Shipping your 3D printed parts: real cost and Colissimo

A seller who ships themselves pays the Colissimo home delivery rate at the post office counter. The price depends on the weight of the parcel, packaging included: a box and padding can push a part into the next bracket.

Postage is only part of the cost. A single box, a 25 × 20 × 10 cm one bought at a La Poste shop, costs €1.08. The part also has to be padded so that it arrives intact.

Then comes time: about 10 minutes to pack and 15 minutes to drop off the parcel. Valued at the average gross private-sector wage, €23.75/h, these 25 minutes are worth about €9.90.

For a parcel up to 250 g, the total therefore reaches €5.49 of postage, €1.08 for the box and about €9.90 of time, or about €16.47 per shipment. The full cost of a part printed at home is detailed in printing at home or having it printed.

Our main offer is direct shipping: the workshop prints, checks, packs and sends the part to your customer, for €5.87 excl. VAT, box included. The package is unbranded, under your shop's name, and tracking is sent back to the shop.

This rate comes from our shipping volume: Colissimo with a 15% contract discount, pickup at the workshop and boxes bought in batches at €0.49 excl. VAT. It is calculated for a parcel up to 500 g, a bracket that costs €7.59 at the counter, plus €1.08 for the box.

For our reference bedside lamp, produced at €14.64 per unit, that gives €20.51 delivered to your customer, with no packing or trip to the post office on your side.

The second option is shipping to you, the seller, for €6.90. The parts arrive at your place, and you then send them on to your customers.

This option has a hidden cost: the part travels twice. You pay for our shipment, then for yours at the counter rate, with the box and the drop-off time.

Direct shipping suits everyday selling: each paid order goes from the workshop to the customer, with no stock and no stop at your place. This is how it works in 3D printing dropshipping.

Shipping to you makes sense when you need to work on the part before the customer gets it, or when you need parts in hand. Both modes coexist and are chosen order by order.

In an online shop, delivery is shown separately or built into the price. With the lamp selling at around €39.90, offering direct shipping takes €5.87 off the gap with the production price; charging for it brings the displayed price to €45.77. The choice is made before the listing goes live.

The full calculation, fees and VAT included, is in calculating your real margin. To price your own part, use the simulator; shipping rates are on the pricing page.