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Free Margin & Markup Calculator

Work out profit, margin and markup from a cost and a selling price, or the price you need for a target margin or markup. Do one product or a whole catalog, with or without sales tax, VAT or GST.

Highlights

  • No sign-up
  • Margin and markup together
  • Whole catalog by CSV

How to Work Out Margin and Markup

Both start with profit: the selling price minus what the product cost you. Margin is that profit as a share of the price. Markup is the same profit as a share of the cost.

For example, a product that costs $8.00 and sells for $12.00 makes $4.00 profit: a 33.3% margin and a 50% markup.

The formulas

  • Margin = (price − cost) ÷ price
  • Markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost
  • Price for a target margin = cost ÷ (1 − margin)
  • Price for a target markup = cost × (1 + markup)

Pricing a whole catalog? Send your products here from the SKU Generator or import its CSV export as it is, add your costs, then print the new prices with the Price Tag Maker.

To use this tool, start with Step 1 below. In Step 1: Settings, pick your currency, say whether your prices include sales tax, VAT or GST, and choose how target prices are rounded. In Step 2: One product, check a single price or work one out from a target. In Step 3: Catalog, paste or import your products and see every margin at once, or fill in new prices from a target. In Step 4: Export, check the summary, download a CSV, or make price tags.

Step 1 of 4 Done

Settings

Currency, tax and rounding apply to Step 2 and Step 3.

Amounts round to the currency's smallest unit (2 decimal places).

Tax

Off: cost and price are used as you enter them. Turn on if your shelf prices already include tax.

For prices worked out from a target. Prices always round up, so you never fall below the target.

Tax rules differ by country: US sales tax, for example, is usually added at checkout, while VAT and GST are often included in shelf prices. This tool is a general guide, so confirm your own position with your tax authority or an accountant.

Step 2 of 4 Done

One product

Check one price, or work out the price to charge.

This is an example — type your own cost and price to replace it.

Calculate
Profit
$4.00
Margin
33.3%
Markup
50.0%

You keep $4.00 of every $12.00 sale (33.3% margin). That's 50.0% on top of cost (markup).

Margin ↔ markup
MarginSame as markup
20.0%25.0%
25.0%33.3%
33.3%50.0%
50.0%100.0%
Step 3 of 4 Done

Catalog

Type your products, paste cells from a spreadsheet, or import a CSV file.

This is sample data — clear it or start adding your own.

Fill in new prices from a target

Works out a New price for every row with a cost, using the rounding from Step 1. Your current prices stay as they are.

Row 1

Profit $13.49

Margin 54.0% · Markup 117.3%

Row 2

Profit $10.80

Margin 60.0% · Markup 150.0%

Step 4 of 4 Done

Summary & export

See where your margins stand, then download a CSV or make price tags.

Products counted
2
Average margin
57.0%
Making a loss
0

Uses the new price where a row has one. Average margin is the plain average of each product's margin.

Lowest margins

  1. Classic T-Shirt54.0%
  2. Canvas Tote60.0%

No product sells below cost.

Free: 50 of 50 products left today in CSV exports · the calculator is unlimited

Opens the Price Tag Maker with these prices and the currency. It doesn't use your export allowance.

Pricing guide

Price for the profit you need

The calculator does the sums. This guide covers what margin and markup mean, how to work out a selling price from cost, how tax changes the picture, and how to check a whole catalog at once.

Know the difference

Markup vs. margin

The same profit, measured two ways. Mixing them up is the most common pricing mistake: a 50% markup is only a 33.3% margin.

CompareMarginMarkup
Measures profit againstThe selling priceThe cost
Formula(price − cost) ÷ price(price − cost) ÷ cost
$8.00 cost, $12.00 price33.3%50%
Can reach 100%?Only if cost is zeroYes, and go past it
Price from a targetcost ÷ (1 − margin)cost × (1 + markup)
Often used forComparing profit across products and against costsPricing quickly from a supplier's cost

Margin ↔ markup at a glance

20% margin = 25% markup

25% margin = 33.3% markup

33.3% margin = 50% markup

50% margin = 100% markup

Worked examples

How the sums are done

The same $8.00 product three ways: checking a price, pricing for a margin, and pricing with tax included.

Cost $8.00, price $12.00

  1. Profit: 12.00 − 8.00 = $4.00.
  2. Margin: 4 ÷ 12 = 33.3%.
  3. Markup: 4 ÷ 8 = 50%.

Priced at $9.00 with a $10.00 cost instead, the profit is −$1.00 and the margin −11.1%: the tool labels it a loss.

Cost $8.00, 40% margin

  1. Price: 8.00 ÷ (1 − 0.40) = 13.333…
  2. Rounded up to the cent: $13.34, so the margin stays at 40% or above.
  3. With “End in .99” rounding: $13.99, a 42.8% margin.

In yen the same sum gives ¥1,334 from ¥800; in Kuwaiti dinars, 13.334 from 8.000.

Cost $6.00, 40% margin, 20% tax

  1. Price before tax: 6.00 ÷ 0.60 = $10.00.
  2. Add 20% tax: 10.00 × 1.20 = $12.00 on the shelf.
  3. Check: of $12.00, $2.00 is tax and $4.00 is profit, which is 40% of $10.00.

Percentages show to one decimal place. Money rounds to the currency's smallest unit, and prices from a target always round up.

Tax

Margins with sales tax, VAT or GST

Tax you collect goes to the government, not to you, so margin is always worked out on the price before tax.

Tax added at checkout

If tax is added on top when the customer pays, as US sales tax usually is, leave the tax switch off and enter your prices before tax.

