's no wonder why you have a business and I don't. lol

[@fluffycritter]

Don’t forget to include platform fees, since chances are you’re selling on Etsy or Shopify or something rather than having your own from-scratch ecommerce site.

[@425wester]

What about any 3D modeling/design time? I do a decent amount of custom prints, which can sometimes take a couple of hours to model and test. Or, if you are buying the files, you would still have that cost. What are your thoughts on this? Great video by the way.

[@royaldecreeforthechurchofm8409]

my most expensive 3dprinted part is $120 aud but it also has metal in it.