Repair or replace? Savings calculator
Enter the price of a new product, how old yours is, how long you expect one to last, and what the repair would cost (the part, postage and any fitting). The calculator shows what you keep now and compares the cost per year of use.
All the numbers are yours. Use a real quote for the part when you have one: posting a part on The Spool List is free and makers reply with prices.
How to use this calculator
- Price a new one. Use the delivered price of the model you would actually buy.
- Be honest about age and life. Expected life is your own estimate for this kind of product. If you have no idea, use the age at which people you know replaced theirs.
- Use a real part price when you can. Post the part on The Spool List: makers quote a price that includes modelling. For a rough idea of the printing cost alone, use the estimator on the home page.
- Add postage and fitting. If a repairer fits the part, add their labour.
- Read the per-year comparison. Saving money today is one thing; the per-year figure tells you whether the repair is good value for how long the item is likely to keep going.
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.
Questions about this calculator
What is the 50% rule?
A rule of thumb, often attributed to Consumer Reports in newspaper articles: if a repair costs more than half the price of a new product and the product is past half its expected life, consider replacing it. It is a prompt to think, not a statistic, and a cheap remade part often lands well under it.
Does repairing actually save money?
Often, when the fault is one broken part. The European Commission estimates that EU consumers lose about €12 billion a year by replacing goods instead of repairing them (cited by the European Parliament, April 2024). Whether it pays for you depends on the numbers you enter here.
Where do I get a price for the part?
Post the part on The Spool List with photos and measurements. Posting is free and makers reply with a price and a lead time. You pay only if you accept a quote.
Why compare per year?
A repair that is cheap today but buys only a few months of use can cost more per year than a new product. Comparing the cost per year of use puts both options on the same footing.