Markup and margin both describe the gap between what something costs you and what you sell it for — but they use different denominators, so they’re easy to confuse, and mixing them up quietly wrecks your pricing. This calculator keeps them straight: give it any two of cost, selling price, markup % and margin %, and it returns the selling price, profit, markup and margin together.
How it works
The two formulas share a profit figure but divide it differently:
- Markup % = profit ÷ cost × 100
- Margin % = profit ÷ selling price × 100
Pick a mode for what you already know:
| Mode | You enter | It derives |
|---|---|---|
| Cost + selling price | cost, price | profit, markup, margin |
| Cost + markup % | cost, markup | price = cost × (1 + markup/100) |
| Cost + margin % | cost, margin | price = cost ÷ (1 − margin/100) |
A target margin of 100% or more is rejected, because profit can never exceed the price.
Example
A product costs £60 and you apply a 50% markup. Profit = £60 × 0.50 = £30, so the selling price is £90. That same £30 profit on a £90 price is a margin of 30 ÷ 90 = 33.3% — markup and margin are never the same number. If instead you target a 30% margin on the £60 cost, the price is £60 ÷ 0.70 = £85.71.
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