Markup Calculator — markup %, margin & profit from cost and price

How it works

Markup divides profit by cost: (price − cost) ÷ cost. It answers "how much did I add on top of what I paid?" — the number a retailer sets when pricing up from a supplier cost. Margin divides the same profit by price instead: (price − cost) ÷ price, the share of the sale that is profit. Because cost is smaller than price on a profitable sale, the markup percentage is always the larger of the two, and the gap widens as prices rise. The sweep applies increasing markups to your cost and shows the margin each produces — margin climbs toward 100% as markup grows but never reaches it, since some of every sale is always cost.

Worked example

Both anchor cases are published, by two independent sources. CFI: a product costing $10 sold for $15 has a markup of ($15 − $10) ÷ $10 = 50%. Wall Street Prep: a $100 unit sold at $120 has a markup of $20 ÷ $100 = 20%. On the default — $100 cost, $150 price — the markup is 50% and the profit $50, while the margin on the same sale is 33.3%: this calculator's computation of both from one cost and price.

Frequently asked questions

What is markup?

Profit as a percentage of cost: (selling price − cost) ÷ cost. A $10 item sold for $15 is marked up 50%. It is the figure a business applies to a cost to set a price — "cost plus 50%" — which is why it is measured against cost, not the final price.

How is markup different from margin?

Same profit, different denominator. Markup divides profit by cost; margin divides it by price. The identical $10→$15 sale is 50% markup but 33.3% margin. Markup is always the bigger number on a profitable sale, and confusing the two is a classic pricing error — a "50% margin" and a "50% markup" are very different prices.

How do I set a price from a target markup?

Multiply the cost by one plus the markup: cost × (1 + markup). A $100 cost at a 50% markup prices at $150. The sweep shows several markups on your cost at once, with the margin each implies, so you can price toward a margin goal too.

Why does margin approach but never reach 100%?

Because margin is profit ÷ price, and the price always includes the cost — so cost is never zero as a share of the sale. Doubling and redoubling the markup pushes margin toward 100% asymptotically; only an infinite markup (a free item sold for money) would reach it, which the sweep makes visible.

Which should I use, markup or margin?

Markup is natural when pricing up from a known cost; margin is natural when analyzing profitability as a share of revenue. Retailers often think in markup, finance teams in margin. This page reports both so you can speak either language from the same two numbers.

Does markup account for other costs?

No — this is the markup over the unit cost you enter. Overhead, shipping, returns, and discounts all sit between this gross markup and actual profit; a healthy markup on unit cost can still lose money once those are counted, which is why margin analysis on full costs matters.

How accurate is this, and what does it exclude?

The arithmetic is exact for the cost and price entered. It excludes taxes, volume and quantity effects, discounts off the selling price, and any costs beyond the unit cost — so treat markup as the pricing lever and margin on fully loaded costs as the profitability measure.