Markup and Margin Calculator
Pick what you know — cost and price, cost and markup, price and margin, or just a percentage to convert — and get the other numbers: selling price, cost, profit, markup and margin, with the working written out. A reference table shows the markup that delivers each common margin. Free, no sign-up.
What you know
Leave at 1 for a single item.
Markup is profit ÷ cost; margin is profit ÷ selling price. Margin is always the smaller of the two for a profit, and it can never reach 100%. Enter percentages without the % sign.
Results
$100.00
Selling price
$60.00
Cost
$40.00
Profit
66.67%
Markup
40%
Margin
The working
Profit = price − cost = $100.00 − $60.00 = $40.00
Markup = profit ÷ cost = $40.00 ÷ $60.00 = 66.67%
Margin = profit ÷ price = $40.00 ÷ $100.00 = 40%
Per unit and in total
| Item | Per unit | Total for 1 unit |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $60.00 | $60.00 |
| Selling price | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| Profit | $40.00 | $40.00 |
The markup that gives a target margin
| Margin | Markup |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% |
| 20% | 25% |
| 25% | 33.33% |
| 30% | 42.86% |
| 40% | 66.67% |
| 50% | 100% |
| 60% | 150% |
| 75% | 300% |
| 80% | 400% |
| 90% | 900% |
The margin that a markup gives
| Markup | Margin |
|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% |
| 20% | 16.67% |
| 25% | 20% |
| 30% | 23.08% |
| 50% | 33.33% |
| 75% | 42.86% |
| 100% | 50% |
| 150% | 60% |
| 200% | 66.67% |
| 300% | 75% |
How to Use the Markup and Margin Calculator
- 1. Choose what you know. The first menu offers five combinations of cost, price, markup and margin, plus two pure converters (markup to margin and margin to markup).
- 2. Enter the two values. Costs and prices are per unit. Type percentages as plain numbers — 25 for 25%. Pick a currency if you want symbols in the results.
- 3. Add a quantity if you need totals. Leave it at 1 for a single item; the table shows per-unit and total figures.
- 4. Read the results and the working. The headline card shows the number you were solving for, and the working lines show each formula with your numbers substituted.
Markup Versus Margin
Both measure profit as a share of something, but not of the same thing. Markup is profit divided by cost: it tells you how much you add on top of what you paid. Margin (gross margin, when applied to a single item or a whole income statement) is profit divided by the selling price: it tells you how much of each sale you keep. Because the price is larger than the cost, the margin is always smaller than the markup for a profitable item, and margin can never reach 100% while markup has no ceiling.
- Profit = selling price − cost.
- Markup = profit ÷ cost = (price − cost) ÷ cost.
- Margin = profit ÷ price = (price − cost) ÷ price.
- Price from cost and markup = cost × (1 + markup).
- Price from cost and margin = cost ÷ (1 − margin).
- Margin from markup = markup ÷ (1 + markup), and markup from margin = margin ÷ (1 − margin).
Worked Example
An item costs 60 and sells for 100. The profit is 100 − 60 = 40. The markup is 40 ÷ 60 = 66.67% and the margin is 40 ÷ 100 = 40%. Same item, same profit — two different percentages, which is why a quote of "40%" means nothing until you know whether it is markup or margin.
Now suppose the target is a 40% margin on that 60 cost. The tempting move is to add 40% to the cost, giving 84. But 84 − 60 = 24, and 24 ÷ 84 is only a 28.57% margin. The correct price divides instead: 60 ÷ (1 − 0.40) = 100. In the other direction, a 50% markup on the same cost gives a price of 90 and a margin of 30 ÷ 90 = 33.33%.
| Target margin | Markup needed | Price for a cost of 100 |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% | 111.11 |
| 20% | 25% | 125 |
| 25% | 33.33% | 133.33 |
| 30% | 42.86% | 142.86 |
| 40% | 66.67% | 166.67 |
| 50% | 100% | 200 |
| 60% | 150% | 250 |
| 75% | 300% | 400 |
The doubling rule
Doubling the cost — a 100% markup, sometimes called keystone pricing in retail — gives a 50% margin, not 100%. A 100% margin would need the item to cost nothing.
Where Each Measure Is Used
Retailers and distributors often set prices by markup because cost is the number on the supplier's invoice. Accountants and investors report margin — gross margin, operating margin, net margin — because it is a share of revenue and so compares across businesses of different size. When someone says "we need 30% on this", ask which one they mean. If your inputs are a mix of both (say, a supplier quoting markup and a board asking for margin), convert once with the formulas above and work in one measure from there.
This calculator works on one item at a time with a single price. It does not include sales tax, discounts, shipping or overheads: if those matter, put the cost you actually bear in the cost field. To find how many units cover your fixed costs, use the Break-Even Calculator; for the margin ratios of a whole business, use the Financial Ratio Calculator. It is an arithmetic aid, not pricing or financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between markup and margin?
- Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. An item costing 60 and selling for 100 has a markup of 66.67% and a margin of 40%. Markup can exceed 100%; margin cannot.
- How do I convert markup to margin?
- Divide the markup by one plus the markup: margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). A markup of 25% (0.25) gives 0.25 ÷ 1.25 = 20%. To go the other way, markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin), so a 20% margin is a 25% markup.
- How do I calculate the selling price from cost and margin?
- Divide the cost by one minus the margin: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). For a cost of 60 and a 40% margin, the price is 60 ÷ 0.6 = 100. Multiplying the cost by 1.4 would give 84, which is only a 28.57% margin.
- Is a 50% markup the same as a 50% margin?
- No. A 50% markup on a cost of 60 gives a price of 90 and a margin of 33.33%. A 50% margin needs a 100% markup — the price is double the cost.
- Can the margin be more than 100%?
- No. Margin is profit divided by price, and profit cannot exceed the price unless the cost is negative. A margin approaches 100% only as the cost approaches zero. Markup, by contrast, has no upper limit.
- Is gross margin the same as the margin here?
- Yes, for a single item: gross margin is (revenue − cost of goods sold) ÷ revenue, which is this margin with COGS as the cost. For a whole business it uses total revenue and total COGS, and excludes operating expenses such as rent and salaries.