Answer: Enter your values and the Markup Calculator returns the exact result instantly — formula, worked example, and a plain-English explanation are included below the tool.
A markup calculator converts between cost and selling price using markup and margin percentages, keeping gross-margin math consistent.
Calculate selling price, profit margin, and markup percentage from cost and revenue.
Enter a cost and a markup percentage, and the calculator returns the selling price, gross profit, and the equivalent profit margin. You can also work backwards: enter a selling price instead of a markup and the tool derives the markup that price implies. The two core formulas are selling price = cost × (1 + markup%) and markup% = (price − cost) ÷ cost. Everything computes instantly in your browser — no sign-up, no data sent anywhere.
Markup and margin both describe the gap between cost and price, but they use different denominators, so the same dollar profit produces different percentages. Markup is profit divided by cost; margin is profit divided by revenue. A 50% markup is only a 33.3% margin, and a 100% markup is a 50% margin — a distinction that regularly causes pricing errors when someone asks for "50 points" without saying which side they mean. The table below shows the pairs side by side.
| Cost | Markup % | Selling price | Gross profit | Margin % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50 | 25% | $62.50 | $12.50 | 20.0% |
| $50 | 50% | $75.00 | $25.00 | 33.3% |
| $50 | 100% | $100.00 | $50.00 | 50.0% |
| $100 | 25% | $125.00 | $25.00 | 20.0% |
| $100 | 75% | $175.00 | $75.00 | 42.9% |
| $100 | 150% | $250.00 | $150.00 | 60.0% |
Notice the pattern: markup is always the larger number for the same profit, and margin can never reach 100% no matter how high the markup climbs, because the denominator is the selling price itself. Accountants and investors generally speak in margins (gross margin is revenue minus cost of goods sold, divided by revenue); sales and operations teams more often speak in markups, because costs are what they price from.
Retail and food service often apply category-level rules of thumb — keystone pricing, a long-standing retail convention of doubling cost, is exactly a 100% markup. Grocery runs on thin total margins but high volume; restaurants commonly target food cost near a third of menu price, which corresponds to roughly a 200% markup on ingredients. Distributors and manufacturers set markups that vary by product line, competition, and how price-sensitive customers are.
The right markup depends on your gross-margin target and your cost structure: rent, labor, and marketing all have to fit inside the gap between price and product cost. If you know the margin you need, invert the relationship to get the required markup with markup% = margin% ÷ (1 − margin%). A 40% target margin, for example, needs a 66.7% markup — check it in the calculator above.
Run the numbers on a concrete case. A coffee shop with $2.00 ingredient cost per latte and a $5.50 menu price carries a $3.50 gross profit, which is a 175% markup but only a 63.6% margin — the same coffee, described two ways. A contractor quoting a $10,000 job on $6,500 direct costs is looking at a 53.8% markup and a 35% margin, and can use the calculator to price the job for a target 40% margin instead: required revenue is cost divided by (1 − 0.40), or $10,833.
Product teams use the backward direction most. Knowing only the market price a product can bear — say competitors sell at $89 — a maker with $45 unit cost enters both figures and sees the implied 97.8% markup and 49.4% margin, then judges whether that margin covers overhead and leaves profit. Retailers planning a promotion do the same in reverse: a 20% off sale on a $75 item drops revenue to $60 while the $50 cost is unchanged, collapsing the margin from 33.3% to 16.7% — a useful pre-check before advertising a discount.
Because markup percentages hide the effect of fixed costs, pair this tool with a break-even view of your overhead: gross profit per unit times units sold must exceed fixed costs before any net profit exists.
One more caution on comparisons: quoting markup across industries is close to meaningless without knowing the cost basis each industry uses. A distributor marking up freight-inclusive cost and a retailer marking up landed cost are not describing the same economics, and a services firm quoting "markup" on fully loaded labor cost is computing something closer to a margin on time. Define which denominator your markup uses before you compare it to anyone else's, and keep that definition fixed across quarters so your own trend line stays honest. The calculator above always uses the price you entered minus the cost you entered as gross profit, so at minimum the math is consistent from one run to the next.
What is a good markup? It depends entirely on the industry and cost structure — grocery works on single-digit margins with volume, while software and services support far higher multiples. There is no universal number; price against your own target margin and market.
How do I convert markup to margin? Divide the dollar profit by the selling price instead of the cost. A 50% markup on $50 yields a $75 price, $25 profit, and a 33.3% margin.
What is keystone pricing? Doubling cost — a 100% markup, which equals a 50% margin. It is a traditional retail starting point, not a rule.
Does this calculator handle discounts or taxes? No — it computes the cost-price relationship only. Apply taxes and discounts as separate steps.
Why does 100% markup equal only 50% margin? Because margin divides profit by the (larger) selling price. At a 100% markup, price is twice cost, so profit is exactly half of revenue.