ReplacementParts.app › Savings
What repairing with a remade part saves
Sourced figures on the cost of throwing things away, why repairs stall for want of a part, and worked examples you can rerun with your own numbers.
Last reviewed 12 October 2026.
The big numbers
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| €12 billion a year | What EU consumers lose by replacing goods instead of repairing them | European Commission estimate, cited by the European Parliament (April 2024) |
| 35 million tonnes a year | Waste from the premature disposal of consumer goods in the EU; the same disposal uses 30 million tonnes of resources and produces 261 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions | European Commission estimates, cited by the European Parliament (April 2024) |
| €20 billion in 2030 | What the EU's 2025 smartphone and tablet rules are projected to save consumers in 2030 | European Commission projection (June 2025) |
| About $382 a year | What an average US household could save by repairing its electronics instead of replacing them; about $49.6 billion nationally | U.S. PIRG Education Fund, an advocacy group (April 2023) |
| 77% | EU citizens who would rather repair a device than buy a new one; 79% think manufacturers should have to make repair or part replacement easier | Eurobarometer, cited by the European Parliament (April 2022) |
Figures are quoted as the sources state them. Projections and survey results are labelled as such.
Why repairs stall: the missing part
Community repair events keep records of what they fix and why they fail. In Open Repair Alliance data on about 208,000 repairs, 53% of electronic products were fixed on the spot. Of the products that could not be fixed, no spare parts were available for 25%, and for a further 18% the parts were too expensive (summarised by U.S. PIRG Education Fund, October 2024).
The Repair Café Foundation's RepairMonitor recorded 8,864 repairs at 97 Repair Cafés in 2022: 61% were successful, and when repairs failed it was “often due to spare parts” (factsheet, April 2023).
That gap is what a maker fills: a clip, gear or knob that nobody sells any more, remade from the broken original or from photos and measurements.
Official spare parts can cost a large share of a new product
A market check by BEUC, the European consumer organisation, of official spare-part prices for smartphones and cordless vacuum cleaners in six EU countries (June 2026) found the most expensive vacuum-cleaner battery at €281, 56% of the appliance's original price; the priciest part overall at €240, 37% of the product price; and flagship smartphone screens at over €400, about 30% of the retail price before labour and delivery (reported by Euronews, September 2026).
The same report cites French agency ADEME (2025): people generally repair only when the total cost stays within 20 to 30% of the original price. A typical coffee-machine repair in the report came to €83, of which €68 was labour and €15 the part.
Small plastic parts are where official prices tend to be most out of proportion, and where a part made by a maker near you is most often the sensible alternative. That is our reasoning, not a measured statistic: compare quotes for your own part.
Old things stay in use, and need parts
- The average light vehicle in the US was 12.8 years old in 2025 (passenger cars 14.5 years), with 289 million in operation (S&P Global Mobility, May 2025).
- Items brought to community repair events averaged about 7 years old for coffee makers, laptops and printers, 10 years for power tools and hair dryers, 18 years for hi-fi equipment and 28 years for projectors (Open Repair Alliance data via U.S. PIRG Education Fund, October 2024).
- Even manufacturers now print parts for old products: Porsche Classic and Mercedes-Benz Classic 3D print rare parts for cars whose original tooling no longer exists (2018 press releases).
Worked examples (illustrative numbers)
These examples use made-up numbers to show the arithmetic. They are not market prices or quotes. Rerun them with your own numbers in the repair-or-replace calculator.
Example 1: a door catch on a 5-year-old washing machine
A new machine at 600. You expect one to last 12 years. A remade catch quoted at 35 plus 8 postage: 43 in total, 7.2% of the price of new. You keep 557 today, and the repair costs about 6.14 per remaining year against 50 a year for a new machine.
Example 2: a 10-year-old appliance with a costly repair
A new one at 300, an expected life of 8 years, and a repair that costs 200 with fitting. The repair is 66.7% of the price of new and the appliance is past its expected life. It pays only if it then keeps going for at least about 5.4 more years, so buying new may be the better call.
Example 3: a trim knob on a classic car
There is no new car to compare with. The alternatives are a used part of unknown condition, an expensive assembly that includes the knob, or living without it. Here the question is not savings but whether anyone can supply the part at all.
Repair bonuses can cut the bill
Some countries and cities pay part of the cost of a repair at a registered repair business. France's bonus réparation takes 15 to 60 euros off the invoice depending on the device; Austria's scheme from January 2026 pays 50% of the repair cost up to 130 euros per device; in Germany some states and cities run their own schemes. Rules and budgets change often: see the repair law page for details and dates.
These bonuses usually apply to repairs done by a labelled or listed repair business, not to a part you have made and fit yourself. Check the scheme's rules before you plan around one.
How to keep a remade part cheap
- Send the broken original if you can. Modelling from a real part is quicker than from photos alone.
- Look for an existing file. Some manufacturers publish official printable repair files (Philips did so with Prusa Research in 2025), and shared files exist for many common parts. Check the licence allows a maker to print it for you.
- Order a spare at the same time. Once the model exists, a second copy costs little.
- Batch small parts into one job. Setup and modelling are paid once.
- Choose a maker near you for drop-off and pickup to save postage both ways.
- Give the maker time. A short deadline is a rush job and usually costs more.
What the part itself costs
There is no list price for a part nobody sells. Makers quote from your brief. The price guide explains what moves the number, and the estimator on the home page gives a rough printing cost. The real price comes from quotes: posting a part on The Spool List is free.
Broken part in your hand?
Photograph it, measure it, post it once.
Post the part free on The Spool List. Makers quote with a price and a lead time, and the platform holds your payment until you confirm delivery.
Sources
- European Parliament press release: Right to repair, making repair easier and more appealing to consumers (23 April 2024)
- European Commission: new EU rules for durable, energy-efficient and repairable smartphones and tablets start applying (20 June 2025)
- U.S. PIRG Education Fund (advocacy group): fixing instead of replacing devices could save Americans nearly $50 billion a year (4 April 2023)
- European Parliament press release on the right to repair, citing Eurobarometer (7 April 2022)
- U.S. PIRG Education Fund: 5 surprising findings from data about 208,000 repairs, Open Repair Alliance data (15 October 2024)
- Repair Café Foundation: RepairMonitor 2022 factsheet (April 2023)
- Euronews: right to repair, spare parts and services price Europeans out of fixing their gadgets, reporting a BEUC market check (10 September 2026)
- S&P Global Mobility: average age of vehicles in the US rises to 12.8 years (27 May 2025)
- Porsche Newsroom: Porsche Classic supplies rare parts from the 3D printer (12 February 2018)
- Mercedes-Benz Classic press release via Automotive World: genuine replacement parts from the 3D printer (22 November 2018)
- TCT Magazine: Philips Fixables lets consumers 3D print their own replacement parts (12 May 2025)
- French government (info.gouv.fr): hausse et élargissement du bonus réparation (23 October 2023)
- Salzburg24: Reparaturbonus neu im Check, 130 statt 200 Euro (12 January 2026)
- ITU and UNITAR: Global E-waste Monitor 2024, executive summary (published 20 March 2024)
- ITU: the world generated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in just one year (8 April 2024)
Figures are quoted as the sources state them, checked 12 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? The rules and schemes change often; check the source.