Pricing with markup, the simple way
Markup is the amount you add to the cost of a product to arrive at its selling price, expressed as a percentage of that cost. It is the most common way small businesses set prices because it is quick: take what an item costs you, add a fixed percentage, and you have a price. If a product costs 50 and you apply a 60% markup, you add 30 and sell at 80.
This calculator turns cost and markup into a selling price instantly, and also shows the profit per unit and the equivalent profit margin so you can sanity-check the result. That last part matters: a markup percentage always looks bigger than the margin it produces, so a 50% markup is only a 33% margin. Seeing both side by side stops you from under-pricing by assuming your markup equals your margin.
Different categories carry very different conventional markups — some retail goods use a 100% markup (keystone pricing), while high-volume or competitive items use much less. There is no single right number; the goal is a price that covers your product cost and contributes enough toward overheads and profit while staying competitive in your market. Use the tool to test a few markup levels and watch how price, profit and margin move together.
Cost-plus markup is a starting point, not the whole story — always check the price against what customers will actually pay and what competitors charge. Once you settle on your markups, Tallium can apply them automatically across your catalogue and keep prices, costs and margins in sync as your supplier costs change.
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