Calculate profit, profit margin and markup from the cost and the selling price, including losses when the cost is higher.
Calculations happen locally. We do not send your values to our server.
An item that costs 60 and sells for 100 earns 40 profit: a 40% margin and a 66.67% markup. A cost of 75 at the same price gives 25 profit, a 25% margin and a 33.33% markup.
Profit is the selling price minus the cost. Margin divides that profit by the selling price and multiplies by 100, so 40 profit on a price of 100 is a 40% margin. Markup divides the same profit by the cost, so 40 on a cost of 60 is 66.67%. A selling price of 0 is rejected, and markup is unavailable when the cost is 0 because a percentage cannot divide by zero.
Margin and markup describe the same sale with different denominators, so always say which one you mean. This is a single-unit calculation: overheads, payment fees, marketplace commissions, returns, shipping you pay and tax are not included unless you add them to the cost yourself.
Enter the cost of the item and the selling price. A product that costs 60 and sells for 100 earns 40 profit. Margin divides that profit by the selling price, giving 40%; markup divides it by the cost, giving 66.67%. Retail pricing is often discussed as markup, while financial reports usually quote margin. Always say which one you mean, because the same sale produces two very different percentages.
To reach a chosen margin, divide cost by one minus the margin. With a cost of 70 and a 30% target margin, the price is 70 ÷ 0.70 = 100, which the calculator confirms as 30 profit, 30% margin and 42.86% markup. A 50% margin on a cost of 50 needs a price of 100, which is a 100% markup. Adding 30% to the cost gives only 91, a margin of about 23%, which is a common pricing mistake.
When cost exceeds the selling price, all three results are negative: cost 120 and price 100 give −20 profit, −20% margin and −16.67% markup. Margin cannot reach 100% unless cost is zero, and markup is unavailable at zero cost. The cost field should contain everything you treat as the cost of that item, such as purchase price, packaging and inbound shipping. Payment fees, marketplace commissions, returns, overheads and tax are outside this simple unit calculation unless you add them to cost.
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
60 → 100 | 40 · 40% · 66.67% |
75 → 100 | 25 · 25% · 33.33% |
50 → 100 | 50 · 50% · 100% |
70 → 100 | 30 · 30% · 42.86% |
120 → 100 | -20 · -20% · -16.67% |
Divide the cost by one minus the margin. With a cost of 70 and a 30% target, the price is 70 ÷ 0.70 = 100, which gives 30 profit, a 30% margin and a 42.86% markup. Adding 30% to the cost instead gives only 91 and a margin of about 23%, a common pricing mistake.
Because markup is measured against the smaller number, the cost. An item costing 50 sold at 100 has a 50% margin but a 100% markup, since the profit equals the whole cost. Margin can never reach 100% unless the cost is zero, while markup has no upper limit.
All three results turn negative. A cost of 120 sold for 100 gives −20 profit, a −20% margin and a −16.67% markup. The margin compares the loss with the price while the markup compares it with the cost, so the two percentages differ even though the loss is the same amount.
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