How the price of a 3D printed part is calculated

The first line is fixed: €1.67 of labour per part, five minutes at €20/h. It covers plate setup, inspection and removal, whatever the size of the object.

The second is the material actually printed: the walls, the top and the bottom, then the inside filled at the chosen percentage. The third is machine time: printer depreciation, maintenance and electricity, for the print duration of the part.

On our reference bedside lamp, in PLA, with standard infill and standard quality, the print is estimated at 256 g of filament and 17.2 h of machine time. The cost price is €4.88: €1.67 of labour, €2.46 of material and €0.75 of machine time.

A printer does not fill a part completely. It draws solid walls of about 1 mm over the whole surface of the model, then fills the inside with a more or less dense pattern. The calculation does the same: model surface × 0.1 cm for the shell, plus the inside at the infill percentage, never more than the solid part.

One printed cm³, waste included, costs €0.0119 in PLA, €0.0134 in PETG and €0.0110 in ABS. These amounts come from our bulk purchases: PLA, for example, comes to €9.16 excl. VAT per kilo.

The three materials, and the cases where each one is the right choice, are covered in PLA, PETG or ABS.

Infill can be light (10%), standard (20%, the default), reinforced (50%) or solid (100%). It changes both the material and the print time. On the reference lamp, the unit price goes from €14.22 with light infill to €14.64 with standard, €16.02 with reinforced and €18.24 when solid.

Print quality is the layer height: fine (0.12 mm), standard (0.20 mm, the default) or draft (0.28 mm). It does not change the material, only the machine time. The same lamp costs €15.99 in fine, €14.64 in standard and €14.07 in draft.

What each setting brings in strength and finish is explained in infill and layer height.

The production price is the cost price multiplied by 3. For the reference lamp: €4.88 × 3 = €14.64 per unit. It never goes below our cost plus 5%.

This price is capped: shipping included, it never exceeds 90% of what the same part costs someone who prints it at home and posts it themselves. For the lamp, that person spends €29.59; the cap is therefore €26.63, and the lamp delivered by us comes to €20.51, below it.

The cap matters mostly on small parts, where time spent and shipping weigh more than the material. The calculation on the home printing side is detailed in printing at home or having it printed.

Batches lower the unit price in three tiers: -3% from 10 parts, -6% from 50, -10% from 200, never below our cost. For the reference lamp: €14.20 for 10, €13.76 for 50, €13.18 for 200.

These tiers come with no commitment: you sign nothing, you simply order a quantity. A seller with steady sales can move from 5 parts to 10 parts as soon as sales allow.

There is no minimum order either. A single part is a valid order, at full price, with no extra fee.

There are two lead times: 7 business days standard, 3 business days express with a 30% surcharge on production. Express changes neither the material nor the inspection, only your place in the queue.

Shipping is billed separately. Allow €6.90 for delivery to you, the seller, or €5.87 excl. VAT for direct delivery to the end customer, box included, in an unbranded package under your shop's name with tracking sent back to the shop.

Direct shipping is the main offer, and it is also the cheaper of the two: one shipment instead of two, and no repacking on your side.

Back to the reference lamp: €14.64 of production per unit, plus €5.87 of direct shipping, or €20.51 delivered to your customer.

This lamp sells for about €39.90 in a shop. In between, there is the platform fee, VAT and the time you spend on selling.

The full calculation, with everything that eats into this gap, is laid out in calculating your real margin on a 3D printed product.

There is no subscription on the site: everything is paid per order, with no sign-up fee or monthly plan. You only pay for parts produced.

One exception: AI 3D generation works with credits. Each generation costs one credit: 1 generation for €1 as a trial, then 10 for €7, 50 for €29 or 100 for €50. It is a design tool, not an access fee for the printing service.

Finally, if your product needs assembly (bulb, socket, screws), you specify it in the production note. The workshop confirms the price before starting: nothing is charged without your prior approval.

Bobitech Cloud3D is a service of Bobitech, a plastics manufacturer based in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, Haute-Loire, France. Production and inspection are carried out in France.

The gap with an individual comes from purchasing and organization: filament bought in batches at €9.16 excl. VAT per kilo instead of €16 at retail, electricity at the business rate, a farm of Bambu Lab P1S printers, five minutes of labour per part on a production line, and shipping at contract rates.

To price your own part, the simulator compares the cost at home and with us, with the infill and print quality of your choice, and the pricing page lists the full rate card with its sourced assumptions. The manufacturing process is described on the production page.