Markup and Discount Calculator
Stack a markup percentage and a discount percentage on a cost to see the final price and net margin.
Written by Golam Rabbani, Founder & Lead Engineer
How to use this markup and discount calculator
- Enter the cost of the item and pick a currency.
- Type the markup percentage you want to apply on top of cost.
- Type the discount percentage that will be applied to the marked-up price.
- Press Calculate to see the list price, the discounted price, and the net profit vs cost.
- Tap Copy for a one-line summary, or Reset to price another product.
About this markup and discount calculator
This calculator chains two standard retail-pricing formulas. First it marks the cost up: list = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100). Then it applies the discount to that list price: final = list × (1 − discount ÷ 100). Finally it reports net profit (final − cost) and net margin (net profit ÷ final × 100). The math is the same as the U.S. Small Business Administration's "list-and-discount" pricing model (sba.gov) and matches the formulas in standard managerial-accounting references like Garrison & Noreen, "Managerial Accounting".
Worked example: a product costs USD 50. Apply a 60% markup → list price = 50 × 1.60 = USD 80. Apply a 20% discount → final price = 80 × 0.80 = USD 64. Net profit vs cost = 64 − 50 = USD 14 (a 21.88% net margin). The point of stacking the two ratios is that discounts erode the margin faster than the headline number suggests — a "20% off" sale on a 60% markup leaves you with only a 21.88% margin, not 60% minus 20%. Currency is a label only; there is no exchange-rate lookup.
FAQ
- How is the final price calculated?
- Final price = cost × (1 + markup ÷ 100) × (1 − discount ÷ 100). The order matters: markup is applied to cost, then discount to the marked-up list price.
- Why does a "20% off" sale leave less margin than 60% − 20%?
- Because the two percentages apply to different bases. The 60% lifts cost; the 20% then trims the lifted figure. Net margin is what remains after both — it is always less than the simple subtraction.
- What if the discount wipes out the markup?
- If the discount is large enough, the final price can fall below cost and net profit becomes negative. The calculator still shows the result so you can spot the problem.
- Does the order of markup vs discount matter for the final price?
- For percentage operations, the multiplicative result is the same in either order: cost × 1.6 × 0.8 = cost × 0.8 × 1.6. But "markup then discount" is the convention because that mirrors what the customer sees: list price, then sale.
- Is the result pre-tax?
- Yes. Add sales tax separately with our Sales Tax Calculator if needed.
- Is anything stored?
- No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser.