About Markup Calculator
Markup is the amount added to a cost to reach the selling price, written as a percentage of the cost. A cost of 40 with a 50% markup sells for 60: the profit is 20, and that same 20 is a margin of 33.33% of the price. This markup calculator works three ways. It gives the selling price from a cost and a markup percent, the markup percent from a cost and a selling price, and the original cost from a selling price and the markup that was applied. Each result also shows the profit, the margin and the price multiplier, with a chart of other markups on the same cost.
Markup vs margin chart
The margin each markup produces, with the selling price and profit on a cost of 100 and the number to multiply any cost by. Every row is this calculator's own result.
| Markup on cost | Multiply cost by | Selling price on a cost of 100 | Profit | Margin on price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 1.05 | 105.00 | 5.00 | 4.76% |
| 10% | 1.10 | 110.00 | 10.00 | 9.09% |
| 15% | 1.15 | 115.00 | 15.00 | 13.04% |
| 20% | 1.20 | 120.00 | 20.00 | 16.67% |
| 25% | 1.25 | 125.00 | 25.00 | 20% |
| 30% | 1.30 | 130.00 | 30.00 | 23.08% |
| 35% | 1.35 | 135.00 | 35.00 | 25.93% |
| 40% | 1.40 | 140.00 | 40.00 | 28.57% |
| 50% | 1.50 | 150.00 | 50.00 | 33.33% |
| 60% | 1.60 | 160.00 | 60.00 | 37.5% |
| 75% | 1.75 | 175.00 | 75.00 | 42.86% |
| 80% | 1.80 | 180.00 | 80.00 | 44.44% |
| 100% | 2.00 | 200.00 | 100.00 | 50% |
| 125% | 2.25 | 225.00 | 125.00 | 55.56% |
| 150% | 2.50 | 250.00 | 150.00 | 60% |
| 200% | 3.00 | 300.00 | 200.00 | 66.67% |
| 250% | 3.50 | 350.00 | 250.00 | 71.43% |
| 300% | 4.00 | 400.00 | 300.00 | 75% |
| 400% | 5.00 | 500.00 | 400.00 | 80% |
| 500% | 6.00 | 600.00 | 500.00 | 83.33% |
Markup has no upper limit, but margin never reaches 100%: however much you add, the cost is still part of the price.
Margin to markup: the markup that delivers a target margin
Read this one the other way round. Pick the margin you want to keep from each sale and use the markup beside it. Found with the Markup percent mode, using a selling price of 100 and a cost of 100 minus the margin.
| Margin you want | Markup to apply | Multiply cost by |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% | 1.1111 |
| 15% | 17.65% | 1.1765 |
| 20% | 25% | 1.25 |
| 25% | 33.33% | 1.3333 |
| 30% | 42.86% | 1.4286 |
| 35% | 53.85% | 1.5385 |
| 40% | 66.67% | 1.6667 |
| 45% | 81.82% | 1.8182 |
| 50% | 100% | 2.00 |
| 60% | 150% | 2.50 |
| 70% | 233.33% | 3.3333 |
| 75% | 300% | 4.00 |
| 80% | 400% | 5.00 |
Markup formulas, forwards and in reverse
Selling price = Cost × (1 + Markup % ÷ 100) Markup % = (Selling price − Cost) ÷ Cost × 100 Cost = Selling price ÷ (1 + Markup % ÷ 100) Margin % = Markup % ÷ (100 + Markup %) × 100 Price multiplier = Selling price ÷ Cost
The first three lines are the three modes. The reverse line is the one people get wrong: to strip a 60% markup out of a price of 49.99 you divide by 1.6 and get a cost of 31.24, you do not subtract 60% of the price. Margin is derived from the same profit measured against the price instead of the cost, which is why it is always the smaller number when there is a profit.
Worked markup examples
Pricing a retail item with a 40% markup
Selling price from cost and markup, Cost 12, Markup 40
Selling price 16.80, Profit 4.80, Margin 28.57%, Price multiplier 1.40x
A menu item marked up 150% on ingredient cost
Selling price from cost and markup, Cost 2.40, Markup 150
Selling price 6.00, Profit 3.60, Margin 60%, Price multiplier 2.50x
A contractor adding 22.5% to materials
Selling price from cost and markup, Cost 850, Markup 22.5
Selling price 1,041.25, Profit 191.25, Margin 18.37%, Price multiplier 1.225x
Finding the markup already built into a price
Markup percent from cost and selling price, Cost 36, Selling price 59
Markup 63.89%, Profit 23.00, Margin 38.98%, Price multiplier 1.6389x
Working back to a supplier cost
Cost from selling price and markup, Selling price 49.99, Markup 60
Cost 31.24, Profit 18.75, Margin 37.5%, Price multiplier 1.60x
Clearance below cost
Selling price from cost and markup, Cost 80, Markup -20
Selling price 64.00, Profit -16.00, Margin -25%, with a Selling below cost warning
A negative markup is allowed down to -100%, which is a price of zero.
Markup calculator or profit margin calculator: which one to use
Both tools on this site report markup and margin, but they start from different places.
Use this page when the markup percent is the thing you know or the thing you want. That is the cost-plus way of pricing: you have a cost, your trade or your price list works on a set percentage added to cost, and you need the selling price. It is also the page for running that backwards, either to find what markup a competitor or supplier price implies or to recover a cost from a marked-up price.
Use the profit margin calculator when you think in margin. It takes a cost and a selling price, scales revenue and profit across a number of units sold, and works out the price needed to hit a target margin. If your goal is stated as a share of sales that must be kept as profit, that is the better starting point.
A third tool, the discount calculator, goes the other way from a price: it takes a percentage off what the customer pays. A discount comes straight out of the profit, since the cost does not move.
Things to know about the results
- Cost must be greater than zero. Markup is a percentage of cost, so it has no meaning for a free item.
- Money amounts are rounded to two decimals and carry no currency symbol, so the calculator works in any currency. Percentages are rounded to two decimals.
- When the cost is found from a price, the chart of other markups uses that cost rounded to two decimals, so its rows match its heading.
- Margin is shown as a dash when the selling price is zero, because dividing by a zero price is undefined.
- The profit is gross: selling price minus the cost you entered. Overheads, fees, shipping and tax are only counted if you include them in the cost.
- Enter cost and price without sales tax, VAT or GST. The calculator adds no tax.
How to use it
- 1
In What do you want to find?, choose Selling price from cost and markup, Markup percent from cost and selling price, or Cost from selling price and markup.
- 2
Enter the two values that mode needs in Cost, Markup and Selling price. The third box is ignored, as the note under it says.
- 3
Read the answer in the first result box, followed by Profit, Margin and the Price multiplier.
- 4
Check the table of other markups on your cost to compare prices at 10% to 200%.
- 5
Copy the Summary to paste the cost, markup, price, profit and margin into a quote or spreadsheet.