The Makerate Blog

An overview of US tax obligations for 3D print sellers — self-employment tax, sales tax nexus, deductions, quarterly payments, and how to keep clean books from day one.

How to ship 3D prints safely and economically — packaging materials, carrier choice, USPS vs UPS pricing, insurance, and how to include shipping in your quote.

How to price post-processing services for 3D prints — sanding, smoothing, priming, painting, gluing, and assembly — with hourly rates and consumable breakdowns.

Why print failures must be priced into every quote, how to calculate a realistic failure rate by job type, and how to handle a failure on a paid customer order.

The three ways makers quote jobs — spreadsheet, dedicated software, and pure gut feel — and which one actually scales as you grow.

The line items most 3D print sellers leave out of their quotes — and the dollar impact each one has on your real margin.

Capital, operating, and labor costs of running a 3D print farm of 4, 10, or 25 machines — with realistic monthly budget breakdowns.

Every cost in resin printing — resin, IPA, FEP, LCD screens, gloves, vat cleaning, cure stations — broken down per print so you can quote accurately.

A 3-year TCO comparison of Bambu Lab, Prusa, and Creality for a small print shop — purchase, consumables, downtime, and resale value.

How to set wholesale and retail prices for 3D printed goods, MOQs, dealer terms, and the margin math that keeps both channels profitable.

How to launch a local 3D printing service in your city — finding customers, pricing for local pickup, contracts vs walk-ins, and what to charge per print, per design, and per hour.

Etsy fees, shipping math, listing strategy, and how to price 3D prints so you still profit after Etsy takes its cut and customers expect free shipping.

The difference between markup and margin, why it matters, and how to set targets that actually leave money in your pocket after fees, failures, and overhead.

A repeatable process for quoting custom client work — intake questions, file analysis, pricing, scope protection, and how to deliver a quote that wins jobs without underpricing.

How to calculate an honest machine-hour rate for your 3D printer including purchase price, wear parts, and lifetime hours — with numbers for popular machines.

Real wattage numbers for popular FDM and resin printers, a simple formula to convert them into a per-print cost, and why your kWh rate matters more than you think.

When to use PLA, PETG, ABS, or ASA — pricing, print difficulty, strength, UV resistance, and the customer types each is best for.

A side-by-side comparison of FDM and resin 3D printing in 2026 — capital cost, consumables, hourly running cost, detail, strength, and which one to pick per use case.

A breakdown of every variable a real 3D printing cost calculator needs — material, machine hour rate, electricity, labor, failure, overhead — and the formulas behind each.

A step-by-step framework for pricing 3D prints in 2026 — covering material, machine time, electricity, labor, failure rate, overhead, and profit margin with real examples.