Batch printing: when to order 10 to 100 copies instead of tying up your printer
You own a printer, and you need 20 of the same part. When it pays to order the batch printed (from $0.84 a piece + shipping), and when to keep printing yourself.
You designed the part, printed one, and it fits. Now you need twenty: one per drawer, one per device, one for each member of the club. Your printer can do it. The question is whether it should.
The printer-hours math
Take an ESP32 enclosure with its snap lid: about 2.2 hours of printing each. Ten of them are 22 hours of machine time, plus plate changes, plus the one that warps at hour four and has to start again. On a single printer that is two or three days in which it prints nothing else, and you babysit every plate.
A print farm runs the same ten on several printers at once, so the batch takes hours on their side, then goes in the post.
What a batch costs
The setup and the postage count once per order, so the price per piece drops quickly:
| Order, PLA | United States | Euro area |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × AirTag keychain holder | $9.99 + $8.00 shipping | €9.99 + €9.00 shipping |
| 10 × AirTag keychain holder | $14.99 ($1.50 each, 85% less) + $9.00 shipping | €13.99 (€1.40 each, 86% less) + €9.00 shipping |
| 50 × AirTag keychain holder | $41.99 ($0.84 each, 92% less) + $15.00 shipping | €34.99 (€0.70 each, 93% less) + €10.00 shipping |
| 1 × ESP32 enclosure with snap lid | $9.99 + $9.00 shipping | €10.99 + €9.00 shipping |
| 10 × ESP32 enclosure with snap lid | $38.99 ($3.90 each, 61% less) + $15.00 shipping | €32.99 (€3.30 each, 70% less) + €10.00 shipping |
An order holds up to 100 copies of one part. Past that, or past 5 kg of plastic, ask us in the chat for a quote.
When to order the batch
- Your printer has a queue. Prototypes of the next design are worth more than the twentieth copy of the last one.
- You need a colour or a material you don't have. PETG for the outdoor ones, or ten colours for a set, without buying ten spools.
- The parts go to other people. Ship them straight to the address that needs them.
- The run is long and boring. Fifty clips are fifty chances for a failed first layer at 3 a.m.
When to keep printing yourself
- You are still changing the design. Order the batch once the part is final: print one, check it fits, then order.
- You need them this week. Delivery takes about 2 to 3 weeks to the United States and Europe.
- The part is tiny and you need three. Plastic and electricity at home cost cents; a batch of three only saves you a few hours.
How to order it in SpeakCAD
Open the part and press Download. On a design you have downloaded before, the dialog says "Printing several?" and opens the order form on 10 pieces: change the number, the material and the colour, pick the country, and the price per piece shows under the total. The same offer appears once after you slice a part to G-code. The batch is sliced on a print-farm printer (0.2 mm layers, 3 walls, 20 % infill, supports where needed) and priced before you pay.
Made to order, so it can't be returned; if we can't deliver it, or it arrives broken, the full price comes back as SpeakCAD credits.
Questions
Yes, 1 to 100 per order with SpeakCAD. The print farm's setup and the postage count once per order, so 50 AirTag holders are $0.84 each in the United States, plus one shipping for the order.
Print it yourself while the design still changes or when you need it today. Order the batch when the design is final, your printer has better things to do, or you need a material or colour you don't stock.