Markup vs Margin Calculator
(Markup ↔ Margin Conversion Tool)
Enter your cost with either a markup %, a margin %, or a selling price, and see both percentages, the resulting price, and profit per unit — plus a quick-reference conversion table.
Step 1 — What do you already know?
Step 2 — Enter Values
What you paid or spent to produce/acquire one unit
Profit as a percentage of your cost
Calculated Results
Enter your cost and either a markup %, margin %, or selling price.
Markup → Margin Quick Reference
Same formulas as above, precomputed for common round-number markups
| Markup % | Equivalent Margin % | On a $40 Cost, Price Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% | $44.00 |
| 20% | 16.67% | $48.00 |
| 25% | 20.00% | $50.00 |
| 33.33% | 25.00% | $53.33 |
| 50% | 33.33% | $60.00 |
| 66.67% | 40.00% | $66.67 |
| 100% | 50.00% | $80.00 |
| 150% | 60.00% | $100.00 |
| 200% | 66.67% | $120.00 |
| 300% | 75.00% | $160.00 |
Why Markup and Margin Are Easy to Confuse
Markup and margin both describe the same profit, but as a percentage of two different numbers — cost for markup, selling price for margin — and mixing them up is one of the most common pricing errors small business owners make. A seller aiming for a 50% margin who instead applies a 50% markup ends up under-pricing every single sale, often without realizing it until cash flow tightens.
Markup Formula
Margin Formula
Because markup divides by the smaller number (cost) and margin divides by the larger number (price), markup is always a bigger percentage than margin for the same dollar profit — the only exception is at 0%, where both are zero.
Worked Example
A product costs $40 to make and sells for $60. The profit is $20 either way you slice it — the percentages just describe it differently:
- Markup: $20 ÷ $40 = 50%
- Margin: $20 ÷ $60 = 33.3%
To actually reach a 50% margin on that $40 cost, the price needs to rise to $80 — which is a 100% markup. This is exactly what the conversion table below (and the calculator above) works out automatically.