Profit margin calculator
Enter what an item costs and what it sells for to see the profit, margin and markup, or start from the margin or markup you want and get the price.
Your margin is
60.00%
$18.00 profit on each $30.00 sale, a 150.00% markup on cost
How to use it
- Pick what you know. If you have both cost and price, the calculator returns the margin and markup. If you have a target, it returns the price.
- Enter the cost per unit: what you paid plus anything it took to make it sellable, such as inbound shipping or cleaning.
- Enter the selling price, or the margin or markup you're aiming for.
- Read the profit per unit, and both percentages. When comparing with a supplier or a marketplace, check which one they mean.
Worked example
A phone case costs $12.00 landed and sells for $30.00.
Profit is $18.00. Margin: $18.00 ÷ $30.00 = 60%. Markup: $18.00 ÷ $12.00 = 150%.
Working backwards: to get a 40% margin on the same $12.00 cost, the price is $12.00 ÷ (1 − 0.40) = $20.00. To get a 40% markup, it’s $12.00 × 1.40 = $16.80. Same word “40%”, a $3.20 difference in price.
How this is calculated
Margin and markup describe the same profit from two directions, and mixing them up is the most common pricing mistake in small retail. Margin is profit divided by the selling price: it tells you what share of each dollar the customer pays is yours. Markup is profit divided by the cost: it tells you how much you added to what you paid. A $12 item sold for $30 has an $18 profit, which is a 60% margin and a 150% markup. To price for a margin, divide the cost by one minus the margin; to price for a markup, multiply the cost by one plus the markup. A margin can never reach 100%, because profit can't exceed the price, while a markup can be any size.
profit = price − cost
margin = profit ÷ price × 100
markup = profit ÷ cost × 100
price for a target margin = cost ÷ (1 − margin)
price for a target markup = cost × (1 + markup)
Prices are rounded to the cent; percentages to two decimals.
Rates, sources and limits
Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026 by the CalcRabbit team. Estimates only, not financial, tax or medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
Which one should I use?
Margin, for almost everything about running the business: it's what your accounts, your marketplace fees and any lender talk in. Markup is a habit from pricing off a supplier's cost sheet. Just be sure which one a number is before you plug it in; "keystone" pricing in retail is a 100% markup, which is a 50% margin.
Does this include marketplace fees?
No. It's the plain cost-to-price relationship. To see a margin after eBay's, Etsy's or Poshmark's cut and the shipping label, use the reseller profit calculator, which applies each platform's actual fee schedule.
Why can't margin be 100%?
Because margin is profit divided by price, and profit is always less than price when the cost is above zero. A 100% margin would mean a cost of zero; anything above would mean a negative cost. Markup has no such limit, since it's measured against the cost.
What's a good margin for reselling?
It depends on volume and effort. Thrift flips often run 50% to 70% margins with a modest dollar profit; retail arbitrage often runs 15% to 30% on bigger tickets. Most full-time sellers care more about profit per item and per hour than the percentage.