Filament is the biggest ongoing expense you'll encounter as a 3D printer owner.It doesn’t matter how much you have, you’re always going to want more.This means buying different materials, colors, finishes, and blends.
Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to earn significant discounts.Buy in bulk More filament, fewer orders, lower prices It should come as little surprise that the cheapest way to buy 3D printing filament is by making a bulk purchase.The more rolls you buy, the more you’ll spend in one go at a cheaper per-unit cost.
You can take great advantage of this if you have friends or family members who also own a 3D printer.Take Bambu Lab’s PLA basic filament as an example.The per-unit cost for 1KG is $19.99, but this drops to $10.99 per roll when ordering 10 or more.
At current prices (a 45% discount), it’s cheaper to buy 10 rolls than eight, and you can mix and match colors too.The store always seems to have around a 40% discount for bulk orders.The downside (unless you’re pooling an order) is that you’ll have to store all of those rolls until you need them.
It can be hard to predict which filament you’ll need or want to use in future projects, so this can be a bit of a gamble.Even so, keeping a buffer of basics like black, white, and gray can’t hurt, as long as Bambu Lab has stock.Bambu Lab PLA Basic Filament Bambu Lab's PLA Basic filament comes in a wide range of colors and ships on a reusable plastic spool.
With embedded RFID chips in each spool, you simply place the filament in the AMS and your 3D printer knows exactly what it's working with—down to the color.$23 at Bambu Lab $23 at Best Buy Expand Collapse Bambu Lab PLA Pure Available in five colors, with only five ingredients, every one EU food-contact certified. Low indoor printing emissions, certified to UL GREENGUARD 2904. Safe for kids to play with, certified to EU toy-safety standards (EN 71).$25 at Bambu Lab Expand Collapse Bambu Lab PLA Aero Bambu PLA Aero achieves low density and light weight by foaming at high temperatures during printing and creating small holes inside the prints.
It's the perfect choice for light-weight and energy-saving prints, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aerodynamic models, and gliders.$45 at Bambu Lab Expand Collapse Buy from cheaper suppliers You might not be able to tell the difference Despite owning several Bambu Lab printers, my colleague Patrick Campanale stopped buying name-brand 3D printer filament a long time ago.It turns out that, unlike Prusa, with its Prusament filament division, Bambu Lab doesn’t manufacture all of its filament in-house, but rather sources it from third parties.
Given the size of the company’s operation, this is hardly surprising.But it does raise the question: why pay a premium for filament that could have come from anywhere? Sure, you get an RFID chip that identifies the roll in your slicer, but it only takes seconds to do this manually.The lowest prices depend on who has a discount and at what time.
SUNLU is often seen as a value filament brand, as is JAYO, Elegoo, and Kingroon.Many of the best deals are found on Amazon, particularly bulk orders that undercut even manufacturer websites.Expect prices to dip to around $9/KG at the best discounts.
If you’re willing to take your chances, AliExpress can see prices for around half this price, but the quality can be a gamble.SUNLU PLA+ 2.0 3D Printer Filament SUNLU's PLA+ 2.0 filament is designed for faster printing than traditional PLA, and it comes in a wide range of colors.Plus, it ships on a reusable plastic spool.
$17 at Amazon Expand Collapse Earn discounts from sharing models and community engagement Exchange points for filament In a bid to assemble a vast database of models and build thriving communities, model repositories have leaned hard into reward programs.The two biggest examples are MakerWorld (from Bambu Lab) and Printables (from Prusa), each of which allows community members to exchange points for real-world items, including filament.You’ll get most points from uploading a model, which can then serve as a residual source of credit as more people download and boost it.
You can also earn points by rating and reviewing other models, filling out your profile, and watching a few tutorial videos.It’s a great reason to learn how to use CAD software and start modeling.For some, success can be enough to fund new printers and accessories (assuming you pool those credits rather than spending them on filament).
Recycle and get money off A great option for some, but not everyone Recycling your own filament is quite the undertaking, but it’s possible if you’re willing to invest in a filament extruder and pelletizer.Ultimately, this allows you to create your own filament for free, at home.The downside is that you’ll need to generate enough waste to justify it and have room to store the junk before you can recycle it.
This is enough to put most people off.Deals Score Maker & Creator Deals on Filament and Gear Explore Maker & Creator deals to save on filament, bulk roll discounts, recycling services, filament extruders, hand tools, parts, and CAD or slicer subscriptions.Compare bundle offers, bulk pricing, and accessory discounts to lower per-print costs and stock up affordably.
Deals Explore Maker & Creator Deals Outside of this, you can use a recycling service like Printerior Designs.The company offers points for every KG of filament that you recycle, which gives you money off future purchases.Unfortunately, the recycled filament is pretty pricey (but at least you can feel good about doing your bit).
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