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Suggested Retail Price Calculator

Enter the product cost and markup to find the suggested retail price, profit, and margin.

How it is calculated

The price is the cost plus a percentage of the cost: price = cost × (1 + markup / 100). Profit is price − cost. The margin is that profit as a share of the selling price, not of the cost: margin = profit / price × 100. Cost is in dollars per unit and markup is a percentage of cost; both must be zero or more, and neither can be blank. A markup of 0 gives price equal to cost and a margin of 0%. Because the margin divides by the larger number, it is always lower than the markup: 100% markup is only a 50% margin. The tool uses the cost you enter as it is, so tax, shipping, card fees and discounts must be put into the cost or handled afterwards.

Worked example

A product costs $40 per unit and you add a 60% markup. Price: 40 × (1 + 0.60) = 40 × 1.60 = $64.00. Profit: 64 − 40 = $24.00. Margin: 24 / 64 × 100 = 37.50%. So a 60% markup yields only a 37.5% margin. To reach a 60% margin instead, the price would have to be cost / (1 − 0.60) = $100.00, which is a 150% markup.

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Common mistakes

  • Mixing up markup and margin. A 60% markup is a 37.5% margin; if you need a 60% margin, enter a markup of 150%.
  • Entering the markup as a decimal such as 0.6. The field expects a percentage, so 0.6 would be read as a 0.6% markup, and the price would be $40.24.
  • Using the shelf price or a price that already includes VAT as the cost. Cost should be what you pay per unit, before sales tax or VAT that you can recover.
  • Forgetting costs that are not in the cost per unit, such as shipping, packaging and payment fees. A 37.5% margin shrinks quickly after them.
  • Treating the result as the price you must charge. It is a suggested price, and discounts and competitors' prices can push the real selling price below it.

About this calculator

A suggested retail price (often called MSRP, manufacturer’s suggested retail price) is built up from the product’s cost plus a markup: price = cost + (cost × markup%). The resulting profit is simply price minus cost, while margin expresses that same profit as a percentage of the selling price rather than the cost — a distinction that trips people up because a 50% markup only produces a 33% margin, not 50%.

Manufacturers set an MSRP to give retailers a recommended shelf price and to keep pricing consistent across different sellers of the same product, while independent retailers use the same cost-plus-markup logic to price their own goods for a target margin. Product managers, wholesalers, retailers and small-business owners use this calculation to check that a chosen markup delivers the profit margin they actually need after costs.

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