Enter the cost price and either a markup percentage or the desired profit to find the selling price.
A unit that lands at 42, priced two ways: at a 65 percent markup, and to a target profit of 30.
A 65 percent markup prices at 69.30 and earns 27.30. Wanting 30 of profit means a 72.00 price, which is a 71.43 percent markup.
Every row uses a cost of 100 so the price and profit columns can be read as percentages of cost. Margin = markup ÷ (100 + markup) × 100.
| Markup | Selling price | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | 110.00 | 10.00 | 9.09% |
| 15% | 115.00 | 15.00 | 13.04% |
| 20% | 120.00 | 20.00 | 16.67% |
| 25% | 125.00 | 25.00 | 20.00% |
| 30% | 130.00 | 30.00 | 23.08% |
| 40% | 140.00 | 40.00 | 28.57% |
| 50% | 150.00 | 50.00 | 33.33% |
| 60% | 160.00 | 60.00 | 37.50% |
| 75% | 175.00 | 75.00 | 42.86% |
| 100% | 200.00 | 100.00 | 50.00% |
| 150% | 250.00 | 150.00 | 60.00% |
| 200% | 300.00 | 200.00 | 66.67% |
The margin column is always the smaller number, and the gap widens as the markup grows. That is the whole reason the two get confused in the first place.
If a lender, a marketplace or your own P&L has given you a margin to hit, this is the markup that produces it. Markup = margin ÷ (100 − margin) × 100, again on a cost of 100.
| Target margin | Markup required | Selling price |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% | 111.11 |
| 15% | 17.65% | 117.65 |
| 20% | 25.00% | 125.00 |
| 25% | 33.33% | 133.33 |
| 30% | 42.86% | 142.86 |
| 40% | 66.67% | 166.67 |
| 50% | 100.00% | 200.00 |
| 60% | 150.00% | 250.00 |
| 70% | 233.33% | 333.33 |
A margin of one third needs a markup of exactly 50 percent. Past a 50 percent margin the required markup climbs steeply, which is why high-margin categories look so aggressively priced against cost.
Markup is measured against your cost; margin is measured against your price. The 69.30 price above carries a 65 percent markup and a 39.4 percent margin — 27.30 ÷ 69.30. Suppliers and buyers usually talk in markup because they start from cost. Accountants and investors talk in margin because they start from revenue. Quoting one number in the other’s language is how businesses end up with a price that looks healthy and a P&L that is not.
Margin = Markup ÷ (100 + Markup) × 100. Markup = Margin ÷ (100 − Margin) × 100. A 50 percent markup is a 33.3 percent margin; a 50 percent margin needs a 100 percent markup. Keep those two reference points in mind and most conversions can be sanity-checked instantly.
Using the invoice price alone and ignoring freight, import duty, returns and the share of stock that never sells inflates every downstream number. Build the cost figure first and be honest about it — a markup applied to an understated cost is not a markup at all, and it is the usual explanation for a business with good-looking prices and no cash.
The percentage is not something to inherit from a rule of thumb. It has to cover your operating costs across expected volume and leave a return, so the sequence is: estimate units, total your fixed costs, divide to get fixed cost per unit, add the profit you want, and express that sum as a percentage of cost. That produces a markup you can defend rather than one you copied.
The markup percentage takes priority. The calculator checks the markup field first and only uses the profit field when no valid markup is present. Clear the markup if you want to price from a target profit.
No, and a 100 percent margin is impossible. A 100 percent markup doubles the cost — a 42 unit sells for 84 — which is a 50 percent margin. A 100 percent margin would mean the item cost nothing.
It rarely should be. Items that turn over quickly, are easy to store and are heavily shopped tend to carry lower markups; slow-moving, bulky or specialist items carry more because they tie up space and capital for longer. A single blanket percentage across a catalogue tends to overprice the things customers compare and underprice the things they do not.
Markup is expressed as a percentage of cost, so with a cost of zero the percentage is undefined and any price would represent infinite markup. If you genuinely have a zero-cost item, price it from a target profit instead — the price is simply the profit.
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