What Margin Is a 200 Percent Markup?
Margin, against price
66.7%
Tripling a $10,000 cost gives a $30,000 price, and $20,000 out of $30,000 is 66.7 percent.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Your cost for the job10000 $
- I want to setMarkup percent
- That number200 % or $
Price to charge$30,000.00
| Your cost | $10,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Price | $30,000.00 |
| Gross profit | $20,000.00 |
| Markup, against cost | 200% |
| Margin, against price | 66.7%this is the one your accountant means |
| If you want this margin | Mark up cost by | On $10,000 cost, charge |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% | $11,111.11 |
| 15% | 17.6% | $11,764.71 |
| 20% | 25% | $12,500.00 |
| 25% | 33.3% | $13,333.33 |
| 30% | 42.9% | $14,285.71 |
| 35% | 53.8% | $15,384.62 |
| 40% | 66.7% | $16,666.67 |
| 50% | 100% | $20,000.00 |
Markup compared
The gap between markup and margin widens as the number grows. Same cost, five markups.
| Markup | Price to charge | Margin, against price |
|---|---|---|
| 10% markup | $11,000.00 | 9.1% |
| 20% markup | $12,000.00 | 16.7% |
| 30% markup | $13,000.00 | 23.1% |
| 40% markup | $14,000.00 | 28.6% |
| 50% markup | $15,000.00 | 33.3% |
What else matters here
Two hundred percent markup means tripling the cost, and it produces a 66.7 percent margin. On a whole contract that number would be extraordinary. On a small part it is routine, and the reason is the same reason percentages stop working at the bottom of the scale.
A four dollar fitting marked up two hundred percent is twelve dollars. The gross profit is eight dollars. It does not pay for the drive to the supply house, the time at the counter, the fuel, or the fact that somebody keeps a stock of that fitting on the truck so the job is not stopped waiting for one. At small enough amounts no percentage is large enough, because the cost being recovered is not proportional to the item at all.
Which is why service trades price small work with minimum charges, flat rate task pricing and truck stock fees rather than by multiplying parts. A percentage is an efficient tool once the number is big enough for the percentage to mean something, and below that the only honest instrument is a fixed amount that says what showing up costs.
What this calculator assumes
- Markup is measured against your cost. Margin is measured against the price. They are never the same number and confusing them is the most expensive arithmetic mistake in the trades.
- A 50 percent markup is a 33.3 percent margin. To actually keep 50 percent of the price you have to mark up by 100 percent.
Questions people ask
What margin is a 200 percent markup?
66.7 percent. Tripling a $10,000 cost gives a $30,000 price and $20,000 of gross profit.
Is 200 percent markup too high?
On a whole contract it would be extraordinary. On a small part it is routine, because an eight dollar gross profit on a four dollar fitting does not cover the trip to get it or the stock carried on the truck.
How should small parts be priced?
With a minimum charge, flat rate task pricing or a truck stock fee. Below a certain amount no percentage is large enough, because the cost being recovered has nothing to do with the size of the part.
The markup vs margin calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.