Markup Calculator
Find your selling price from cost and markup. Includes the resulting margin so you can compare like-for-like with margin pricing.
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How this works
Selling Price = Cost × (1 + Markup % ÷ 100) Margin = (Selling Price − Cost) ÷ Selling Price × 100Markup is expressed as a percentage of cost — how much you add on top to get the selling price. Margin is expressed as a percentage of revenue — how much of each dollar of sales is profit. The same product can have a 100% markup and a 50% margin; they describe the same profit from different reference points.
Examples
Wholesale-to-retail (50% markup)
You buy a product at $20 wholesale and apply a standard 50% retail markup. Selling price: 20 × 1.50 = $30. Profit: $10. Margin: 33.3%. The 50% markup line is the most common starting point for general retail.
Apparel (100% markup, "keystone")
"Keystone pricing" is the apparel-industry term for doubling the wholesale cost. A $40 wholesale shirt sells for $80. Profit: $40. Markup: 100%. Margin: 50%. Many specialty boutiques actually run higher than keystone (130–200%) to absorb higher overhead.
Restaurant beverages (200%+ markup)
A bottle of wine that costs the restaurant $15 typically sells for $45–$60. At a 200% markup, the price is $45 (margin 67%). At 300%, the price is $60 (margin 75%). Beverage markups are the highest in restaurants because they cover the labor, ambience, and seating-time costs that food does not.
Service businesses (use margin instead)
For service businesses with mostly labor costs, "margin" is more useful than "markup." If a consultant pays themselves $100/hour and bills $150/hour, the markup is 50% and the margin is 33%. Service-firm pricing is usually quoted as a target margin (the percentage of each invoice dollar that is profit).
Common questions
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost (what you add on top). Margin is profit as a percentage of selling price (what fraction of revenue is profit). Markup is always higher than margin for the same product. A 50% markup yields a 33% margin; a 100% markup yields a 50% margin.
Margin = Markup ÷ (1 + Markup). So a 50% markup converts to 0.5 / 1.5 = 33.3% margin. Going the other way: Markup = Margin ÷ (1 − Margin). A 40% target margin requires a 0.4 / 0.6 = 66.7% markup.
It varies widely by category. General merchandise: 50–60%. Apparel: 100% (keystone) or higher. Furniture: 200–400%. Restaurant food: 200–300%. Restaurant beverages: 300–500%. Jewelry: 300%+. Grocery: very low, often 15–25% on staples and 50%+ on prepared/specialty items.
Use margin for financial analysis (it shows how much of each dollar of sales is profit) and markup for sourcing decisions (it shows how much you need to add to cost). Most retail accounting software displays both; pricing teams usually think in margin and ops teams in markup.
Discounts reduce both your effective markup and margin. A product with a 100% markup ($20 cost, $40 price) sold at 25% off ($30 effective price) drops to a 50% effective markup and 33% effective margin. Plan promotional pricing with the post-discount margin in mind, not the list-price margin.
Use the Profit Margin Calculator instead — it takes cost and selling price and returns both margin and markup percentages. Linked from the Calculators hub.