Money & Finance
Markup Calculator
Markup tells you how much you're adding on top of cost to arrive at your selling price. It's the number retailers and resellers usually think in, since pricing decisions typically start from "what did this cost me."
The formula
profit = price − cost
markup (%) = (profit ÷ cost) × 100
Worked example
An item costs $650 and sells for $1,000:
profit = 1,000 − 650 = 350
markup = (350 ÷ 650) × 100 ≈ 53.85%
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost. Margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. A $350 profit on a $650 cost and $1,000 price is a 53.8% markup but only a 35% margin.
How do I set a price using a target markup?
Multiply the cost by (1 + markup ÷ 100). A 50% markup on a $10 cost gives a $15 price.
Why do markup and margin percentages look so different for the same sale?
They're measured against different bases — markup is over cost, margin is over price and price is always larger than cost when there's a profit, so the markup percentage will always read higher than the margin percentage.