Work out gross margin, markup and profit per unit for a garment — read both from a cost and price you already have, or solve the selling price backwards from a target margin or markup. The formulas are exact; every number comes from the cost and price you enter, so nothing is invented.
⚠️ The math is exact; the numbers are yours. Margin, markup, profit and price are pure arithmetic — no error margin. But a real margin needs a real cost: enter your fully-loaded (landed) cost per unit, not just the factory FOB price. Freight and US import duty sit on top of FOB — estimate them with the knitwear cost calculator first, then bring the landed figure back here.
Same profit, different denominators. Margin is a share of the price; markup is a share of the cost. A $10 → $25 piece is a 60% margin but a 150% markup — both describe the same $15.
Have a cost and a price? Read margin and markup out. Have a cost and a target? Enter a margin or markup goal and get the selling price that hits it. Switch modes at the top.
There's no honest fixed price for clothing without a spec, so nothing is pre-filled. The result follows exactly from the cost and price you type — no assumed figures.
Margin measured against the factory price alone flatters itself. Add freight and duty to get the true cost per unit, then this margin is the one that reaches your bank account.
No black box. Every mode is one of these four exact lines:
margin% = (price − cost) ÷ price × 100 markup% = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100 price = cost ÷ (1 − margin/100) price = cost × (1 + markup/100) Worked example: a garment that costs $10 and sells for $25 has a 60% margin, a 150% markup and $15 profit per unit. Flip it around — a $10 cost at a 60% target margin solves to $25; at a 150% markup it also solves to $25. Two roads, one price.
Pricing a knitwear program end to end? Pair this with the knitwear cost calculator to build the landed cost that feeds this tool, and the MOQ & order value calculator to size the total spend behind your first run. See every tool on the free tools hub.
Margin and markup both measure the gap between cost and price, but against different bases. Margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price — margin% = (price − cost) ÷ price × 100. Markup is the same profit as a percentage of the cost — markup% = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100. A garment that costs $10 and sells for $25 carries a 60% margin and a 150% markup: the same $15 profit, two different denominators. Margin can never exceed 100%; markup has no upper ceiling.
Solve the margin formula for price: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin/100). If a piece costs $10 and you want a 60% margin, price = 10 ÷ (1 − 0.60) = 10 ÷ 0.40 = $25. A target margin has to stay below 100% — at 100% the denominator hits zero and no finite price gives all profit and no cost. Switch this calculator to the 'cost + target margin' mode to do it automatically.
There is no single right number and we will not invent one for you. In apparel a 2× 'keystone' markup on cost — a 50% margin — is a long-standing retail rule of thumb, direct-to-consumer brands often target higher markups to fund marketing and returns, and wholesale margins are thinner because the retailer takes their own cut on top. What matters is that your price covers landed cost, overhead, marketing and returns and still leaves profit, so start from your real fully-loaded cost rather than the factory price alone.
No — it only uses the cost you type in. For an accurate margin, enter your fully-loaded cost per unit, not just the factory (FOB) price: add ocean or air freight, US import duty and any inbound handling first. Our knitwear cost calculator helps you estimate that landed cost, and you can feed the result back in here as your 'cost' to get a true margin and markup.
Send your tech pack (or use our free template) with your target cost and margin, and we'll reply within one business day with real per-piece pricing, a sample timeline and an honest read on whether your numbers work.