Free to read
Guides
Licences, costs and what a sale actually pays you. All free to read — no signup, no email address.
What you are allowed to sell
What a 3D print licence tracker does
Why sellers keep a record of the commercial licences they have bought, and what belongs in one.
Do I need a commercial licence to sell 3D prints?
What a commercial licence covers, what it does not, and the four things worth keeping if anyone asks.
My commercial licence lapsed — what now?
What actually happens, what to do about stock you have already printed, and how to stop it happening again.
What it actually costs you
What does a 3D print actually cost to make?
Filament is the smallest part. Also covers the failure-rate sum that leaves most people's prices too low.
How to price a 3D print
Work out the floor first, then add margin, then subtract what the channel takes.
How much does a 3D printer cost to run per hour?
Electricity is the smallest of the three numbers. Depreciation is the largest.
Where your filament actually goes
Purge, supports, failures and remnants — the grams you bought that never sold.
How much filament is on a 1kg spool?
Metres to grams for every common material, and why the spool always loses more than the slicer said.
What a resin print actually costs
Weight against volume, the film and the screen, and the failures an FDM sum does not have.
What to track in a 3D printing inventory
Filament, finished stock and the closing-stock figure — and where the line is between stock and an order book.
How to build a 3D printing business spreadsheet
The three tabs it needs, the columns in each, and the three sums people get wrong.
Selling 3D prints on Etsy
What Etsy takes from a sale, the fee most people forget, and the permission Etsy never asks for.
What selling 3D prints actually pays you
Commission, processing and absorbed postage all come off before you see it.
Comparing your options
Platforms
Free tools
3D print cost calculator
What one 3D print really costs, including the waste and the failure rate. Free, no account needed.
Resin print cost calculator
What one resin print really costs, from the mL your slicer reports, with screen wear and failures. Free, no account needed.
Etsy profit calculator
What one Etsy sale really pays you after the fees, including the postage inside the fee base. Free, no account needed.
Filament length and weight calculator
How many metres or grams of filament you have, and what is left on a spool. Free, no account needed.
MakerProof is the product behind these guides. It keeps your licences, their proof documents and their renewal dates in one place. See what MakerProof does