Margin & Markup Calculator
Everyday
Pricing decisions hinge on two ratios that get confused all the time: margin (profit ÷ selling price) and markup (profit ÷ cost). A 50% markup is only a 33% margin — and a 50% margin requires a 100% markup. This calculator lets you fix any two of (cost, selling price, margin %) and solve for the third, so you can quote a price that protects your target margin, audit an existing price's actual margin, or work backwards from a competitor's price to figure out the cost ceiling you'd need to match it. The reference table on the right shows the margin ⇄ markup conversion at common pricing tiers, so you can sanity-check rules-of-thumb (keystone pricing = 50% margin = 100% markup = ×2 price) without re-deriving the algebra each time. Every calculation runs in your browser; no numbers are uploaded.
Selling Price
100
Profit
40
Margin
40.00%
Markup
66.67%
Margin vs Markup
Margin is profit ÷ price; markup is profit ÷ cost. A 50% markup is only a 33% margin. The reference table below makes the conversion explicit.
Margin ⇄ Markup reference
| Margin | Markup | Price × Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% | ×1.111 |
| 20% | 25.00% | ×1.250 |
| 25% | 33.33% | ×1.333 |
| 30% | 42.86% | ×1.429 |
| 40% | 66.67% | ×1.667 |
| 50% | 100.00% | ×2.000 |
| 60% | 150.00% | ×2.500 |
| 70% | 233.33% | ×3.333 |
| 80% | 400.00% | ×5.000 |
How to use
- Pick a mode — solve for price (when costing out a new product), solve for margin (when auditing an existing price), or solve for cost (when reverse-engineering a price ceiling).
- Enter the two known values in the input fields that appear.
- Read the headline result, plus profit, margin %, and markup % in the breakdown cards below.
- Use the reference table to spot-check the margin-to-markup conversion at common pricing tiers.
Frequently asked questions
- What's the difference between margin and markup?
- Margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price (profit ÷ price). Markup is profit as a percentage of the cost (profit ÷ cost). They describe the same profit dollars from two different denominators, so the numbers are always different — a 25% margin equals a 33.3% markup; a 50% margin equals a 100% markup.
- Can the margin go above 100%?
- No. Since margin = profit ÷ price and profit ≤ price (you can't earn more than the customer pays), margin is mathematically capped at 100%. Markup, on the other hand, has no upper limit — a $1 item sold for $100 has a 9,900% markup but a 99% margin.
- Which one should I quote to clients or buyers?
- Wholesale and retail typically quote markup ("a 40% markup on cost"). Investors, finance teams, and SaaS reports quote margin ("gross margin of 70%"). When in doubt, ask which denominator: cost or revenue.
- What's keystone pricing?
- Doubling the cost — a ×2 multiplier, which is a 100% markup and a 50% margin. It's the traditional retail rule of thumb that bakes in roughly enough room for overhead, shrinkage, and clearance markdowns while still leaving a profit.
- How does this differ from the Discount Calculator?
- Discount Calculator is buyer-side — given a listed price and a percent off, what do I actually pay? Margin Calculator is seller-side — given a cost, what price covers my overhead and profit target? Different problem, different math.
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