A practical way to calculate 3D printing costs is to break it down into four parts: material, machine time, working time and, if applicable, design time.
Material is usually the smallest factor. For example, 120g of filament at around 20€/kg results in about 2.40€.
Machine time covers wear, electricity and general usage of the printer. With a print time of 8 hours and a rate of about 3€/hour, this would be 24€.
Working time includes slicing, setup and post-processing. Even small tasks add up. For example, 30 minutes at 25€/hour equals 12.50€.
If the model was designed from scratch, the design time is also part of the calculation. For example, 5 hours at 40€/hour results in 200€. In a single project, this would be applied once, while in a batch production it can be distributed across all parts (e.g. 200€ / 30 parts = 6.67€ per part).
Putting everything together for one part:
2.40€ (material)
-
24€ (machine time)
-
12.50€ (working time)
-
6.67€ (design share)
= 45.57€
With an additional margin for failed prints, material waste and general risk (around 20–30%), this results in a final price of roughly 55–60€ per part.
In short: the total cost is based on material, machine time, working time and design effort. The most significant factors are usually time and reliability, not the material itself.
This is a theoretical model to illustrate the calculation. In practice, values should be adjusted depending on the specific environment, machine setup, material, and the actual requirements of the project.