Profit Margin Calculator: Selling Price From Cost, Margin vs. Markup
Enter your cost and the margin you want to see the price to charge, including marketplace or payment fees. Or enter a price to see its real margin and markup.
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Margin isn’t markup
Margin is profit divided by the selling price; markup is profit divided by cost.
- Margin = (price − cost) ÷ price. Buy at $100, sell at $150: margin = $50 ÷ $150 = 33.3%.
- Markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost. Same numbers: markup = $50 ÷ $100 = 50%.
Adding 30% to your cost doesn’t give you a 30% margin: $100 × 1.30 = $130, and the margin is $30 ÷ $130 = 23%.
Selling price for a target margin
Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin − fee rate), where the fee rate is the percentage a marketplace or payment processor takes from the sale. Add any fixed per-order fee to your cost.
Example: $20 cost, 30% target margin, 13.6% marketplace fee: $20 ÷ (1 − 0.30 − 0.136) = $35.46.
FAQ
How do I calculate selling price from cost and margin?
Divide the cost by (1 − margin). For a $100 cost and a 40% margin: $100 ÷ 0.60 = $166.67.
What’s the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit over selling price; markup is profit over cost. A 50% markup equals a 33.3% margin.
How do I include marketplace fees?
Enter the fee percentage in the calculator; it’s taken from the selling price along with your margin. Add fixed per-order fees to your cost.
Should sales tax be part of my margin?
No. Sales tax collected from the buyer goes to the state, so calculate margin on the pre-tax price.
