Calculate parts markup and margin
Markup and margin are the same profit as a percentage, measured against two different prices. Enter what you know; the page works out the rest in your browser, without sending anything.
United Kingdom: currency and verified VAT rates. Nothing is filled in for you.
Purchase price
Markup, margin or price
VAT
Selling price
United KingdomSelling price per part, net
–
– Enter a VAT rate for the price including VAT.
- Purchase price
- –
- Gross profit per part
- –
- Markup profit ÷ purchase price
- –
- Margin profit ÷ selling price
- –
- –
Enter a purchase price and a markup, a target margin or a selling price.
Werkstattsystem puts parts from stock onto the cost estimate and the invoice draft at the purchase price stored with them, and adds no markup. Set your selling price on the parts line of the invoice draft: every line stays editable until you issue it. Invoices in Werkstattsystem
Markup and margin: one profit, two bases
Both percentages describe the same amount of money. They differ only in what they divide it by.
- Markup = profit ÷ purchase price. It is what you add: purchase price × (1 + markup) = selling price.
- Margin = profit ÷ selling price. It is what stays with you out of every amount the customer pays for the part.
- From a target margin, the selling price is purchase price ÷ (1 − margin). A margin can never reach 100%; a markup can be any size.
An example with round numbers
A part bought for £100.00, a round figure chosen to show the arithmetic — not a price recommendation.
- Markup: £100.00 + 25% = £125.00. The profit is £25.00.
- Margin: £25.00 ÷ £125.00 = 20%. The same profit, measured against the higher price, is the smaller percentage.
- The other way round: a 25% margin needs a selling price of £133.33 — a markup of 33.33%.
Three mix-ups that cost money
- Adding the target margin as a markup. It always falls short: the same percentage, taken of the higher selling price, is a larger amount than the one you added.
- Comparing a margin with a markup. A supplier's discount, a competitor's price and your own target may each be stated on a different base. Convert before you compare.
- Forgetting what a part costs after purchase. Ordering, storage, returns and warranty handling come out of the gross profit per part, not on top of it.
Questions about parts markup
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Both are the same profit as a percentage. Markup divides it by the purchase price, margin by the selling price. That is why a 25% markup is a 20% margin.
How do I turn a target margin into a markup?
Markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin), with both written as decimals. Choose “Target margin” above and the page does it for you, rounded to the cent of the selling price.
Is there a usual markup on parts?
This page gives none, because no figure was found that is published for each market together with its method. What matters is that the markup covers what a part costs you beyond its purchase price and still leaves a profit.
Is this the VAT margin scheme?
No. Some countries tax the sale of certain second-hand goods on the dealer's margin instead of the full price, and that scheme shares the word. This page does only the arithmetic of markup and margin and says nothing about that tax scheme.
Which VAT rate applies to a part?
The buttons offer the rates this page has read at the tax authority of the selected country; nothing is preselected. In Ireland it depends on the part and on whether it is supplied in a repair — see the note under the VAT field.
Is anything I enter sent or saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or stored. The markup the button hands over travels in the part of the address after the #, which browsers do not send to the server.
From the guide
More about Werkstattsystem
This calculator does arithmetic. It is not tax advice: the VAT rates it offers were read at their tax authorities in September 2026 — check them before you rely on them.
The cost estimate and the invoice draft in Werkstattsystem are built from the same lines: see invoicing and the plans.