Markup & Margin Calculator

Markup and margin are not the same number

Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. A 50% markup is only a 33% margin. Confusing the two is one of the most common pricing mistakes — it quietly erodes profit on every sale.

Enter your cost and either the markup you want to apply or the margin you want to hit. The calculator returns the price, the profit, and both percentages so you always know which lens you are using.

Pricing from target margin

If you know the margin you need to stay profitable, work backwards: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). This guarantees the margin regardless of cost, which is safer than tacking on a flat markup and hoping it is enough.

A 50% markup is a 33% margin, and the gap widens fast

Markup is measured against what something cost you. Margin is measured against what you sold it for. Buy at £100, sell at £150: that is a 50% markup and a 33.3% margin, and both statements describe the same transaction. Confusing them is not a rounding error — it systematically overstates what you keep.

The gap grows as the numbers rise, which is why it bites hardest where it matters most. A 100% markup is a 50% margin. To achieve a 50% margin you need a 100% markup, and to achieve a 60% margin you need a 150% markup. A business that sets prices by markup and reports profitability by margin will keep finding that the money it expected is not there — every single month, for the same reason.