What's the difference between profit percentage and profit margin?

This calculator divides profit by cost price (markup). Profit margin instead divides profit by selling price, which always produces a smaller percentage than markup.

What counts as "cost price"?

Cost price is what it cost you to acquire or produce the item, including purchase price and directly attributable production costs.

Can the result be a loss?

Yes, whenever the selling price is lower than the cost price, the calculator shows a loss amount and percentage instead of a profit.

Profit & Loss Calculator

Calculate profit or loss amount and percentage margin on any sale

Cost Price ($)

Selling Price ($)

What is the Profit & Loss Calculator?

The Profit & Loss Calculator finds out whether a sale made money or lost money, and by how much — both as a dollar amount and as a percentage margin. Enter what an item cost you (cost price) and what it sold for (selling price), and the result appears instantly. It's useful for retailers, resellers, freelancers pricing their work, or anyone checking the math on a sale.

How to Use the Profit & Loss Calculator

Enter the cost price — what you originally paid for the item or what it cost to produce.
Enter the selling price — what it actually sold for.
Read the result — the calculator automatically shows profit or loss, whichever applies, along with the percentage.

Profit & Loss Formula

Profit = Selling Price − Cost Price (when Selling Price is greater)
Loss = Cost Price − Selling Price (when Cost Price is greater)
Profit/Loss % = (Profit or Loss ÷ Cost Price) × 100

Example Calculation

A retailer buys an item for $1,000 (cost price) and sells it for $1,250 (selling price). Profit = $1,250 − $1,000 = $250. Profit % = ($250 ÷ $1,000) × 100 = 25%. If it had instead sold for $900, that would be a loss of $100, or a 10% loss.

Profit Margin vs. Markup

This calculator computes profit percentage relative to cost price (markup), which is common in retail and resale. Note this differs from "profit margin," which is usually calculated as profit divided by the selling price instead — the two figures are not interchangeable when comparing pricing strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

This calculator's percentage is profit divided by cost price (markup). Profit margin is typically profit divided by selling price instead, and will always be a smaller number than markup for the same sale. Both are useful, but they answer different questions.

Cost price is what it actually cost you to acquire or produce the item — purchase price, materials, and directly attributable production costs. It typically doesn't include overhead like rent or marketing unless you choose to factor those in.

Yes. Whenever the selling price is lower than the cost price, the calculator automatically switches the label to "Loss" and shows the loss amount and percentage instead of profit.

Results are for quick estimation only and don't account for taxes, fees or overhead costs.