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TinyBizTools

Markup Calculator

Calculate markup percentage, selling price, and profit margin instantly. Free markup calculator for small businesses — no signup required.

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Ready to calculate

Enter your cost and markup above to see your selling price and profit.

How to Use This Markup Calculator

  1. Choose your mode: Use “Cost → Price” to calculate your selling price from a cost and markup percentage. Switch to “Price → Markup” to find out your markup from known prices.
  2. Enter your cost — what you paid (wholesale price, ingredient cost, production cost).
  3. Enter your markup % (forward mode) or your selling price (reverse mode).
  4. See your results instantly — selling price, profit, markup %, and margin %.

The calculator auto-calculates as you type, so you’ll see your numbers update in real time.

The Formula

Forward — Selling Price from Markup:

Selling Price = Cost × (1 + Markup% ÷ 100)
Profit = Selling Price − Cost
Margin % = (Profit ÷ Selling Price) × 100

Reverse — Markup from Prices:

Profit = Selling Price − Cost
Markup % = (Profit ÷ Cost) × 100
Margin % = (Profit ÷ Selling Price) × 100

Example: You buy wholesale at $25 and want a 60% markup:

  • Selling Price = $25 × 1.60 = $40
  • Profit = $40 − $25 = $15
  • Margin = $15 ÷ $40 = 37.5%

Markup vs. Margin — The Critical Difference

This trips up a lot of business owners. Here’s a simple example:

CostSelling PriceProfitMarkupMargin
Example A$10$15$550%33.3%
Example B$10$20$10100%50%

Key rule: For the same transaction, markup is always a higher percentage than margin.

  • Markup = profit as a % of cost
  • Margin = profit as a % of selling price

If your accountant talks about “30% gross margin” and your purchasing manager talks about “43% markup,” they may be describing the exact same transaction.

Common Markup Percentages by Industry

IndustryTypical MarkupTypical Margin
Grocery/food retail15–25%13–20%
Restaurant food200–400%66–80%
Clothing/apparel100–300%50–75%
Electronics15–50%13–33%
Jewelry100–300%50–75%
Software (SaaS)1000%+70–90%
Freelance services100–300%50–75%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is markup?
Markup is the percentage added to the cost of a product or service to arrive at its selling price. For example, if an item costs you $10 and you sell it for $15, the markup is 50% — because you added $5, which is 50% of the $10 cost.
Markup is based on cost; margin is based on selling price. A 50% markup on a $10 item means a $15 selling price and a 33.3% margin. Markup % is always higher than margin % for the same deal. Use our calculator to see both side by side.
Markup % = ((Selling Price − Cost) ÷ Cost) × 100. Example: cost $10, selling price $15 → (($15−$10) ÷ $10) × 100 = 50% markup.
It depends on your industry. Retail commonly uses 50–100% (keystone pricing). Food service targets 200–400% on food costs. Luxury goods can exceed 300%. Software and digital products often have 80–90% margins. Use industry benchmarks as a guide, not a rule.
No. A 50% markup on a $10 cost = $15 selling price = 33.3% margin. They are different calculations with different bases. Markup uses cost as the denominator; margin uses selling price.
To achieve a 30% margin, you need approximately a 42.86% markup. The formula: Markup % = Margin % ÷ (100 − Margin %) × 100 = 30 ÷ 70 × 100 ≈ 42.86%.

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