Markup Calculator

A markup calculator turns a known cost into a selling price by applying a percentage on top of cost. Retailers, wholesalers, contractors, and service businesses all use markup to translate purchase or production cost into a customer-facing price that also covers overhead and profit.

The tool also lets you flip the calculation — enter a target margin and the cost, and it computes the price you need to charge. This dual mode matters because markup and margin describe the same transaction from two angles, and confusing the two is one of the most common pricing errors in small business.

You buy a product wholesale for $50 and want a 60% markup:

• Selling price: $50 × (1 + 0.60) = $80
• Profit per unit: $30
• Equivalent margin: $30 / $80 = 37.5%

Now flip it: same $50 cost, but you want a 60% margin instead. The selling price becomes $50 / (1 − 0.60) = $125 — profit of $75. The same headline percentage produces a 56% higher price when applied as margin instead of markup. That gap is exactly why mixing them up is so expensive.

• Retail pricing — apply a category-standard markup (keystone for general goods, 200–300% for apparel) to wholesale cost.
• Construction estimates — mark up materials and subcontractor labor to cover project management and warranty.
• Reverse pricing — start from a competitor's price and back into the maximum cost you can afford.
• Promotion math — quickly check how a discount affects the effective markup left over.
• Service add-ons — price materials, parts, or third-party services passed through to clients.

• Treating markup like margin. A 30% markup is only a 23% margin. Selling at "30% over cost" leaves much less profit than selling at "30% margin."
• Marking up only direct cost. True cost includes freight, duties, and inbound handling. Mark up the landed cost, not the invoice price.
• Using a flat markup across all SKUs. Slow movers, fragile items, and products with high return rates need higher markup; fast-moving staples can carry less.
• Ignoring competitor floor prices. A formula-correct markup that lands you above the market loses the sale. Always sanity-check against listed competitor pricing.
• Forgetting card fees and discounts. A 50% markup on a 20%-off coupon item with 3% card fees is closer to a 22% effective markup.