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This calculator turns a cost and a sale price into the three numbers every seller needs: the profit in money, the profit margin as a percentage of the price, and the markup as a percentage of the cost. Enter what an item costs you and what you sell it for, and all three update as you type.
They are easy to confuse because they measure the same profit against different bases. Margin is profit divided by the sale price; markup is profit divided by the cost. A product bought for 60 and sold for 100 has a 40% margin (40 ÷ 100) but a 67% markup (40 ÷ 60). Margin can never exceed 100%, but markup can.
Profit is the sale price minus the cost. Margin is profit ÷ price × 100, and markup is profit ÷ cost × 100. If the price is below the cost, the profit and both percentages are negative — a useful warning that you are selling at a loss.
If you know the margin you want, you can find the price: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). To hit a 40% margin on a 60 cost, sell at 60 ÷ 0.6 = 100. To hit a target markup instead, price = cost × (1 + markup).
Margin tells you what share of each sale you actually keep, which is what feeds overheads and profit. Two businesses with the same markup can have very different margins once discounts and fees are included, so margin is usually the figure to watch.
You buy a product for 40 and sell it for 100. Your profit is 60, your margin is 60% and your markup is 150%. Drop the price to 60 and the profit falls to 20, the margin to 33% and the markup to 50%.
Margin is profit as a share of the sale price; markup is profit as a share of the cost. The same 40 profit on a 100 sale is a 40% margin but a 67% markup.
Subtract the cost from the sale price to get the profit, then divide by the sale price and multiply by 100. Profit ÷ price × 100 is your margin percentage.
Divide the cost by one minus the margin. For a 40% margin on a 60 cost, sell at 60 ÷ 0.6 = 100.
No — margin is a share of the price, so it maxes out below 100%. Markup has no upper limit because it is measured against the cost.
The profit and both percentages turn negative, which means you are selling at a loss — a useful check before you set a price.