Real numbers, in dollars, updated for 2026 — what parts actually cost, what moves the price, and how to move it back down.
For FDM printing — the process behind most functional plastic parts — a palm-sized part lands between $16 and $39, a big structural bracket between $66 and $132, and small parts are caught by minimum orders (ours is $27.50, all prices GST inclusive). Across Australian services, quotes for the same part commonly span $30 to $500, which says less about the plastic and more about how much labour sits behind each quote.
The honest way to answer "how much?" is the way we do it: measure your actual file and price the grams and hours it really needs. That's what the instant quote does, free, in under a minute. The rest of this guide explains the number it gives you.
small parts: add quantity or a second part
PLA cheapest, carbon-fibre nylon top
one-offs, GST included
speed isn't a paid extra here
Our price is three terms added up: material (grams × the per-gram rate), machine time (hours × $2.64), and $1.65 of handling — all GST-inclusive. Grams and hours are computed from your real file's measured geometry, so nothing is estimated by eye and identical files always price identically.
Notice what's missing: quoting fees, setup fees, "engineering review" line items. Software does those jobs here, which is why a $17 part costs $17 — most of a traditional bureau's invoice is a person's time wrapped around a cheap piece of plastic.
Computed with the same formula the pricing page runs — standard 0.20 mm layers, GST included. Your file will differ; these anchor the ballpark.
Weight is the big one — it drives both the material term and most of the machine-time term. Material choice multiplies it: the same 75 g part is $7.50 of plastic in PLA and $23 in PA-CF. Layer height trades surface finish for hours (draft layers cut machine time by about a fifth; fine layers add nearly half). Quantity earns automatic discounts — 12% off at ten parts, 25% at fifty, because full plates genuinely cost us less. And finishing options (sanding, vapour smoothing, inserts) are flat per-part adders, priced on the services page.
Three reasons. Labour: traditional bureaus quote by hand, schedule by hand and babysit by hand, and that time lands on your invoice — it's why their minimums often start at $50–100 before any plastic moves. Process: quotes for SLS nylon or resin aren't comparable to FDM quotes; different machines, different economics (if a service quotes without naming the process, ask). And geography: overseas hubs can beat anyone on sticker price, then give it back in shipping, weeks of lead time, and customs surprises on arrival.
Our position in that landscape is simple: FDM only, run by software, printed in Sydney, dispatched in 48 hours — typically around half what bureaus quote for the same part, with the price computed before you've talked to anyone.
Delete grams in CAD — ribs instead of bulk, holes where material does nothing (the walls guide shows how without losing strength). Pick the cheapest material that survives the job; the choosing-a-material guide is a five-minute read that routinely halves quotes. Drop to draft layers for parts nobody strokes. Batch to ten if you'll ever need spares — the discount usually covers the spares. And don't hollow your model: infill is automatic, and you're only ever charged for the grams the part actually needs.
Every gram you delete in CAD is a discount you wrote yourself. Upload, check the price, edit, upload again — quotes are free and take a minute.
Drop an STL, STEP or 3MF and the quote applies every rule in this guide — mesh check included, GST included.