Profit Margin & Markup Calculator

Work out margin, markup, cost or selling price from any two of them. Margin and markup are not the same thing.

Formula

margin = (price − cost) / price   ·   markup = (price − cost) / cost

Tips

  • Margin and markup are routinely confused, and the gap widens fast: a 50% markup is only a 33.3% margin, and a 100% markup is a 50% margin.
  • Margin is a share of the selling price; markup is a share of the cost. Retail and finance talk in margin, trade suppliers usually quote markup.
  • Margin can never reach 100% — that would mean the goods cost nothing. Markup has no upper limit.

Frequently asked questions

I want a 30% margin. What markup is that?

About 42.9%. Divide the margin by (1 − margin): 0.30 ÷ 0.70 = 0.4286. Applying a 30% markup instead would leave you with only a 23% margin, well short of the target.