# Profit margin calculator: margin, markup and profit per unit > Enter a selling price and what one unit costs you to get the gross margin, markup and profit per unit, free with no sign-up. - Page title: Profit margin calculator: markup and target price | Spytrend - Page description: Free profit margin calculator: enter a price and a unit cost to get gross margin, markup and profit per unit. Add shipping and fees too. No sign-up. - Tool: https://spytrend.com/profit-margin-calculator - Embeddable version: https://spytrend.com/profit-margin-calculator/embed - All free tools: https://spytrend.com/tools - The product behind it: https://spytrend.com/?utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=profit-margin-calculator To calculate profit margin, subtract the unit cost from the selling price and divide the result by the price. Markup divides the same profit by the cost, so on a profitable unit markup is the bigger number. A $30 item that costs you $20 has a 33.3% margin and a 50% markup. ## Gross margin, markup and profit per unit from one price You get three numbers from one price: the gross margin, the markup and the profit you keep on each unit. Margin and markup measure the same profit against two different things. A supplier’s "40% markup" and a marketplace’s "40% margin" are deals eleven points apart, so the calculator shows both. What comes out: - **Gross margin.** Profit divided by the selling price: the share of each sale you keep. It is the large number on the card. - **Markup.** The same profit divided by the cost. Suppliers quote this one, and on a profitable unit it is the larger number. - **Profit per unit.** The price minus the unit cost, shipping and fees: what one sale leaves you. This is gross margin, before ad spend, overheads and tax. Net margin takes those out as well, so it is always the smaller number. ## Profit margin calculator: three steps 1. **Enter the selling price** What the buyer pays. A dollar sign or a thousands comma is fine. The currency select changes the symbol only; nothing is converted. 2. **Add your costs** Unit cost is the only required cost. Add shipping per unit and fees per sale if you pay them; empty fields count as zero. 3. **Read margin and markup** The large number is the gross margin; the markup and the profit per unit sit under it. If someone quoted you a percentage, check which of the two they meant. There is no Calculate button. Raise the price by a dollar or add a cost you left out, and the margin follows as you type. ## Margin and markup: two numbers for the same profit Margin divides profit by the selling price; markup divides the same profit by the cost. Buy for $20, sell for $30, and the $10 profit is a 33.3% gross margin and a 50% markup. Gross margin % = (price − cost) ÷ price × 100 Markup % = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100 To convert one into the other: Markup from margin: markup = margin ÷ (100 − margin) × 100 Margin from markup: margin = markup ÷ (100 + markup) × 100 So a 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, and a 50% margin is a 100% markup. The gap matters whenever a deal is quoted in percent. A supplier promising "you can work on 40% markup" is offering you a 28.6% margin. A marketplace asking for a 40% margin is asking for a 66.7% markup on your cost. ### Markup to margin, on a $10 unit cost | Markup | Gross margin | Selling price | | ------ | ------------ | ------------- | | 20% | 16.7% | $12.00 | | 25% | 20% | $12.50 | | 33% | 24.8% | $13.30 | | 50% | 33.3% | $15.00 | | 100% | 50% | $20.00 | | 150% | 60% | $25.00 | | 200% | 66.7% | $30.00 | ## One product at 50% markup and 33% margin A phone case costs $16.00 from the supplier, $2.50 to ship and $1.50 in marketplace fees: $20.00 per unit. Listed at $30.00, it leaves $10.00, a 50% markup on the cost and a 33.3% gross margin on the price. Advertising is not in that $10.00 yet. Whatever you pay to win the buyer comes out of it. ### The same phone case, line by line | Line | Amount | | ------------------- | ------ | | Selling price | $30.00 | | Unit cost | $16.00 | | Shipping per unit | $2.50 | | Fees per sale | $1.50 | | Total cost per unit | $20.00 | | Profit per unit | $10.00 | | Markup | 50% | | Gross margin | 33.3% | ## Set the price from the margin you need Divide the cost by one minus the margin you need: Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin ÷ 100) For the phone case, $20.00 of cost at a 40% margin gives $20.00 ÷ 0.6 = $33.33, and $13.33 of each sale stays with you. Adding 40% to the cost instead gives $28.00: a 40% markup and only a 28.6% margin. The price climbs faster than the target. Going from a 50% to a 60% margin on that unit means going from $40.00 to $50.00. The margin card lists the price for a 40%, 50% and 60% margin on the cost you enter. ## What belongs in unit cost for an ecommerce seller Anything you pay because one more unit sold belongs in unit cost. Anything you would pay anyway does not. In: the supplier price at your real order size, inbound freight and duty, packaging, the shipping you pay, payment processing and the marketplace fee. Add a share for returns you cannot resell. Out: advertising, rent, salaries, software and your own time; they come out of the gross profit. The calculator does not know your return rate or the