85% Margin to Markup: a 85% margin needs a 566.7% markup
A 85% margin means keeping 85 cents of every dollar the customer pays. To get there from cost you need a 566.7% markup; this page gives the formula, a price table at 85% margin, and the calculator.
Price any cost at a 85% margin
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The formula
85 ÷ 15 × 100 = 566.7%
price = cost ÷ (1 − 85/100) = cost ÷ 0.15
The cost-to-price ratio at 85% margin is 0.15: cost is 15% of the price. Invert that and the price is cost × 6.6667, which is exactly a 566.7% markup. That ratio is the fastest way to price a whole list to one margin.
Price table at 85% margin
Each price is the cost divided by 0.15. The markup column stays at 566.7% on every line; only the amounts scale.
| Cost | Price at 85% margin | Gross profit | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5.00 | $33.33 | $28.33 | 566.7% |
| $10.00 | $66.67 | $56.67 | 566.7% |
| $25.00 | $166.67 | $141.67 | 566.7% |
| $50.00 | $333.33 | $283.33 | 566.7% |
| $100.00 | $666.67 | $566.67 | 566.7% |
| $250.00 | $1,666.67 | $1,416.67 | 566.7% |
| $500.00 | $3,333.33 | $2,833.33 | 566.7% |
| $1,000.00 | $6,666.67 | $5,666.67 | 566.7% |
| $2,500.00 | $16,666.67 | $14,166.67 | 566.7% |
| $10,000.00 | $66,666.67 | $56,666.67 | 566.7% |
Margins near 85%
Between 75% and 95% margin the markup needed runs from 300% to 1900%: it climbs faster than the margin because the cost share of the price keeps shrinking. The multiplier column turns a cost list into prices at that margin in one step.
Worked example
Numbers: cost $88.00, margin 85%, markup 566.7%, price $586.67, profit $498.67. The same $498.67 is a small share of $586.67 and a larger share of $88.00; that is the whole difference between the two percentages.
The margin-as-markup trap
Rounding hides the gap on small numbers and exposes it on large ones. On a $88.00 item the difference between a 85% markup and a 85% margin is $423.87 per unit; across a container of stock it is the whole profit.
When a margin target is the right tool
Margin is the right lens when comparing products that carry different costs. Two lines with 85% margin contribute the same share of every sale to overheads even if one costs $88.00 and the other ten times as much.
Coming from the other direction: a 85% markup, the number people often type by mistake, produces only a 45.9% margin. The 85% margin on this page needs the full 566.7% markup.
Mirror page: what margin a 85% markup produces.