Markup & Margin Calculator
Set retail prices from cost. Enter any two of cost / markup % / margin % / selling price — get the other two plus profit. Browser-only.
Markup and margin are not the same number
You buy something for $40 and sell it for $60. Is that a 50% markup or a 33% margin? Both — they're describing the same trade from different sides. Markup is the increase expressed as a percentage of cost ($20 extra on $40 cost = 50% markup). Margin is the profit expressed as a percentage of revenue ($20 profit on $60 sale = 33.3% margin). They are not interchangeable, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes in small-business pricing — a 30% markup is only a 23% margin, which means budgets built on "we'll keep 30%" fall short by a quarter.
This tool keeps cost, markup, margin and selling price in sync. Type in any field and the others recalculate, so you can do the price-setting math three ways: pick a markup (typical for trade-in / wholesale-to-retail flows), pick a margin (typical for SaaS / services where the target is revenue-side), or pick a final selling price and see what margin it implies.
The formulas
- Markup = (Price − Cost) ÷ Cost × 100
- Margin = (Price − Cost) ÷ Price × 100
- From markup to price: Price = Cost × (1 + Markup/100)
- From margin to price: Price = Cost ÷ (1 − Margin/100)
- From price to markup: Markup = (Price/Cost − 1) × 100
- From price to margin: Margin = (1 − Cost/Price) × 100
Useful conversion table
| Markup | Margin | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 16.7% | ×1.20 |
| 25% | 20% | ×1.25 |
| 33.3% | 25% | ×1.33 |
| 50% | 33.3% | ×1.50 |
| 66.7% | 40% | ×1.67 |
| 100% | 50% | ×2.00 |
| 150% | 60% | ×2.50 |
| 200% | 66.7% | ×3.00 |
| 300% | 75% | ×4.00 |
Where the numbers trick you
- Margin can never reach 100%. 100% margin means cost is zero. As margin approaches 100%, price approaches infinity. The tool clamps the input at 99.999%.
- "30% off" is different again. A 30% discount on a $100 selling price drops it to $70 — that's a markup/margin reduction relative to the listed price, not a cost-based markup. Use percentage-calculator for that.
- Markup ≠ profit margin in the accounting sense. Gross margin (used here) only deducts cost of goods sold. Operating margin and net margin deduct overheads, marketing, and tax — those need a full P&L, not this calculator.
- Trade conventions vary. US wholesale-to-retail often quotes keystone markup (100% markup = 50% margin). Restaurants often think in margin (typical food cost target: 28–32% of menu price). SaaS quotes gross margin near 80%.
- VAT / sales tax is separate. The selling price here is exclusive of tax. If your local price must be inclusive, multiply by (1 + tax-rate/100) after using this tool — or use vat-calculator.
- Bulk discounts and shipping shift the cost. The cost input should be your landed cost (purchase price + shipping + any duties), not the supplier's invoice number, or the resulting margin will be optimistic.
Pairs with
- vat-calculator — when you need to add or remove VAT/sales tax from the resulting price.
- currency-converter — for international supplier costs.
- invoice-generator — to ship the final priced line to a customer.
- percentage-calculator — for general percentage math (discounts off list price, etc.).
Cost $40, markup 50%
Cost 40, markup 50%. Price = 40 × (1 + 0.50) = 60, and the margin comes out as (60 − 40) ÷ 60 = 33.33%. The bar shows cost taking 66.7% of the price and profit the remaining 33.3%. Now type directly in the margin field instead — say you need a 50% margin on that same €40 cost: the tool switches mode automatically and solves price = 40 ÷ (1 − 0.50) = 80, which is a 100% markup. Edit any one of markup, margin, or price and it recomputes the other two.
Quick answers
What's the difference between markup and margin? Both measure the same profit, but against different bases. Markup is profit over cost; margin is profit over selling price. Because the price is always larger than the cost, markup is always the bigger-looking number for the same product.
Quick conversions worth memorising: a 50% markup is a 33.3% margin; a 100% markup ("doubling") is a 50% margin; a 25% markup is a 20% margin. If a supplier or client says "we work on 30%" without saying which, ask — the gap is real money.
Why does it cap margin below 100%? Because price = cost ÷ (1 − margin) divides by zero at 100% margin and goes negative above it — a 100% margin implies zero cost, which no priced good has. The tool clamps just under to keep the price finite.
Does this include tax or overheads? No — it's cost-to-price at the unit level (gross margin). Rent, wages and tax come out of that margin afterwards; it's not your net profit.
Same gap, different denominator
Markup and margin describe the same gap between cost and price, but against different bases — which is exactly why they get confused. Markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost; margin = (price − cost) ÷ price. Because cost is always the smaller number, a given markup percentage is always larger than the equivalent margin: a 50% markup is only a 33% margin, and a 100% markup is a 50% margin. The two converge near zero and diverge fast as profit grows. The one conversion worth memorising: margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup), and markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin).
Applying a margin target as a markup
Setting a target "margin" by adding that percentage as a markup. Tell your system you want a 40% margin and then mark cost up by 40%, and you actually earn a 28.6% margin — you have quietly under-priced every unit. Decide which base you mean first, then price to it: for a 40% margin, divide cost by 0.60, don't multiply by 1.40.
Related
Work the raw price change with the percentage calculator, add sales tax on top with the VAT calculator, and price across markets with the currency converter. The full breakdown: markup vs margin — the difference that erodes profit.