---
title: "Markup vs Margin Calculator | Maple Marketry"
description: "Convert markup to margin and back from your cost or selling price. See the profit per item, the price-to-cost multiple and a table of common values."
url: https://maplemarketry.shop/markup-vs-margin-calculator/
---

# Markup vs margin calculator

Enter what an item costs you, then a markup, a margin or a selling price. The other two follow, so you can see exactly what a "50%" really means.

## Two ways to describe the same profit

Markup compares your profit with what the item cost you; margin compares it with what you sold it for. Sell something that cost $12 for $18 and the $6 profit is a 50% markup but only a 33.3% margin, because the price is bigger than the cost.

Markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost
Margin = (price − cost) ÷ price
Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup)
Markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin)

Mixing them up is a classic pricing mistake. A shop that wants a 50% margin needs a 100% markup on what it pays you, not 50%. Margin can never reach 100%, because the item would have to cost nothing, while markup has no upper limit.

Type a cost, then a markup, a margin or a price, and the calculator keeps the other two in step. The table lists common pairs; choose Use on any row to try it.

## Sources

- Patriot Software, [Margin vs. Markup: Chart, Infographic, & More](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/accounting/training/blog/margin-vs-markup-chart-infographic/): the margin and markup formulas and the conversions between them.

## Questions

**Which one should I use to set prices?**

Whichever the person you are talking to uses, as long as you both know which it is. Makers tend to think in markup (cost times something); shops and accountants tend to talk about margin. Keystone pricing is a 100% markup, which is a 50% margin.

**Why can't I enter a 100% margin?**

A 100% margin means the whole price is profit, so the cost would be zero. As the margin gets close to 100% the price needed climbs without limit: a 90% margin already needs ten times the cost.

**What if my price is below cost?**

Both percentages turn negative and the result shows the loss on each item. That can be a deliberate clearance price, but make sure your other sales make up for it.