Extruse

The costs you cannot see on the spool

The same print — 100 grams, two hours — costs $2.38 if you count plastic and power, and $6.83 once your own hour and the hardware are in the number. Nothing about the machine changed. Only which costs you agreed to count.

The fields below are already filled in: twenty minutes of setup per plate, four parts on it, six minutes of cleanup each, and hardware. Zero them out and the cost drops to the number most calculators would show you.

Material
Printer
Sales channel
True cost
$6.83
everything included, per unit
Profit per unit
$4.16
Per machine-hour
$2.08/h
Your selling price
$10.99
Break-even
$6.83
Three price levels — tap to apply

Where the money goes

Your time$2.75
Filament$2.16
Hardware & packaging$1.70
Wear & maintenance$0.16
Failed prints$0.04
Electricity$0.02

Your time is the largest invisible line

Setup is paid per plate: clearing the bed, starting the job, checking the first layer. Post-processing is paid per part, because supports come off each one. Counting both as free is what keeps a print business looking profitable while the bank account says otherwise.

Setup divides, cleanup does not

Eight parts on one plate share a single setup; each of them still needs its own supports removed and its own edges sanded. That asymmetry is the whole reason a fuller plate is cheaper per part — and the reason a larger order is not automatically cheaper per part.

The small parts that never reach the spreadsheet

Magnets, screws, threaded inserts, a bag, a box, the label. Individually trivial, together often more than the plastic — and unlike the plastic, they are paid for in cash at the moment you ship.