Skip to content
3D PrintBarcelona

Why one quote says €18 and another €60 for the same part

The five things that make two workshops price the same file very differently, and how to compare quotes without comparing apples to oranges.

5 min read

You send the same STL to three places and get back €18, €34 and €60. It is not that two of them are cheating you: they have probably quoted three different parts. These are the five variables that explain nearly all of the gap.

240 cm³ PLA part — €21.3017%46%9%28%Material2,08 €Machine9,89 €Set-up2,00 €Margin7,33 €Excluding VAT · machine time dominates almost always
Nearly all the difference between two quotes lives in the big bar: how many machine hours each one assumed.
  1. 1Infill and walls. A workshop slicing at 15% with two perimeters and one slicing at 40% with four are quoting parts that weigh nearly twice as much one as the other. If the quote does not state the infill, it does not state the price.
  2. 2Layer height. The same part at 0.28 mm and 0.12 mm can take half or twice the time. A cheap quote at draft layer and an expensive one at fine layer are both correct and are not comparable.
  3. 3Supports, and who removes them. A part with overhangs carries support material and, above all, manual work to remove it and tidy the marks. Some workshops include that pass; others send the part with the stubs still on.
  4. 4What is inside the price. File preparation, mesh checking, finishing pass, packing, VAT and shipping. A “from” price with no VAT and no shipping can end up a third above the one that looked dearer.
  5. 5The shape of the business. Somebody with a machine at home and no overheads can charge little; a company with premises, insurance and staff has to charge more. Neither is wrong: they are charging for different realities, and they also respond differently when something goes wrong.

How to compare properly

  • Fix the parameters yourself before asking for a price: material, layer height, infill and finish. With those set, the numbers finally describe the same object.
  • Always ask for the price including VAT and shipping. It is the only figure you will actually pay.
  • Ask for the lead time in working days and whether it includes ordering material. A good price with a fifteen-day lead time may be no use to you.
  • Ask what happens if it comes out wrong. That is the difference between a price and a service.

That is why the configurator on this site shows all of those variables and recalculates as you move any of them: not so you can hold our number against somebody else’s, but so you can see where yours comes from. A price you cannot take apart is not a quote, it is a figure.

Why not just give a price per gram or per hour?

Because neither describes the part. By the gram, a big hollow part comes out absurdly cheap and occupies the machine all night. By the hour, a quick part in expensive material comes out below cost. The price is computed from the real geometry: volume, estimated time, material and set-up.

Can I negotiate if I order several parts?

The volume discount is applied automatically and starts at three units, widening in bands to 20%. There is nothing to ask for or haggle over: it applies as soon as you set the quantity. For large runs or a recurring supply, write to us and we will look at it with the file in front of us.

Why does my small part cost nearly as much as a medium one?

Because there is a floor. Preparing the file, orienting it, slicing it, getting the part off the plate and packing it takes a time that does not shrink with the part. That is why there is an order minimum, and why three or four units of the same file often come to nearly the same total.

Keep reading