Free calculator
Markup Calculator
How much you add to cost to reach your price, as a percentage — and what that leaves you as a margin.
Markup
50%
- Cost
- $100.00
- Selling price
- $150.00
- Profit
- $50.00
- Margin
- 33.33%
A worked example
A part costs $80 and the trade convention is to double it. That is a 100% markup, which sounds like half the sale is profit — it is, but only because the two happen to coincide at this one point. The margin is 50%.
| Cost | $80.00 |
|---|---|
| Markup 100% | $80.00 |
| Price / margin | $160.00 / 50% |
Markup and margin only match at 0%. Everywhere else markup is the larger number, and the gap widens as prices rise.
Common questions
- How do I calculate markup?
- Subtract cost from price, divide by the cost, multiply by 100. Selling a $80 item for $160 is (160 − 80) ÷ 80 = 100%.
- What is a 50% markup as a margin?
- 33.33%. Cost $100, price $150, profit $50 — which is half the cost but only a third of the price.
- Which should I price with?
- Markup is easier to apply — you start from a cost you already know. Margin is what to judge the business by, because it tells you what share of revenue survives. Most firms price with markup and report on margin.
- Does markup include VAT or sales tax?
- No. Work with figures excluding tax on both sides. Tax is collected on behalf of the authority and was never yours, so including it inflates the markup and the margin alike.