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Profit Percentage Calculator
Use this free profit percentage calculator to find out how much money you actually make on a sale. Enter the cost price and the selling price, add a quantity if you sell more than one unit, and it shows the profit in dollars, the profit percentage, the markup on cost, and the margin on price — the three percentages sellers most often confuse. Pick a mode to highlight the number you care about most.
Shipping, platform, or packaging fees added to cost.
How it works
Every sale has three numbers that matter: what the item cost you, what you sold it for, and the difference between the two. That difference is the profit in dollars. The percentages then describe the same profit in two different ways, and mixing them up is one of the most common pricing mistakes a seller can make. Markup divides the profit by the cost price. Margin divides the profit by the selling price. Because the selling price is bigger than the cost on a profitable sale, the margin is always the smaller of the two numbers.
Take a product that costs $40 and sells for $60. The profit is $20. The markup is $20 divided by $40, or 50 percent — you added half the cost on top. The margin is $20 divided by $60, or 33.33 percent — a third of every sale dollar is profit and two thirds cover the cost. The "profit percentage" most people mean is the same as markup: profit divided by cost. This calculator shows all three at once so you never have to guess which one someone quoted you.
Quantity scales the dollar amounts but not the percentages. Sell 100 units at a $20 profit each and the total profit is $2,000, while the markup stays 50 percent and the margin stays 33.33 percent. That is why percentages are useful for comparing products: a $2 profit on a $4 item (50 percent markup) is a better return on money than a $20 profit on a $200 item (10 percent markup), even though the second sale puts more dollars in your pocket. The extra-fees field lets you fold shipping, platform, or packaging costs into the true cost, so the profit shown is the profit you actually keep.
You can also work backwards from a target. If you need a 40 percent margin and your cost is $30, the selling price must be $30 divided by (1 minus 0.40), which is $50. If instead you want a 40 percent markup on that $30 cost, the price is $30 times 1.40, or $42 — and the margin on that $42 price is only 28.57 percent. Sellers who price from markup when their goal is really a margin target end up earning less than they planned, especially when costs rise. Use the mode selector to put the number you are targeting at the top of the results.
Watch out for costs that hide outside the purchase price. A reseller who buys for $40, sells for $60, and pays $5 in shipping and $3 in platform fees has a true cost of $48, a profit of $12, a markup of 25 percent, and a margin of 20 percent — not the 50 percent markup the headline numbers suggest. Enter those fees in the calculator and the percentages reflect reality. And if the selling price falls below the cost, the calculator shows a negative profit and negative percentages: that is a loss, and the size of the negative number tells you how much of your money each sale is burning.
Worked example
A shop buys a gadget for $40 per unit and sells it for $60 per unit, with no extra fees, and sells 1 unit.
Step 1: Profit — $60 − $40 = $20.
Step 2: Profit percentage (markup) — $20 ÷ $40 × 100 = 50.00%.
Step 3: Margin — $20 ÷ $60 × 100 = 33.33%.
Step 4: Check — cost plus profit equals the selling price: $40 + $20 = $60.
Enter cost $40 and selling price $60 in the calculator and it gives exactly the same result: profit $20.00, markup 50.00%, margin 33.33%. Now set the quantity to 10: the total profit becomes $200.00 while the percentages stay at 50.00% and 33.33%. Add $5 of fees per unit and the profit falls to $15.00, the markup to 33.33%, and the margin to 25.00%.
FAQ
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost, while margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. On a product that costs $40 and sells for $60, the $20 profit is a 50 percent markup ($20 divided by $40) but only a 33.33 percent margin ($20 divided by $60). Markup is always higher than margin on a profitable sale because it divides by the smaller number.
How do you calculate profit percentage?
Subtract the cost price from the selling price to get the profit in dollars, then divide that profit by the cost price and multiply by 100. For a cost of $40 and a selling price of $60, the profit is $20, and $20 divided by $40 times 100 gives a profit percentage of 50 percent. This is the same number as the markup percentage.
What is a good profit margin?
It depends on the business. Grocery stores often run on margins of 1 to 3 percent, restaurants on 3 to 9 percent, and many retail shops on 20 to 50 percent. Software and digital products can reach much higher margins because each extra sale costs almost nothing. Compare your margin with businesses like yours, and remember that a high margin means little if sales volume is very low.
Can profit percentage be negative?
Yes. If the selling price is below the cost price, the profit is negative and so is the percentage — that is a loss. For example, buying at $50 and selling at $40 gives a loss of $10, a profit percentage of minus 20 percent, and a margin of minus 25 percent. The calculator shows negative results in red so a loss is easy to spot.
Should I use cost price or selling price to set my price?
Start from the margin you need, then work backwards. If you need a 40 percent margin and your cost is $30, the selling price must be $30 divided by (1 minus 0.40), which is $50. Pricing from margin keeps your profit share steady as costs change, while pricing from a fixed markup can leave you short when costs rise.