Markup Calculator

A markup percentage represents how much the selling price exceeds the cost price, expressed as a fraction of cost. Profit margin, by contrast, expresses the same profit as a fraction of the selling price. Both metrics matter when setting prices, comparing suppliers, or evaluating product profitability, and every related figure derives from any two known values.

Three modes cover the common directions: finding markup percent and margin from a cost price and a selling price, finding the selling price from a cost price and a markup percentage, and finding the cost price from a selling price and a markup percentage. Each field accepts whole numbers, decimals, fractions such as 3/4, mixed numbers such as 5 1/2, and scientific notation such as 1.5e3; dollar signs and commas are stripped automatically, so "$1,250.00" and "1250" parse the same way.

The core formulas are as follows. Markup % = ((Selling Price - Cost Price) / Cost Price) x 100. Profit Margin % = ((Selling Price - Cost Price) / Selling Price) x 100. Profit = Selling Price - Cost Price. Selling Price = Cost Price x (1 + Markup % / 100). Cost Price = Selling Price / (1 + Markup % / 100). All intermediate arithmetic runs at full floating-point precision before rounding the display to the selected number of decimal places (0 to 6).

A step-by-step view displays the symbolic formula, the substituted values, and the computed result for each figure.

Finding the cost price from a $45.00 selling price and an 80% markup: Cost Price = 45 / (1 + 0.80) = 45 / 1.8 = $25.00. Checking it forward, from that $25.00 cost at an 80% markup: Selling Price = 25 x 1.8 = $45.00, and Profit = 45 - 25 = $20.00, giving Markup % = (20 / 25) x 100 = 80% and Profit Margin % = (20 / 45) x 100, about 44.44%.

Markup and margin calculations appear whenever a price must cover costs and deliver a target return. The scenarios below illustrate common applications across retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and service industries.

• Retail pricing: The wholesale cost of a product and the desired markup percentage find the shelf price. A store that buys a widget for $8.00 and applies a 50% markup sees a selling price of $12.00 and a profit margin of 33.33%.
• Supplier comparison: Given a fixed retail price, each supplier quote entered as the cost compares the resulting markup and margin side by side. The supplier that yields the highest margin at the same quality level is the stronger candidate.
• Menu engineering: Restaurants enter the ingredient cost of a dish and the menu price to verify that the markup meets the target range, often between 200% and 400% depending on the cuisine and market.
• Freelance and consulting: The hourly cost of delivering a service (wages, overhead, software licenses) with a markup applied arrives at the billing rate. The Find Cost Price mode reveals the maximum internal cost that keeps the rate competitive.
• E-commerce repricing: When a marketplace fee or shipping surcharge changes, the updated cost and the current listing price confirm the margin still meets the minimum threshold.
• Wholesale negotiation: A distributor proposing a volume discount can enter the discounted cost alongside the standard retail price to quantify the markup improvement the discount creates.
• Financial analysis: Analysts reviewing income statements enter cost of goods sold and revenue per unit to extract the per-unit markup and margin, cross-checking the gross margin line on the report.