Finance
Markup Calculator
Turn a cost and markup % into a selling price, work the markup back out from a price, or recover the cost — with profit, margin, and the markup-to-margin chart that trips everyone up.
Solve for selling price
Using cost + markup %
What you paid for the item
$
Percentage added on top of cost
%
Selling price
$90.00
Healthy markup
Cost $60.00Profit $30.00
Cost
$60.00
Selling price
$90.00
Profit
$30.00
Markup
50%
Margin
33.33%
Multiplier
×1.5
Markup is profit over cost; margin is the same profit over price. Both come from one sale.
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The basics
What is markup?
Markup is the amount you add on top of what an item cost you, written as a percentage of that cost. It answers a seller's core question — “what do I charge?” — and it is the single most common way small businesses set prices. Two formulas do all the work: one builds a price from a markup, the other reads the markup out of a price.
price = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100)
Markup builds a price
Start with what you paid, add the markup as a decimal, and multiply. The markup is the percentage of the cost you tack on as profit.
$60 × (1 + 50 ÷ 100) = $90
markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100
A price reveals a markup
Run it the other way: take the profit, divide by the cost, and you have the markup the price represents.
($90 − $60) ÷ $60 × 100 = 50%
Method
How to calculate markup by hand
Three steps take you from a cost and a target markup to a selling price you can put on the shelf.
- 1
Decide your markup percentage
Pick how much profit you want as a share of cost. A 50% markup means half the cost again on top.
markup = 50% - 2
Convert it to a multiplier
Add 1 to the markup written as a decimal. This is the factor you multiply the cost by.
1 + 50 ÷ 100 = 1.5 - 3
Multiply the cost by the multiplier
The product is your selling price — cost plus profit, in one step.
$60 × 1.5 = $90 - 4
Check the profit and margin
Profit is price minus cost; margin is that profit over the price, not the cost.
profit $30 · margin 33.33%
Worked examples
See every direction worked out
The same relationship, solved three ways — for the price, the markup, or the original cost.
You know your cost and the markup you want to apply.
Given cost = $60.00, markup = 50%
Add 1 to the markup as a decimal: 1 + 50 ÷ 100 = 1.5
Multiply the cost by that factor: $60.00 × 1.5 = $90.00
Profit is price minus cost: $90.00 − $60.00 = $30.00
selling price = $90.00
The confusion
Markup vs. margin
These two get mixed up constantly, and the mix-up quietly destroys margins. They describe the same profit — but divide it by different numbers.
markup = profit ÷ cost
Markup is over cost
How much you added relative to what you paid. It tells you how to price up from cost, and it can run past 100%.
$30 ÷ $60 = 50%
margin = profit ÷ price
Margin is over price
How much of each sale you actually keep. It can never reach 100%, because profit can never exceed the price. For gross-profit reporting or target-margin pricing, use the margin calculator.
$30 ÷ $90 = 33.33%
Convert between them whenever you need to: margin = markup ÷ (100 + markup) × 100 and markup = margin ÷ (100 − margin) × 100. The chart below does it for every common markup at once.
Quick chart
What is a markup as a margin?
Every common markup, its equivalent margin, the cost multiplier, and the selling price it produces — set your own base cost and read it straight off.
For a cost of
Markup, equivalent margin, multiplier, and selling price| Markup | Margin | Multiplier | Selling price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 4.76% | ×1.05 | $105.00 |
| 10% | 9.09% | ×1.1 | $110.00 |
| 15% | 13.04% | ×1.15 | $115.00 |
| 20% | 16.67% | ×1.2 | $120.00 |
| 25% | 20% | ×1.25 | $125.00 |
| 30% | 23.08% | ×1.3 | $130.00 |
| 35% | 25.93% | ×1.35 | $135.00 |
| 40% | 28.57% | ×1.4 | $140.00 |
| 50% | 33.33% | ×1.5 | $150.00 |
| 60% | 37.5% | ×1.6 | $160.00 |
| 70% | 41.18% | ×1.7 | $170.00 |
| 75% | 42.86% | ×1.75 | $175.00 |
| 80% | 44.44% | ×1.8 | $180.00 |
| 90% | 47.37% | ×1.9 | $190.00 |
| 100%Keystone | 50% | ×2 | $200.00 |
| 125% | 55.56% | ×2.25 | $225.00 |
| 150% | 60% | ×2.5 | $250.00 |
| 200% | 66.67% | ×3 | $300.00 |
| 300% | 75% | ×4 | $400.00 |
| 400% | 80% | ×5 | $500.00 |
| 500% | 83.33% | ×6 | $600.00 |
Note how a 100% markup is only a 50% margin — markup always reads higher than the margin it produces, because it divides by the smaller number (cost, not price).
