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Free Profit Margin Calculator

Enter cost and price to see profit, profit margin and markup percentage at once.

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How to use this tool

Selling merch, prints, presets or a service? Enter what each sale costs you and what the customer pays, and the calculator shows your profit, your profit margin and your markup side by side. Margin and markup are easy to mix up, so both are labelled and the formula is printed under the result.

  1. 01

    Enter your cost

    Add everything it costs to make and deliver one unit: materials, production, packaging, and platform or payment fees if you want net margin.

  2. 02

    Enter the selling price

    Type the price the customer pays, before sales tax.

  3. 03

    Compare margin and markup

    See profit per sale, profit margin as a share of the price, and markup as a share of the cost. Copy the figures into your pricing sheet.

Margin and markup formulas

• Profit = selling price − cost. • Profit margin = profit ÷ selling price × 100. • Markup = profit ÷ cost × 100. Margin can never reach 100% unless the cost is zero, while markup can be any size. A 50% margin equals a 100% markup.

Margin vs markup

Retailers and wholesalers often talk in markup because it starts from cost, while finance teams and investors use margin because it shows what share of revenue you keep. Mixing them up is a common pricing mistake: adding a 30% markup gives a margin of only about 23%.

Gross, operating and net margin

This calculator gives gross margin per unit when you enter product cost. Include payment processing, marketplace fees and shipping in the cost to get a contribution margin closer to what you keep. Net margin also subtracts fixed costs such as software, rent and your time, which you calculate across a period rather than per item.

Price from a target margin

To hit a target margin, divide cost by (1 − target margin). For a $18 cost and a 60% target margin: 18 ÷ 0.4 = $45. To hit a target markup instead, multiply cost by (1 + markup), so an 80% markup on $18 is $32.40.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate profit margin?

Subtract cost from the selling price, divide by the selling price and multiply by 100. For $45 price and $18 cost: (45 − 18) ÷ 45 × 100 = 60%.

How do I calculate markup?

Divide profit by cost and multiply by 100. With $27 profit on an $18 cost, markup is 27 ÷ 18 × 100 = 150%.

What is the difference between margin and markup?

Margin is profit as a share of the selling price; markup is profit as a share of the cost. The same sale always has a higher markup than margin.

What is a good profit margin?

It varies by industry. Physical merch often aims for 40% to 60% gross margin after production, while digital products can exceed 80% because each extra copy costs almost nothing.

What does a negative margin mean?

The price is below the cost, so each sale loses money. The calculator shows a note when that happens.

Should I include fees in the cost?

Include payment, platform and shipping fees if you want to know what you really keep per sale. Leave them out for a simple product gross margin.

How do I set a price for a target margin?

Price = cost ÷ (1 − target margin as a decimal). For a 60% margin on an $18 cost: 18 ÷ 0.40 = $45.

Is sales tax part of the price?

No. Enter the price before sales tax or VAT, because the tax is collected for the government and isn’t revenue.

Are my numbers stored?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to SocQ or saved.

Is the profit margin calculator free?

Yes. It’s free with no signup and no limit.

For developers

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