Mark up (or markup) can be defined as the difference between the selling price and the actual cost of an item or service. The understanding of mark up is an extremely important concept to grasp for both consumers and retailers alike, in all industries. Our mark up calculator, or markup calculator, can be an extremely beneficial tool for both consumers and retailers alike.

As a consumer, retail mark up is the most common type of mark up you generally encounter on a day to day basis. Retail mark up is the percentage rate over the retailer’s actual cost that the retailer charges you, the end consumer, for any good in a retail transaction. The percentage of mark up on retail goods greatly varies depending on the retailer and the type of items being purchased. For example, let’s say you recently purchased a new mattress for $1200. The retailer’s price on the mattress was only $800. The retail mark up on this mattress was $400, or in this scenario 50%.

As a retailer, you can easily use this calculator to help with pricing your goods and services. For instance, let’s say you’ve decided that you want to sell your new release DVD inventory in your store at a 30% mark up. If you’re currently paying $9.99 per DVD at your cost, you would price each DVD around $12.99 a piece. To use the calculator with these specific numbers, you would simply enter 30 in the percentage field and 9.99 in the price field.

If you were wondering if there was a calculator that worked the other way, you’re in luck. We feature a different calculator which can be used to work backwards and calculate both mark downs and discounts on goods and services in any industry: mark down calculator.