Markup Calculator
Calculate selling price from cost and markup percentage, or find the markup percentage between cost and selling price.
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How to use this calculator
Markup is applied to cost price. Gross margin = (Selling Price − Cost) / Selling Price × 100.
- 1
Enter the cost price (what you paid or it costs to make).
- 2
Enter the markup percentage you want to apply.
- 3
See the selling price, profit amount, and resulting gross margin percentage.
Frequently asked questions
Does this tool calculate markup or margin?
Both, in different roles. Markup is the input: the tool takes a cost and a markup percentage and builds the selling price. Gross margin is an output: profit divided by selling price. Markup is measured against cost, margin against the selling price, so the two percentages differ for the same profit.
What formulas does this tool use?
This tool uses selling price = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100), profit = selling price − cost, and gross margin = profit ÷ selling price × 100. With the defaults of a cost of 50 and a 60% markup, selling price is 80.00, profit is 30.00 and gross margin is 37.50%.
Why is the margin always smaller than the markup?
Both percentages share the same profit in the numerator, but margin divides by the selling price, which is larger than cost whenever the markup is positive. A 50% markup on a cost of 50 gives a 33.33% margin; a 100% markup gives 50.00%. Margin can never reach 100% from a positive cost.
How do I turn a target margin into a markup?
The tool cannot solve in that direction, but the relationship is markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). For a 40% margin that is 66.67%. Entering a cost of 60 and a markup of 66.67% gives a selling price of 100.00 and a margin of 40.00%, which confirms it.
What happens with a cost of zero or a markup of −100%?
The selling price becomes 0.00, so there is no base to divide by and the gross margin line shows n/a. With a cost of 50 and a markup of −100%, profit is −50.00. A markup of 0% is fine: selling price equals cost, profit is 0.00 and margin is 0.00%.
Are overheads, tax and discounts included?
No. The profit shown is only the selling price minus the cost you enter, so it is a gross figure. Staff, rent, shipping, payment fees and sales tax are not deducted, and the tool does not model a discount off the selling price. Include any direct costs you want covered in the cost box.
Can I find the markup from a cost and a selling price?
Not directly. The tool starts from the markup. By hand, markup = (selling price − cost) ÷ cost × 100, so a cost of 40 and a price of 70 is 75%. Enter 40 and 75 to see the same 70.00 selling price and a 42.86% margin.
Are negative markups accepted?
Yes, they are applied as typed, so a −20% markup on a cost of 100 sells at 80.00 with a loss of 20.00. The margin then shows as a negative percentage. Only a selling price of exactly zero or below produces n/a for the margin.
Markup pricing and the margin it produces
Pricing forward from cost
Markup works from the cost you pay: add a percentage of that cost and you have a selling price. The tool performs that step, then reports the profit in money and the gross margin that results. This is useful when you set prices from a supplier invoice, because it shows how a rule such as “cost plus 60%” looks once it is expressed against the selling price.
Worked examples
At a cost of 50 and a 60% markup, the selling price is 80.00, profit is 30.00 and gross margin is 37.50%. A cost of 40 at 75% sells at 70.00 with the same 30.00 profit but a 42.86% margin. A cost of 200 at 25% sells for 250.00, with 50.00 of profit and a 20.00% margin. Each figure came from running the calculator.
How margin trails markup
The cost in this table is fixed at 50, so each row differs only in markup. Profit rises by the same step each time, but margin rises more slowly because the selling price grows along with it. A 100% markup gives a 50.00% margin, and getting to a 60.00% margin needs a 150% markup.
| Markup | Selling price | Profit | Gross margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | 62.50 | 12.50 | 20.00% |
| 50% | 75.00 | 25.00 | 33.33% |
| 100% | 100.00 | 50.00 | 50.00% |
| 150% | 125.00 | 75.00 | 60.00% |
Going from a margin target to a markup
People often quote the margin they want and then apply it as if it were a markup. The two are linked by markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). For 40% that is 66.67%, and the check is easy: cost 60 with a 66.67% markup sells at 100.00 with a 40.00% margin. Using 40% as the markup would give 84.00 and only a 28.57% margin.
Gross profit only
The profit line is selling price minus cost and nothing else. Whatever you leave out of the cost box, from delivery to card fees, is missing from the margin as well. Zero cost or a −100% markup gives a zero selling price and an n/a margin, which is a signal to check the inputs rather than a result. Remember too that the markup is applied to cost only once, so pricing in several stages needs a separate run for each stage.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →