How much does a part 3D printed at home really cost?

More than the material: you have to add the printer, electricity, failed prints, your time, the box and postage. Our reference bedside lamp, printed at home and posted, comes to €29.59; a small part, to about €20.50 to €21.30.

Why count your own time?

Because preparing, packing and dropping off a parcel takes about 35 minutes per part. Valued at the average gross private-sector wage, €23.75/h, that time weighs more than the material on a small part.

How much does the same lamp cost at Bobitech Cloud3D?

€14.64 per unit in PLA, with standard infill and quality, plus €5.87 excl. VAT of direct shipping with the box included, or €20.51 delivered to your customer.

Can a workshop's price exceed that of printing at home?

Not with us: our price is the cost price multiplied by 3, capped at 90% of what the same part, shipping included, costs someone printing it at home.

Costs8 October 2026By The Bobitech Cloud3D team 4 min read

Printing at home or having it printed: the real cost of a part

Printing at home looks almost free: a spool, a little electricity, and the part comes out. The sums change once you add the printer, failed prints, time spent, the box and the trip to the post office. Here is the full cost of a delivered part, line by line, against that of a workshop.

The assumptions for someone starting out

To compare fairly, we start from a seller printing at home with common equipment bought at retail. All these assumptions are sourced and listed on the pricing page.

PLA filament at €16 per kilo on Amazon.fr, with 5% waste and 8% failed prints
Bambu Lab A1 printer at €259, depreciated over 2 years at 4 h per day, 70 W while printing
Electricity at the regulated rate, €0.2001/kWh incl. VAT (October 2026)
35 minutes of their time per part: 10 for preparation, 10 for packing, 15 for drop-off at the post office
That time valued at the average gross private-sector wage, €23.75/h (INSEE)
A box at €1.08 and a Colissimo shipment at the counter

What people forget to count

Material and electricity are the lines you see. Failed prints less so: a first layer that lifts or damp filament, and the spool goes in the bin along with the machine hours. The printer wears out and eventually needs replacing: its price is spread over the parts it produces.

The heaviest line is time spent. Preparing the print, removing and checking the part, packing it, going to the post office: 35 minutes per part, about €13.85 at the average wage. Nobody pays for that time, but it is not spent selling.

Then come the box, €1.08 each, and postage at the counter rate: €5.49 up to 250 g, €7.59 up to 500 g. The shipping details are in shipping your 3D printed parts.

The example of the bedside lamp

Our reference bedside lamp, in PLA, with standard infill and quality, takes 256 g of filament and 17.2 h of machine time. With all the assumptions above, the same lamp printed at home and sent to the customer comes to €29.59.

With us, it costs €14.64 per unit, plus €5.87 excl. VAT of direct shipping with the box included, or €20.51 delivered. The gap is €9.08 per lamp, not counting the printer you have to buy upfront.

Small parts, where the gap widens

On a small part, the material weighs almost nothing. What costs is time spent and shipping, which stay the same whatever the size. Printed at home and shipped, a small part comes to about €20.50 to €21.30.

With us, the same parts in PLA, per unit, cost between €5.13 and €6.30 before shipping. A key ring delivered thus comes to €11.00, a desk organizer to €12.17.

Key ring (6 cm³): €5.13 per unit
Figurine (25 cm³): €5.43 per unit
Phone stand (35 cm³): €5.55 per unit
Plant pot (60 cm³): €5.91 per unit
Desk organizer (90 cm³): €6.30 per unit

Why a workshop costs less

The gap comes from purchasing and organization. The workshop buys its filament in batches, at €9.16 excl. VAT per kilo, pays the business electricity rate, depreciates Bambu Lab P1S printers over 3 years at 12 h per day, and spends 5 minutes per part, on a production line. Shipments go out at contract rates, with pickup.

Our pricing rule is public: the cost price multiplied by 3. It has a cap: shipping included, our price never exceeds 90% of what the same part costs someone who prints it at home and posts it themselves. The details are in how the price of a part is calculated.

When printing at home is still a good choice

Printing at home still makes sense for prototyping, refining a model or producing a one-off part for yourself. If printing is a hobby and your time is not counted, the calculation changes too.

As soon as you sell and ship regularly, every order costs time, and that time is taken away from selling. The simulator compares the cost of your own part at home and with us, with your settings. The overall reasoning is laid out in selling without buying a printer.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a part 3D printed at home really cost?: More than the material: you have to add the printer, electricity, failed prints, your time, the box and postage. Our reference bedside lamp, printed at home and posted, comes to €29.59; a small part, to about €20.50 to €21.30.
Why count your own time?: Because preparing, packing and dropping off a parcel takes about 35 minutes per part. Valued at the average gross private-sector wage, €23.75/h, that time weighs more than the material on a small part.
How much does the same lamp cost at Bobitech Cloud3D?: €14.64 per unit in PLA, with standard infill and quality, plus €5.87 excl. VAT of direct shipping with the box included, or €20.51 delivered to your customer.
Can a workshop's price exceed that of printing at home?: Not with us: our price is the cost price multiplied by 3, capped at 90% of what the same part, shipping included, costs someone printing it at home.