Profit margin & markup calculator
Enter your cost and selling price to see your profit, margin and markup — or work out the price you need for a target margin.
- Profit
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- Margin (profit / price)
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- Markup (profit / cost)
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Price from a target margin
- Required selling price
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Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored or uploaded.
Margin vs markup
Margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price; markup is profit as a percentage of the cost. The same profit gives a smaller margin than markup, so it’s worth being clear which one you mean.
The formulas
Profit = price − cost. Margin = profit / price × 100%. Markup = profit / cost × 100%.
- Example: cost 60, price 100. Profit 40, margin 40%, markup 66.7%.
- The other way round: for a 30% margin on an item that costs 60, the price is 60 / 0.70 = 85.71.
Markup to margin
Margin = markup / (1 + markup). Some common values:
- 25% markup = 20% margin
- 33.3% markup = 25% margin
- 50% markup = 33.3% margin
- 100% markup = 50% margin
Margin and VAT or sales tax
Always work out your margin on prices excluding VAT or sales tax. The tax belongs to the government, not to your revenue: if a customer pays 120 including 20% VAT, your revenue is 100.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good profit margin?
It depends entirely on your industry and costs — there is no universal number. Compare against typical figures for your sector.
How do I price for a target margin?
Divide your cost by (1 minus the target margin as a decimal). For a 30% margin on a €60 cost, that’s 60 / 0.70. The calculator shows this under “Required selling price”.
Is a 50% markup the same as a 50% margin?
No. A 50% markup on a cost of 100 gives a price of 150 and a margin of 33.3%. For a 50% margin the price has to be 200, which is a 100% markup.