How to request a 3D printing quote: what to send and what drives the price

A good quote request saves days of back and forth. When the supplier has the right information at the start, the price you receive is the price you can plan around. This guide lists what to send, what drives the cost, and how to compare offers fairly.

What to send

Put these items in your first message. Anything missing becomes a question, and every question delays the quote.

• The 3D file. STEP is preferred; STL, 3MF and OBJ also work.
• The quantity, and whether you may order more later.
• The material, or the environment if you are not sure: temperature, moisture, load, outdoor use.
• A drawing that marks the critical dimensions and tolerances, if any dimension matters.
• The colour and finish: raw, sanded or painted.
• The deadline and the place of delivery.

STEP is preferred because it keeps the exact geometry: a hole stays a true circle and a dimension can be read from it directly. A mesh format is still fine for a simple part, but then the scale and the smoothness of curves depend on how the file was exported.

If you only have a sketch or a photo, send that too and say so. A supplier can often turn it into a printable model, but the price then includes the modelling work.

What drives the price

The price of a printed part is mostly machine time and material, plus the work around the printer.

• Print time, which grows with the volume of the part and with its height.
• The material: PLA and PETG are usually the most economical, and special requirements cost more.
• The quantity. Setting up a job is a fixed effort, so the price per part usually falls as the batch grows.
• Supports and orientation, which add print time and cleaning.
• Post-processing such as sanding, painting and assembly, which is mostly manual work.
• Inspection: checking every part takes more time than checking a sample.

Compare quotes fairly

Two quotes are only comparable if they describe the same job: the same material, quantity, finish, inspection scope and delivery. A lower price with no dimension check is not the same offer as a higher price with one. Ask each supplier to state what is included, then compare line by line instead of looking at the total.

Also compare how each supplier answers questions. A quote that comes back with a clarification about your file usually reflects a supplier who has actually read it.

How to lower the price

• Thin the walls where the part is not loaded.
• Change the shape to avoid supports, for example with chamfers instead of flat overhangs.
• Merge small parts that belong together into one print.
• Loosen tolerances that do not matter for the function.
• Order the whole batch together instead of in several small orders.

Each of these is a design decision, so it is cheapest to make them before the first print. Our design rules for FDM show which changes make the biggest difference.

Mistakes that slow a quote down

• Sending only a screenshot or a photo of the part, without a file.
• Leaving out the quantity, so the supplier has to guess between one piece and a hundred.
• Asking for a strong part without saying what load or temperature it will see.
• Marking every dimension as critical, or none of them.
• Mixing units, for example a drawing in inches and a file in millimetres.

An example of a good request

Here is what a complete message can look like. Quantity: 30 pieces, repeat order possible. Material: PETG, indoor use up to 50 °C. File: bracket.step, with the hole spacing and the shaft diameter marked on the drawing. Finish: raw. Deadline: 10 days, delivery to Baku. These few lines are enough for an accurate price and for sensible questions in return.

After you accept the quote

Before printing starts, confirm the points that the price depends on: the revision of the file, the material, the finish, the inspection scope and the delivery date. Write them in one message and ask for a reply. If anything changes later, such as the quantity or the deadline, say so as soon as you know, because the price and the schedule were built on the original request.

What to expect from us

You get a written price, advice on the material and an agreed delivery date before anything is printed. If something in your request is unclear, we ask rather than guess, because a wrong assumption costs more than a short question.

Ready when you are: send us your file with the details above and we will come back with a quote.

Cover photo: ThisisEngineering(opens in a new tab) on Unsplash(opens in a new tab).