Resin Printing Costs: SLA/MSLA Per-Print Breakdown

Resin printing has more line items than FDM. Missing them is why so many "resin Etsy shops" quit after 6 months.

Per-print material cost

resin used (mL) × $/mL × spillage factor (1.05)

Resin is sold in 500 mL or 1 L bottles. At $40/L, that's $0.04/mL. A typical 6 cm mini uses 8–15 mL = $0.32–0.60 in resin.

IPA / cleaning solvent

Each wash uses ~20–50 mL of IPA depending on print size. IPA at $20/gallon = $0.005/mL. Per-print cost: $0.10–0.25.

IPA also degrades — it needs full replacement every 30–50 prints in a 4 L wash bin, costing $5–8 each time. Amortized: $0.15–0.25/print.

Total cleaning cost per print: ~$0.25–0.50.

FEP / nFEP film

The flexible film at the bottom of the vat fails every 30–60 prints. Costs $5–15. Per-print: $0.10–0.30.

This is not optional. A failed FEP at 3 AM means a vat full of resin on top of your $80 LCD. Replace prophylactically.

LCD screen

The single most expensive consumable. 8K LCDs cost $80–200 and last 1,500–2,500 hours of UV exposure.

$120 / 2000 hr = $0.06/hr

A 5-hour print: $0.30 in LCD wear.

Vat & build plate

• Vat replacement (every ~12 months on a heavily used machine): $25–60
• Build plate replacement (every ~24 months): $25–50
• Per-print: ~$0.05–0.10

Gloves, masks, paper towels

• Nitrile gloves: $0.20/print (you go through 2–4 pairs)
• Paper towels: $0.15/print
• Mask (replacement filter): $0.05/print amortized

Total PPE/consumables per print: ~$0.40.

Cure station

A wash & cure pulls 60 W for 15 minutes. At $0.16/kWh that's $0.024 per cycle. Almost nothing.

But the curing station itself depreciates: $200 unit / 3,000 cycles = $0.07/cycle.

Labor (the killer)

This is where resin really hurts:

• Slice & prepare supports: 10–20 min
• Pour resin, level vat: 3 min
• Drain plate, remove print: 5 min
• Wash cycle (active): 5 min
• Cure setup: 2 min
• Support removal & cleanup: 10–30 min
• Vat re-filter if changing colors: 5 min

Total per print: 35–65 min of real labor. At $25/hr that's $14–27 just in time.

A real per-print quote

A 12 cm display mini, 25 mL resin, 6 hr print, 40 min labor:

Line	Cost
Resin (25 mL × $0.04 × 1.05)	$1.05
IPA + bin amortization	$0.40
FEP amortization	$0.20
LCD (6 hr × $0.06)	$0.36
Vat/plate amortization	$0.08
PPE	$0.40
Cure energy + depreciation	$0.10
Labor (0.67 hr × $25)	$16.75
Total cost	$19.34
Failure × 1.10	$21.27
Overhead 12%	$23.82
60% margin	$59.55

Round to $60. If you've been pricing minis at $20 you've been paying the customer $40 to take it.

Cost savers that actually work

• Batch supports — slice 3–5 minis on one plate, labor drops to ~50% per unit.
• Buy resin by the 5L (15–25% cheaper).
• Use water-washable resin to skip IPA (save $0.40/print but consider environmental disposal cost).
• Reuse strained resin pours from failed prints (don't reuse cured chunks).

Even with savers, a properly costed resin shop charges 2–3× what FDM shops charge for the same nominal "print" — because resin labor and consumables are genuinely 2–3× higher.