Markup vs Margin Converter
The most expensive confusion in trade
Mark-up is % on top of cost. Margin is % of the sale price. They're not the same — mixing them up can cost you 15%+ on every job. Convert instantly below.
Quick converter
Type in either side. The other updates live.
Profit divided by cost. "I put 50% on top."
Profit divided by sale price. "33% of what I quoted is profit."
At a 50% mark-up, your margin is
33.3%
Every $100 you quote contains $33.33 of profit.
Cost → Price calculator
Type your cost and how you want to price it.
Sell price
$150
Cheat sheet
The numbers tradies get wrong most often. Tape this to the wall.
| Mark-up | Margin | For every $100 cost… | …you sell for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% | $100 | $110 |
| 15% | 13.04% | $100 | $115 |
| 20% | 16.67% | $100 | $120 |
| 25% | 20.00% | $100 | $125 |
| 30% | 23.08% | $100 | $130 |
| 40% | 28.57% | $100 | $140 |
| 50% | 33.33% | $100 | $150 |
| 75% | 42.86% | $100 | $175 |
| 100% | 50.00% | $100 | $200 |
| 150% | 60.00% | $100 | $250 |
| 200% | 66.67% | $100 | $300 |
Why this costs tradies money
You pay $1,000 for parts. You want to "make 30%", so you add 30% — invoice is $1,300. You think your margin is 30%. It's actually 23% ($300 / $1,300). Over a year of quotes, that's 7% you meant to make but didn't.
The bigger the difference, the worse it gets — a 100% markup is only a 50% margin, and 200% markup is 66.7% margin.
Rule of thumb: Supplier-world speaks mark-up. Accountants and your P&L speak margin. Pick one, stick with it, and make sure your software is calculating the one you think it is.
Get the printable cheat-sheet PDF
A4 poster you can stick on the van wall. Markup → margin at a glance.
Set markup once, apply it everywhere
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