Quantity discounts without giving away your profit

A single design review, file setup or customer conversation may cover the whole order. Filament, packaging and assembly usually grow with quantity. Machine time grows with the number of plate runs, and another plate can create a step in cost rather than a smooth per-unit increase.

Do not discount the entire order by the percentage reduction in setup cost. Sharing $8 of setup across 20 items makes that setup cost $0.40 per item; it does not make the filament or shipping 95% cheaper. The batch-pricing guide explains the distinction.

For this simplified example, each item costs $3, setup costs $8 per order, and the target margin is 30%. Shipping and selling fees are excluded here so the arithmetic is visible; include them before using this method for a real sale.

Cost per item is ($3 × quantity + $8) ÷ quantity. Divide that cost by 0.70 to leave 30% of the selling price as profit. The example floors are rounded upward to the next cent. Percentage selling fees require a different denominator; fixed transaction fees belong in the order cost.

Compare quantities that change your workload: a full plate, another plate run, or a packaging carton. Estimate each quantity separately before setting a price. If the next quantity needs another printer run, a discount might erase the savings from shared setup.

A price floor is not the price you have to offer. Demand, custom design work, deadlines and available capacity also matter. Keep the quote’s unit price and order total clear. Check profit per printer-hour before filling your printers with a large discounted order.

• The exact quantity and unit price for each option.
• Which material, color and finish the price assumes.
• Delivery and packaging charges, plus any applicable selling costs.
• The turnaround assumptions and how design changes affect the quote.

Keep alternatives separate: a customer choosing 10 items should not mistake a 20-item unit price for their own. Recalculate when they change quantity, rather than multiplying the old unit price automatically. After the job, compare estimated and actual costs to improve the next price ladder.