Set the right price for every product you sell — in seconds. Enter your unit cost and the profit margin you want to earn, and the Selling Price Calculator instantly shows the selling price that delivers exactly that margin, along with the profit you keep on each unit sold. Below the calculator you will find a complete guide: how to use the tool, what selling price really means, the exact formula with worked examples, real-world scenarios including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy marketplace fees, and the five pricing mistakes that quietly erase profits.
Using the calculator takes less than a minute, and you only need two numbers: your unit cost and your target profit margin. Follow these steps:
Pro tip: run the calculator several times with different margins to build a pricing ladder. Compare 30%, 40%, and 50% side by side to see how each target changes the price and the profit per unit — then pick the price your market will actually bear.
The selling price is the amount a customer actually pays for your product — the number on the price tag, the listing, or the invoice. It is the single most powerful lever in any business: a small change in price usually moves profit far more than the same percentage change in costs or sales volume. Yet many sellers set prices by guessing, by copying competitors, or by adding a round markup to cost, and then wonder why the business feels busy but never quite profitable.
Sound pricing starts with two companions of the selling price. The unit cost is everything you spend to make one unit saleable: raw materials or the wholesale purchase price, direct labor, packaging, inbound freight, and any per-unit fees. The profit margin is the share of the selling price you keep as profit, expressed as a percentage. If a $100 product costs you $60 to make, your profit is $40 and your margin is 40% — because margin is always measured against the selling price, never against the cost. Confusing these two bases is the root of most pricing errors.
For marketplace sellers, the selling price must clear one more hurdle: platform fees. Amazon typically charges a referral fee of around 15% in many categories plus fulfillment fees; eBay charges a final value fee on the total sale amount; Etsy charges a transaction fee plus a payment processing fee on every order. These fees come straight out of the selling price, so a price that looks comfortably profitable on paper can lose money once fees land. Experienced sellers fold their expected fee percentage into the margin target before they ever list — a technique demonstrated step by step in the marketplace example below.
There is also a psychological side to pricing. Charm prices ending in .99 or .95, prestige pricing for luxury goods, and anchor prices that make a mid-tier option look reasonable all influence how customers perceive value. But psychology only works on top of sound math: no pricing trick rescues a price set below true cost. Get the margin math right first with the calculator above, then tune the final number for presentation.
Finally, treat your selling price as a decision, not a fact. Supplier costs rise, competitors move, and platform fees change — so revisit your prices on a schedule instead of setting them once and forgetting them. A quarterly pricing review takes an hour and often pays for itself many times over.
The calculator uses one compact formula. Because profit margin is defined as profit divided by selling price, a little algebra gives you:
Selling Price = Unit Cost ÷ (1 − Profit Margin)
Profit per Unit = Selling Price − Unit Cost
Write the margin as a decimal before you divide: 40% becomes 0.40, so (1 − 0.40) = 0.60.
Worked example 1. Your unit cost is $60 and you want a 40% margin. Selling Price = $60 ÷ (1 − 0.40) = $60 ÷ 0.60 = $100.00. Profit per Unit = $100.00 − $60.00 = $40.00. Check the margin: $40.00 ÷ $100.00 = 40% — exactly your target.
Worked example 2. Your unit cost is $25 and you want a 30% margin. Selling Price = $25 ÷ (1 − 0.30) = $25 ÷ 0.70 = $35.71 (rounded to the cent). Profit per Unit = $35.71 − $25.00 = $10.71. Check: $10.71 ÷ $35.71 is about 30%.
Notice what the formula does not do: it does not add 40% to $60. That would give $84 — a 40% markup, which is only a 28.6% margin ($24 ÷ $84). Margin is measured on the price, so the divisor (1 − margin) grows the price until the margin slice is exactly right.
