Selling Price from Margin Calculator

How it is calculated

Enter the cost of one unit and the gross margin you want, as a percentage of the selling price. The tool computes price = cost ÷ (1 − margin ÷ 100) and profit = price − cost. Cost and results are in the same currency and shown with two decimals; the tool displays them with a dollar sign, so read it as your own currency. Margin must be below 100, because at 100% the denominator reaches zero and no price exists; the tool then returns nothing. A margin of 0 gives price equal to cost, and a negative margin is accepted and returns a price below cost, i.e. a loss. Taxes, shipping and fees are not added; include them in the cost if they should be covered.

Common mistakes

• Entering the markup you have in mind as the margin. A 30% markup on 45 is a price of 58.50, but the margin there is only about 23%; for a 30% margin the tool correctly asks for 64.29.
• Typing the margin as a fraction such as 0.3. The field takes percent, so 0.3 is read as 0.3% and the price is barely above cost.
• Leaving out costs that belong in the unit cost, such as packaging, shipping, payment fees or the share of overheads. The tool treats the cost you give as the full cost, so the real margin ends up lower.
• Trying margin 100 or higher. No price can make profit equal to the whole price, and the tool returns no result.
• Forgetting that VAT or sales tax is added on top. The result is the price before tax, so add the tax afterwards for the shelf price.