Free Markup Calculator

How it works

Work in whichever direction suits you: enter a cost and a markup percentage to get the selling price, or enter a cost and the price you want to charge to find the markup — either way you also see the profit per unit and the resulting profit margin.

How the math works

Markup is the percentage you add on top of cost to set a price: price = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100). Working backward, markup % = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100. The calculator also shows the profit margin — (price − cost) ÷ price × 100 — because the two are easy to confuse: a 25% markup on an $80 cost gives a $100 price, but the margin on that sale is 20%, not 25%.

Everyday uses

• Retail and resale: set shelf prices from wholesale cost with a consistent markup across a whole product line.
• Etsy and handmade goods: turn materials-plus-time cost into a price that actually includes your profit.
• Contractor quotes: build a bid from materials and labor cost plus your standard markup.
• Reverse-checking competitors: enter their price and your cost to see what markup they are working with.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is markup the same as profit margin? A: No. Markup is calculated on cost, margin is calculated on price. Because price is the bigger number, the margin percentage is always smaller than the markup percentage for the same sale. This calculator shows both so you never mix them up.

Q: What markup should I use? A: Common retail markups run from about 50% (keystone pricing doubles the cost) to several hundred percent on small or specialty items. The right figure covers your overheads — rent, fees, shipping, returns — with profit left over, while staying in line with what customers will pay.

Q: Can markup be negative? A: Yes — that means selling below cost, which businesses sometimes do deliberately for clearance or loss-leader promotions. Enter a price below your cost in the second mode and the calculator will show the negative markup and margin.