Tax included in the price

If your shelf price already includes VAT or GST, as it often does in many countries, turn the switch on and enter your rate. The calculator takes the tax out before working out margin.

Cost without tax

Enter cost without any tax you can reclaim. If you can't reclaim the tax you pay to suppliers, include it in the cost instead.

Tax rules differ by country and sometimes by product. This tool is a general guide, so confirm your own position with your tax authority or an accountant.

Save time

How to check margins for a whole catalog

You don't need to work products out one by one. Start from wherever your product list lives today.

Option 1

Paste from a spreadsheet

Copy your name, SKU, cost and price columns, click the first product name cell in Step 3 and paste. New rows are added automatically.

Option 2

Import a CSV

Upload any CSV and match its columns. The SKU Generator's export maps itself: Product Name, Generated SKU and Price come across, and you add the costs.

Option 3

Send from the SKU Generator

Press Work out margins in the SKU Generator and the products open here. Add costs, set new prices, then press Make price tags.

Once your prices are set, print them with the Price Tag Maker. No SKUs yet? Create them with the SKU Generator.

Spreadsheet friendly

Use the margin calculator with Excel and Google Sheets

Keep your costs and prices in a spreadsheet and use the calculator to check them. Or start from the free template.

Free margin calculator template for Excel and Google Sheets

The template has the four columns this calculator reads: Product Name, SKU, Cost and Price. Open it in Excel or import it into Google Sheets, fill in your products, then import the CSV here.

  1. Download the template and add your products.
  2. Import it here, or paste the rows into the catalog table.
  3. Export the CSV with profit, margin and markup for every product.
Download the CSV template

Type amounts as plain numbers

Write 12, 12.50 or 1,250.00, without a currency sign. The calculator uses the currency you pick in Step 1. If a spreadsheet exports amounts with symbols, format the column as Number before you export, or the row will ask you to fix it. The exported CSV uses plain numbers too, so it opens cleanly in a spreadsheet.

Common questions

Margin & markup FAQ

Quick answers about margin vs. markup, selling prices from cost, tax, rounding and pricing a whole catalog.

What's the difference between markup and margin?

Both measure the same profit, against a different base. Margin is profit as a share of the selling price; markup is profit as a share of the cost. A product that costs $8.00 and sells for $12.00 makes $4.00: that's a 33.3% margin ($4 of $12) and a 50% markup ($4 on top of $8). Markup is always the bigger number, except when both are zero.

How do I calculate a selling price from cost?

Decide the margin or markup you want, then use one of two formulas. For a target margin, price = cost ÷ (1 − margin): $8.00 at a 40% margin is 8 ÷ 0.6 = $13.34 (rounded up from $13.333). For a target markup, price = cost × (1 + markup): $8.00 at a 50% markup is 8 × 1.5 = $12.00. In this calculator, choose Price from target margin or Price from target markup in Step 2.

How do I convert markup to margin, or margin to markup?

Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup), and markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). So a 100% markup is a 50% margin, a 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, and a 25% margin is a 33.3% markup. The table in Step 2 lists the common pairs.

What is a good profit margin?

It depends on what you sell and how you sell it. Shops with high running costs or slow-moving stock usually need higher margins than those that sell a lot of a few items. Rather than aim for one number, work out what each product must earn to cover your other costs, and use the catalog summary to find the products that earn the least.

Why can't a margin be 100% or more?

Margin is profit as a share of the price, and profit can't be bigger than the price unless the product cost nothing. A 100% margin means a cost of zero. Markup has no such limit: a 200% markup means the price is three times the cost.

How does the calculator handle sales tax, VAT or GST?

Turn on My prices include sales tax / VAT / GST in Step 1 and type your rate. Cost is entered without tax, the selling price is entered and shown with tax included, and margin is worked out on the price before tax, because the tax isn't yours to keep. Prices worked out from a target come back tax-inclusive. Tax rules differ by country, so check how they apply to you with your tax authority or an accountant.

Can I work out margins for my whole product list?

Yes. In Step 3, paste rows from Excel or Google Sheets, or import a CSV with your product name, SKU, cost and price. Each row shows its profit, margin and markup, and the summary in Step 4 lists your average margin, the lowest-margin products and anything selling at a loss. Exporting the catalog to CSV is free for up to 50 products a day; the calculator itself is unlimited.

Can I set new prices for every product at once?

Yes. In Step 3, choose a target margin or markup and press Apply to all. Each row with a cost gets a New price, rounded the way you chose in Step 1, and its current price stays in the table so you can compare. Export the CSV, or press Make price tags to print the new prices with the Price Tag Maker.

How does price rounding work?

Prices worked out from a target are first rounded up to the currency's smallest unit, so you never land below the target. Then you can round up to the nearest 1, 5, 10, 50 or 100, or to the next price ending in .99 (99 for currencies with no decimals, such as yen). Rounding only ever goes up, so the margin you get is at least the one you asked for.

Can I use my SKU Generator file?

Yes. Import the SKU Generator's CSV export as it is: Product Name, Generated SKU and Price map automatically. It has no cost column, so each row asks for a cost before it's counted. You can also press Work out margins in the SKU Generator to bring the products straight here.

Which currencies can I use?

Any currency in circulation, from the same list as the other Picker Tools, with USD first by default. Amounts round to each currency's smallest unit (no decimals for yen, two for dollars, three for Kuwaiti dinars), and numbers are shown the way your device formats them.

Does this calculator upload my prices?

No. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. That also means your catalog isn't saved when you refresh or close the page, so export it to CSV before you leave.

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