Margin Calculator

Choose Price to review an existing selling price, Margin to find the price required for a target gross margin, or Markup to add a target percentage to cost.

Enter costs and prices for the same unit or matching quantity. Mixing a per-item cost with revenue for several items produces a meaningless result.

The primary result shows either gross margin or the required selling price. Supporting results show gross profit or loss, markup, cost share, and status.

Open the pricing breakdown to inspect the formula, price composition, calculation notes, print view, and CSV export.

Gross profit is selling price minus direct cost. It is the amount left before operating expenses and other indirect costs.

Gross margin divides gross profit by selling price. It answers: what percentage of the sale remains after the entered direct cost?

Markup divides the same gross profit by cost. It answers: how much was added relative to the cost base?

Because margin and markup use different denominators, the percentages should not be used interchangeably.

For a profitable sale, selling price is larger than cost. Dividing profit by the larger selling-price denominator produces a lower percentage than dividing by cost.

A product costing $100 and selling for $150 produces $50 gross profit. The gross margin is 33.33%, while markup is 50%.

A 50% margin requires a 100% markup. Adding a 50% markup does not produce a 50% margin.

A target margin treats gross profit as a share of the final selling price. The cost therefore represents the remaining share of revenue.

For a 40% target margin, cost must equal 60% of selling price. A $60 cost therefore requires a $100 selling price.

A target margin of 100% is impossible when cost is positive because it leaves no share of revenue available to cover cost.

Markup starts with cost. A 35% markup multiplies cost by 1.35.

For example, a $200 cost with 35% markup produces a $270 selling price and $70 gross profit. The matching gross margin is about 25.93%.

Negative markup down to -100% can model selling below cost. A -100% markup produces a zero selling price.

A selling price above cost produces gross profit. Equal price and cost produce break-even gross profit of zero. A price below cost produces a gross loss.

A loss creates negative margin and negative markup when their denominators are non-zero.

Selling below direct cost may be intentional in a promotion or loss-leader strategy, but this calculator does not evaluate whether the wider strategy is profitable.

Use the direct cost attributable to the same product, service, unit, order, or quantity represented by the selling price.

For products, direct cost may include purchase or production cost assigned to the item. For services, use the direct delivery cost appropriate to the pricing decision.

Accounting treatment varies. Use the business's accounting policy or professional advice when deciding which costs belong in cost of goods sold.

Gross profitability does not deduct operating expenses such as payroll, rent, software, advertising, insurance, administration, interest, or income tax.

It also excludes payment-processing charges, shipping, refunds, marketplace commissions, and sales taxes unless those amounts are included in the cost entered.

A product can have a positive gross margin while the business still reports a net loss.

A target-price result can contain more decimal places than the currency normally uses.

Rounding upward can produce a slightly higher margin or markup, while rounding downward can produce a slightly lower one.

After choosing a practical price, switch to Price mode and enter the rounded amount to check the profitability actually achieved.

A mathematical target does not account for customer demand, competitor prices, perceived value, tax treatment, minimum advertised pricing, or price elasticity.

Use margin and markup to understand cost recovery and gross profitability, then combine them with market research and the complete cost structure.

Review pricing whenever direct costs, channel fees, discount policies, packaging, shipping, or product mix changes.

The calculation and CSV creation run locally in the browser.

The tool is suitable for testing product, service, wholesale, retail, and ecommerce pricing scenarios.

The output is not a financial statement, tax calculation, accounting policy, or guarantee that a price will produce a desired sales volume.