TOOLS / FOR SELLERS

Markup and margin are not the same number

A 50% markup is a 33% margin. Mixing them up quietly underprices your work. Enter one and this shows you the other.

$
Materials, subcontractors, and your time — whatever the item costs you.
Markup is on cost; margin is on price. Pick whichever you think in.
%
Amount added on top of cost.
FINAL PRICE$—
MARKUP—
MARGIN—

How this is calculated

Markup is measured against your cost, margin against your price — same profit, different denominator. From a markup: price = cost × (1 + markup%), and the margin is (price − cost) ÷ price. From a margin: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin%), and the markup is (price − cost) ÷ cost. That's why 50% markup and 33% margin describe the exact same price.

Quote a margin as if it were a markup and you leave money on the table every sale. This is the cost-plus method in its simplest form — see cost-plus pricing for when it fits, and the profit margin entry for reading the health of the number once you've set it.