How this calculator works
This calculator turns a cost price and a markup percentage into a selling price, and also shows your profit and your profit margin. It's useful for small businesses, resellers and freelancers setting prices.
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost, while margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. The same profit gives a bigger markup than margin, which is why the two are easy to mix up.
Worked example: a $40 cost with a 50% markup
- Work out the markup: 40 × 0.50 = 20.
- Add it to the cost for the selling price: 40 + 20 = 60.
- Find the margin: 20 ÷ 60 × 100 = 33.33%.
Sell for $60: $20 profit, a 33.33% margin.
Quick reference: markup and the margin it gives
| Markup | Selling price on $100 cost | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $110 | 9.09% |
| 25% | $125 | 20% |
| 50% | $150 | 33.33% |
| 75% | $175 | 42.86% |
| 100% | $200 | 50% |
| 200% | $300 | 66.67% |
Common mistake
Using markup when you mean margin. If you want a 50% margin, a 50% markup isn't enough: it only gives 33.33%. For a 50% margin you need a 100% markup.
Questions people ask
- How do I turn a margin into a markup?
- Divide the margin by (1 − margin), using decimals. A 40% margin is 0.40 ÷ 0.60 = 0.667, or a 66.7% markup.
- Can margin ever reach 100%?
- No. Margin would only be 100% if the cost were zero. Markup, on the other hand, can be any size.
- Is this my real profit?
- It's your profit on the item alone. Shipping, fees, taxes and running costs come out of it, so your real profit is lower.
Learn more
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