Reference
Typical markups by industry
There is no universal “right” markup — it swings wildly by trade. Here is where common businesses land. Use it as a sanity check, not a rule.
| Industry | Typical markup | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grocery / supermarket | 15%–25% | High volume, thin margins |
| Restaurants (food) | 200%–300% | Covers labor, rent, waste |
| Restaurants (alcohol) | 200%–600% | The real profit center |
| Clothing / apparel | 100%–350% | "Keystone" doubling is common |
| Jewelry | 100%–500% | Brand and rarity premium |
| Furniture | 200%–400% | Low turnover, high ticket |
| Electronics | 5%–25% | Competitive, razor-thin |
| Pharmacy (generic) | 200%–800% | Insurance-driven pricing |
| Auto (new cars) | 5%–10% | Margin is in service & finance |
| Eyewear / glasses | 300%–1000% | Famously high markup |
Where it shows up
Why markup matters
One percentage drives pricing, profitability, and the survival of every product business.
price from cost
Retail pricing
Stores set shelf prices by applying a target markup to wholesale cost — the fastest way to price a whole catalog consistently.
cost + overhead
Trades & contracting
Builders and contractors mark up materials and labor to cover overhead, risk, and profit on every job they bid.
break-even cover
Profitability
The markup has to clear more than the item's cost — it must absorb rent, wages, and shrink, or the business loses money on every sale.
Worth knowing
Rules worth remembering
A handful of facts keep markup straight and stop the margin from leaking away.
markup > margin
Markup always reads higher
For the same sale, the markup is always a bigger number than the margin, because it divides by the smaller value — the cost.
100% markup = 50% margin
Keystone doubling
Doubling the cost is a 100% markup but only a 50% margin. It is the classic retail rule of thumb.
margin < 100%
Margin has a ceiling
Margin can approach but never reach 100% — there is always some cost. Markup, by contrast, has no ceiling at all.
discount ≠ markup
A discount isn't the inverse
Marking up by 50% then discounting by 50% does not return the original price — percentages of different bases never cancel cleanly.
markup on cost
Always name the base
“50%” is meaningless until you say of what. State whether a percentage is markup (of cost) or margin (of price).
cover all costs
Markup ≠ pure profit
The markup feeds overhead before it becomes profit. A healthy-looking markup can still lose money once rent and wages come out.
Origin
Where “keystone” comes from
Before barcodes and spreadsheets, retailers needed a markup they could apply in their head to an entire store. Doubling the wholesale cost — “keystone” pricing, named for the central stone that locks an arch — was simple, fast, and forgiving enough to cover overhead in most trades. It is a 100% markup and a 50% margin, and it remains the default mental model for small retail today, even as competitive categories like electronics have been squeezed far below it.
FAQ
Common questions
Markup is profit expressed as a percentage of cost — how much you add on top of what you paid. If an item costs $60 and sells for $90, the $30 profit is a 50% markup, because $30 is 50% of the $60 cost.
Markup measures profit against cost; margin measures the same profit against the selling price. For a $60 cost and a $90 price, the $30 profit is a 50% markup but only a 33.33% margin — different numbers from the same sale, because one divides by cost and the other by price.
Multiply the cost by one plus the markup as a decimal: price = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100). A $60 cost at 50% markup gives $60 × 1.5 = $90.
Subtract cost from price to get profit, divide by the cost, then multiply by 100: markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100. A $90 price on a $60 cost is ($90 − $60) ÷ $60 × 100 = 50%.
Divide the markup by 100 plus the markup, then multiply by 100: margin = markup ÷ (100 + markup) × 100. A 50% markup is 50 ÷ 150 × 100 = 33.33% margin.
Keystone pricing means doubling the cost — a 100% markup. It is a retail rule of thumb that produces a 50% margin, and the lookup chart on this page flags it. Cost $25, sell for $50.
Yes. Markup has no upper limit — restaurants, jewelry, and eyewear often run 200%–1000% markups. Margin, by contrast, can never reach 100%, because profit can never exceed the selling price it is measured against.
It depends entirely on the industry. Groceries and electronics survive on 5%–25% markups through volume, while restaurants, apparel, and jewelry routinely use 100%–500%. A good markup covers all your costs — not just the item — and leaves the profit your business needs.
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Ugo CharlesBuilt and fact-checked against our editorial standards · Last updated June 2026
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