// free tools · markup pricing calculator
Markup & pricing calculator
Turn what an item costs you into a price, at a markup or at a target margin after selling fees. See profit per item, your real margin and the break-even price.
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How to use it
- Enter what one item costs you to make, packaging included.
- Pick markup on cost or a target margin, and enter the percentage.
- Enter your selling fees: a percentage of the price and any fixed fee per order. Choose how to round the price.
- Read the price, profit and margin. Optionally type your current price to check it.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type into the calculator is sent or saved anywhere.
How markup pricing works, with an example
Most pricing mistakes in a small shop come from one of two places: a cost that leaves things out, or mixing up markup and margin. A 50% markup and a 50% margin sound the same but aren’t: on an $8 cost, a 50% markup gives a $12 price, while a 50% margin needs $16. Then selling fees come off the price before you see any of it. This calculator keeps those three things straight.
- Markup is profit as a percentage of your cost: price = cost × (1 + markup %).
- Margin is profit as a percentage of the price. In margin mode the calculator finds the price where, after fees, you keep the margin you asked for: price = (cost + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − margin % − fee %).
- Selling fees are a percentage of the price plus any fixed fee per order: platform, payment processing and so on. Use your own rates.
- Break-even price covers your cost and fees with nothing left: (cost + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − fee %).
Worked example
A pair of earrings costs $8 to make and pack. The maker prices at a 150% markup and sells on a platform where fees come to about 9.5% of the price plus $0.45 an order, and rounds up to the next whole dollar.
| Cost per item | $8.00 |
| Price at a 150% markup ($8 × 2.5) | $20.00 |
| − Selling fees (9.5% of $20 + $0.45) | $2.35 |
| Profit per item | $9.65 |
| Margin after fees | 48.3% |
| Break-even price | $9.34 |
A 150% markup is a 60% margin before fees, but fees take $2.35, so the maker keeps $9.65, or 48.3% of the price. If the earrings are listed at $18.00 today, fees are $2.16 and profit is $7.84, a 43.6% margin, so the current price sits $2 below the $20 target. Switch to margin mode and ask for 50% after fees, and the price becomes $20.86, rounded up to $21.00, leaving $10.56 per pair.
Markup vs margin at a glance
A 25% markup is a 20% margin, 50% is 33.3%, 100% is 50%, 200% is 66.7% and 300% is 75%. The table under the result lists these, so you can translate a number that a supplier, a shop or a course quotes into the one you think in. When a shop asks for keystone, that’s a 100% markup on your wholesale price, and the wholesale price calculator covers that case in detail.
The calculator does the arithmetic; the price is your decision. What buyers will pay depends on your market and your product, not just your costs. Use the break-even and margin figures as a floor, check your platform’s current fees (the Etsy fee calculator has Etsy’s), and re-run it when material costs change. Pricing a service or custom work by the hour instead? The freelance rate calculator works out how much to charge.
// want this in a spreadsheet?
Price every product, then track the profit.
The Small Shop Profit & Inventory Tracker ($24) works out profit per product and per order after the fees you enter, keeps your stock count and builds a reorder list. Pricing custom work or services too? The free Price-It-Right Calculator works backwards from the pay you want to an hourly rate and a project quote. Google Sheets and Excel. See what’s inside.
Not financial or tax advice. Check with a professional. The calculator gives arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Fees differ by platform and change, so use your own current rates.
Questions
What's the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a percentage of your cost. Margin is profit as a percentage of the price. On an $8 cost, a 50% markup gives a $12 price, but a 50% margin needs a $16 price. A 100% markup is the same as a 50% margin.
How is the price worked out?
Markup mode: price = cost × (1 + markup %). Margin mode: price = (cost + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − margin % − fee %), so the margin you ask for is what's left after selling fees. Either way, the price is then rounded up if you chose rounding.
Why do selling fees matter so much?
Platform and payment fees come off the price before you see any of it, and most are a percentage of the price, so they grow as the price grows. A 150% markup is a 60% margin before fees, but after 9.5% + $0.45 in fees on a $20 sale it's 48.3%.
What should my cost include?
Everything it takes to make and send one item: materials, packaging and labels, plus your own making time at an hourly rate if you want each sale to pay you for it. If the cost is too low, every price built on it is too low.
What markup should I use?
This page doesn't pick one for you. It depends on your product, your market and how you sell. The calculator shows what any markup or margin means in dollars after fees, so you can compare options before you decide.
What is the break-even price?
The price that just covers your cost and the selling fees, with nothing left over: (cost + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − fee %). Below it, every sale loses money.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type into it is sent or stored.
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