discount codes you run, so fold them into the cost. ## Free version limits The calculator runs in your browser; there is no limit and no account. One calculation covers one product at one price, and we don’t store your numbers. ## Know the most one order can cost — before you buy traffic Your profit per unit caps what you can pay in ads to win a sale. The phone case leaves $10.00, so $12.00 in ad spend per order loses $2.00 on every sale, however good the dashboard looks. It also makes a ROAS target readable. Three dollars back per ad dollar is comfortable on a 60% margin and a slow loss on a 25% one. A store owner prices the unit before launch and checks whether the product can carry paid traffic at all. A media buyer turns the same profit per unit into a bid cap and a CPA target. The arithmetic stops at your own costs. Whether the product sells at that price shows in the ads already running for it. ## Check your price against the ads running for the product Your costs set the margin; the market sets the price that sells. Spytrend is an ad intelligence platform for Facebook and TikTok advertising: a full five-year archive of ads, AI-classified into 33 business categories, with every advertiser assembled into a single card — all ads, pages, domains and countries in one place. Search the product you just priced to read the offers in ads that mention it and how long each ad has run. ### Two jobs where a margin needs the market - **Checking a price against live offers.** Read how ads for the same product pitch it: the bundle, the discount, the guarantee. A price that needs a story nobody else tells is one your creative must defend alone. - **Judging whether a thin margin can pay for ads.** A few dollars a unit leaves little room to buy an order. Keep the ads for your product that have run 60 days or more: those are the offers advertisers kept paying for. ### How to start [Create a free account](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Fdays_active_from%3D60%26from%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=profit-margin-calculator) and search the product you just priced. A free account opens the ad library; paid plans add fresh ads and every filter. ## FAQ - **What is the difference between margin and markup?** Margin divides profit by the selling price; markup divides it by the cost. Buy at $20 and sell at $30, and the $10 profit is a 33.3% margin and a 50% markup. On a profitable unit, markup is the larger number. - **How do I calculate gross margin?** Subtract the unit cost from the selling price, divide by the selling price and multiply by 100. Count everything the sale costs you, including the shipping and fees you pay, or the percentage flatters you. - **How do I convert markup to margin?** Divide the markup by 100 plus the markup, then multiply by 100. A 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, and a 100% markup is a 50% margin. For the reverse, divide the margin by 100 minus the margin. - **What price gives me a 40% margin?** Divide the cost by 0.6. On a $20 cost that is $33.33. Adding 40% to the cost instead gives $28.00, which is only a 28.6% margin. - **Is this gross margin or net margin?** Gross margin, before ad spend, overheads and tax. It shows what one unit leaves once it has paid for itself. Net margin also takes out advertising, rent, salaries and software, so it is always smaller. - **Can profit margin be negative?** Yes. When a unit costs more than you sell it for, the margin turns negative and the profit per unit shows the loss on every sale. - **Do you store the numbers I type?** No. The calculation runs in your browser; we don’t store your numbers. ## Priced the unit? Search it in Spytrend. You know what one sale leaves you. Spytrend puts the ads for the same product beside that number, with how long each has run and who pays for it. [Open Spytrend](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Fdays_active_from%3D60%26from%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=profit-margin-calculator) ## Related tools - [ROAS calculator](https://spytrend.com/roas-calculator): Enter revenue and ad spend to get ROAS and ROI. Add your gross margin to see the break-even ROAS you have to beat. - [CPA calculator](https://spytrend.com/cpa-calculator): Enter ad spend and conversions to get your cost per acquisition, plus the conversion rate a target CPA needs. - [Break-even calculator](https://spytrend.com/break-even-calculator): Enter fixed costs, price and unit cost to see how many units you must sell, your break-even ROAS and the most an order can cost. - [eBay fee calculator](https://spytrend.com/ebay-fee-calculator): See what an eBay sale leaves you after the final value fee, the per-order fee and your own costs, at eBay’s US rates. - [Facebook ad run time](https://spytrend.com/facebook-ad-run-time): Paste an Ad Library link or an ad ID and see when the ad started, how many days it has run and whether it is still running. [All free tools](https://spytrend.com/tools) ## Embed this tool on your site Put this calculator on your own page: paste the code below into your HTML. It works on any site, needs no account and runs in your visitor’s browser. ```html ``` Gross margin, before ad spend, overheads and tax. The calculation runs in your browser; we don’t store your numbers.