Markup and margin, after the fees you actually pay.
Markup is profit over cost; margin is profit over price. A $20 item sold for $30 is a 50% markup and a 33.33% margin. On Etsy, $3.30 of that price goes in fees, so you keep 22.33%. Pick where you sell, and the price comes out after its fees.
Your price, after fees.
The price, and the markup it means, to keep a margin after fees on a $20.00 cost
| Where you sell | Keep 10% | Keep 20% | Keep 30% | Keep 40% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No fees | $22.2211% markup | $25.0025% markup | $28.5743% markup | $33.3367% markup |
| Your own site, with Stripe | $23.3117% markup | $26.3332% markup | $30.2551% markup | $35.5578% markup |
| PayPal Checkout | $23.6918% markup | $26.7834% markup | $30.8154% markup | $36.2681% markup |
| Etsy | $25.4027% markup | $29.0145% markup | $33.8069% markup | $40.50102% markup |
| eBay | $26.7034% markup | $30.7254% markup | $36.1781% markup | $43.97120% markup |
Fees on the price only. Shipping, advertising, refunds, currency conversion and income tax come on top.
Markup and margin, side by side.
The same profit, over cost and over price. Before any fees.
| Markup | Margin | Price of a $10 item |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% | $11 |
| 25% | 20% | $12.50 |
| 33.33% | 25% | $13.33 |
| 50% | 33.33% | $15 |
| 75% | 42.86% | $17.50 |
| 100% | 50% | $20 |
| 150% | 60% | $25 |
| 200% | 66.67% | $30 |
Questions about markup and margin.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Markup is profit divided by cost: (price minus cost) divided by cost, times 100. A $20 item sold for $30 has a 50% markup.
Both are the same profit over a different base. Markup divides it by the cost, margin by the price. A 50% markup is a 33.33% margin, and a 100% markup is a 50% margin.
Marketplace and payment fees come out of the price, so out of your margin. A $20 item marked up 50% sells for $30; on Etsy, $3.30 of that goes in fees, leaving a 22.33% margin instead of 33.33%.
Divide the cost plus any fixed fee by one minus the fee percentage minus the margin you want. To keep the same 33.33% on Etsy, the $20 item has to sell for $35.77, a 79% markup.
Start from the margin you need to keep after fees, shipping and advertising, and work back to the price. The table under the calculator does that for each place you might sell.
Where the fees come from
Sell as a US company. Paid in dollars.
A Wyoming LLC with its EIN, for Stripe, a US bank and the marketplaces. Launch is $249 a year, with Wyoming's fee at cost.
You're startingLLC · WY
Start a companyLaunch · $351.40 · Wyoming fee included