Example 1: the Etsy seller and marketplace fees. Priya sells handmade soy candles on Etsy. Each candle costs her $12 all-in: wax, fragrance, the jar, the label, packaging, and her share of shipping supplies. Etsy takes a 6.5% transaction fee plus roughly 3% plus $0.25 for payment processing — about 9.5% of the selling price on a typical order. Priya wants to keep a true 35% margin after fees. Her trick is simple: she adds the fee rate to her margin target and enters 35% + 9.5% = 44.5% into the calculator. Selling Price = $12 ÷ (1 − 0.445) = $12 ÷ 0.555 = $21.62. Profit per unit = $9.62. Reality check: fees come to about $2.05, true profit is about $7.57, and $7.57 ÷ $21.62 is about 35%. The same technique works for Amazon's roughly 15% referral fee or eBay's final value fee — just add your platform's percentage to the margin you want to keep, and price for the combined figure.
Example 2: the retail boutique. A boutique owner buys dresses wholesale at $45 each and targets a 55% margin to cover rent, staff, and slow seasons. Selling Price = $45 ÷ (1 − 0.55) = $45 ÷ 0.45 = $100.00. Profit per unit = $55.00. She lists the dress at $99.95 — a touch under the calculated price for psychological appeal — and still holds a 54.97% margin, close enough to plan around.
Most pricing errors come from the same five traps. Here is what they are and how to dodge each one.
Keep exploring the numbers behind your business with these free tools from Sigma Calculator:
Profit Margin Calculator — work backward from revenue and costs to find your margin percentage.
Markup Calculator — add a markup percentage to cost when that is the convention you need.
Margin Calculator — convert between cost, revenue, profit, and margin in any direction.
Profit Calculator — see gross profit and margin from your revenue and cost totals.
Discount Calculator — price sale and clearance items without destroying your margin.
ROI Calculator — measure the return on inventory and marketing investments.
This page provides a Selling Price Calculator that computes a product's selling price from its unit cost and a desired profit margin. Inputs: unit cost in dollars (default 60) and desired profit margin as a percentage of the selling price (default 40; must be below 100). Outputs: selling price calculated as cost / (1 - margin), and profit per unit. Default result: $100.00 selling price with $40.00 profit. The page also explains the formula, shows worked examples, covers Amazon, eBay, and Etsy marketplace fees, and answers common pricing questions.
Divide your unit cost by one minus the margin written as a decimal: Selling Price = Cost / (1 - Margin). For example, a $60 cost with a 40% margin gives $60 / 0.60 = $100. The calculator above does this math instantly and also shows your profit per unit.
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost, while margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. A 40% markup on a $60 cost gives an $84 price, which is only a 28.6% margin. A true 40% margin needs a $100 price. Mixing the two up is the most common pricing mistake, so decide which one you mean before you set the price.
It depends on the category, but many online sellers target a 30% to 50% gross margin after all costs and fees. Marketplaces take their cut first - Amazon's referral fee is around 15% in many categories - so build fees into your margin target instead of treating them as an afterthought.
Platform fees are charged as a percentage of the selling price, so they directly shrink your margin. Add your total fee percentage to the margin you want to keep, then enter that combined figure as your desired margin. For example, keeping 35% after roughly 9.5% in Etsy fees means pricing for a 44.5% margin.
Because margin is measured on the selling price, not on the cost. Adding 40% to a $60 cost gives $84, which is a markup, not a margin. A true 40% margin means $40 of every $100 of price is profit, which requires division - $60 / 0.60 = $100 - not multiplication.
Double your unit cost: Selling Price = Cost / (1 - 0.50) = Cost x 2. A $25 cost needs a $50 price for a 50% margin, leaving $25 of profit per unit. Enter 50 in the margin field of the calculator above to see it worked out.
Yes. Enter your cost per project or per hour - including labor, tools, travel, and overhead - as the unit cost, then set your target margin. A consultant whose true cost is $80 per hour and who wants a 60% margin would charge $80 / 0.40 = $200 per hour.
You have three levers: lower your unit cost by renegotiating suppliers or simplifying packaging, accept a smaller margin, or add value that justifies the price with bundles, warranties, or faster shipping. Never just cut the price and hope - recalculate the resulting margin first so the decision is deliberate.
APA: Sigma Calculator. (2026, October 8). Selling Price Calculator. https://sigmacalculator.net/financial-calculators/selling-price-calculator/
MLA: “Selling Price Calculator.” Sigma Calculator, 8 Oct. 2026, https://sigmacalculator.net/financial-calculators/selling-price-calculator/.
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Last updated: October 8, 2026.