70% Markup to Margin: a 70% markup is a 41.2% margin
If you add 70% to your cost, you are keeping 41.2% of every sale as gross profit. That gap between 70 and 41.2 is the single most common pricing mistake we see in small-business spreadsheets.
Check any cost at 70% markup
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The formula
70 ÷ 170 × 100 = 41.2%
Think of it as two questions about the same $535.50 sale. "How much did I add to my $315.00 cost?" is markup, 70%. "How much of the $535.50 do I keep?" is margin, 41.2%. Accountants, lenders and marketplaces almost always mean the second one.
Price table at 70% markup
Every row adds 70% to the cost. The margin column is the same on every line, 41.2%, because margin depends only on the percentage, not on the amount.
| Cost | Price at 70% markup | Gross profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5.00 | $8.50 | $3.50 | 41.2% |
| $10.00 | $17.00 | $7.00 | 41.2% |
| $25.00 | $42.50 | $17.50 | 41.2% |
| $50.00 | $85.00 | $35.00 | 41.2% |
| $100.00 | $170.00 | $70.00 | 41.2% |
| $250.00 | $425.00 | $175.00 | 41.2% |
| $500.00 | $850.00 | $350.00 | 41.2% |
| $1,000.00 | $1,700.00 | $700.00 | 41.2% |
| $2,500.00 | $4,250.00 | $1,750.00 | 41.2% |
| $10,000.00 | $17,000.00 | $7,000.00 | 41.2% |
Markups near 70%
From 60% to 80% markup the margin moves from 37.5% to 44.4%: each two-point step in markup is worth less than two points of margin at this level, and the gap widens as the markup grows. The multiplier column is what you type into a spreadsheet to price a cost list.
Worked example
Take a $315.00 item. At 70% markup the ticket price is $535.50, which leaves $220.50 after paying for the item. That $220.50 is 70% of what you paid but 41.2% of what you charged, and only the second number tells you how much of the sale is yours to spend on overheads.
Why the two percentages differ
Discounts hit margin faster than markup suggests. At 70% markup you can cut the price by at most 41.2% before selling at cost, not 70%. A "70% off" promotion on a 70%-markup product sells below cost.
When to use markup, when to use margin
Two moments call for 70% markup specifically: converting a supplier's cost price list into a retail list in one pass, and checking a competitor's likely cost when you know their price and the category's usual uplift. For everything that ends up in accounts, translate to the 41.2% margin.
The reverse question comes up just as often: what markup produces a 70% margin? The answer is 233.3% (from 70 ÷ (100 − 70)). At 70% markup you are 28.8 points short of that.
See the mirror page: what markup gives a 70% margin.