Enter cost price and selling price to instantly find your profit or loss percentage.
How to Calculate Profit and Loss Percentage
Profit or loss percentage compares how much you gained or lost on a sale relative to what the item originally cost — a fundamental calculation for retail, resale, trading, and everyday shopping decisions.
Profit/Loss = Selling Price − Cost Price
Profit/Loss % = (Profit or Loss ÷ Cost Price) × 100
Worked Example
If you buy an item for $80 and sell it for $100, your profit is $20. Dividing that by the $80 cost price gives 0.25, or a 25% profit. If instead you sold it for $60, you'd have a $20 loss, which is also a 25% loss relative to cost.
Where This Calculation Is Used
- Retail and resale businesses pricing products for a target profit margin
- Reselling items (thrift flips, collectibles, real estate) to track actual returns
- Comparing deals or evaluating whether a markdown still leaves room for profit
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between profit percentage and profit margin? ▼
Profit percentage (as calculated here) is profit divided by cost price. Profit margin is often calculated as profit divided by selling price instead — the two numbers differ and are used in different contexts, so it's worth checking which one a specific formula or business requires.
Can the loss percentage exceed 100%? ▼
Yes, in theory — if you sold something for $0, that would represent a 100% loss relative to cost. A loss percentage can't mathematically exceed 100% based on cost price alone, since you can't lose more than what you paid for the sale itself.
How is this different from a markup calculator? ▼
Markup calculators typically work forward from cost price to a target selling price. This calculator works backward from known cost and sale prices to reveal the resulting profit or loss percentage after the fact.
Does this include taxes or fees? ▼
No — this is a straightforward comparison between cost price and selling price only. For online marketplace sales, remember to also account for platform fees, shipping costs, and taxes to find your true net profit.
What if cost price is zero? ▼
If an item was acquired for free, any selling price represents pure profit, but the percentage calculation (which divides by cost price) becomes undefined — the calculator will show 0% in this edge case since there's no cost basis to compare against.
🏆 About This Tool — Accuracy & Trust
🔒 Data Privacy: All calculations run entirely within your browser using JavaScript. Nothing you enter here is ever transmitted to our servers, stored, sold, or shared.
📐 Accuracy Note: This tool uses standard, widely published formulas and guidelines. Results are estimates for informational purposes; for financial, medical, or engineering decisions, consult a licensed professional.
📅 Last Updated: September 2026.