Calculate markup
Enter a cost and a markup percentage to see the sale price, profit and resulting margin.
- Sale price
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- Profit
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- Margin
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Sale price: —, Profit: —, Margin: —
What is markup?
Markup is the amount added to the cost of a product to arrive at its sale price, expressed as a percentage of that cost. A 50% markup on a £100 cost adds £50, giving a £150 sale price.
How to calculate markup
Multiply the cost by the markup percentage to get the profit, then add that to the cost to get the sale price. For example, a £100 cost with a 50% markup earns £50 profit and sells for £150. On the calculator above, enter the cost and the markup to see all three figures at once.
Markup vs margin: what's the difference?
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; margin is profit as a percentage of sale price. They're easy to confuse because they describe the same profit from two different bases. A 50% markup on a £100 cost gives a £150 sale price and a £50 profit — that's a 33.33% margin, not 50%.
Why the gap between markup and margin grows
Because markup is calculated on the smaller cost figure and margin on the larger sale price, markup is always higher than margin for the same transaction (once there's any profit at all). The higher the markup, the wider that gap becomes, so it's worth checking margin as well as markup when setting prices.
Choosing a markup
The right markup depends on your costs, competitors' prices and the margin you need to cover overheads and profit targets. Many retailers work back from a target margin to the markup that achieves it, then check the resulting sale price is competitive.
People also ask
- Multiply the cost by (1 + markup ÷ 100). For example, a £100 cost with a 40% markup sells for £100 × 1.4 = £140.
- Yes. A 100% markup adds an amount equal to the cost, so a £50 cost becomes a £100 sale price — double the original cost.
- Divide the markup by (100 + markup) and multiply by 100. A 50% markup becomes a 50 ÷ 150 × 100 = 33.33% margin.
- Markup is profit divided by cost, while margin is profit divided by the (larger) sale price. Dividing the same profit by a bigger number always gives a smaller percentage, so margin is lower than markup whenever there's a profit.
