Wholesale Price Calculator: Margins & GST
A wholesale price ladder applies a separate target margin to the same landed cost for each customer tier. At a $42 cost, a 25% trade margin gives $56 before GST and a 35% wholesale margin gives $64.62. Enter your tiers, compare prices with GST and choose rounding that preserves the selected margin.
Selling price ex GST
$70.00
- Sell inc GST
- $77.00
- Gross profit per unit
- $28.00
- Margin
- 40%
- Markup
- 66.67%
Show breakdown
Calculation breakdown
- Cost ex GST
- $42.00
- Sell ex GST
- $70.00
- Sell inc GST
- $77.00
- GST on sale
- $7.00
- Gross profit per unit
- $28.00
- Margin
- 40%
- Markup
- 66.67%
| Cost ex GST | $42.00 |
|---|---|
| Sell ex GST | $70.00 |
| Sell inc GST | $77.00 |
| GST on sale | $7.00 |
| Gross profit per unit | $28.00 |
| Margin | 40% |
| Markup | 66.67% |
| Tier | Margin target | Sell ex GST | Sell inc GST | Margin achieved | Markup | GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade | 25% | $56.00 | $61.60 | 25% | 33.33% | $5.60 |
| Wholesale | 35% | $64.62 | $71.08 | 35% | 53.86% | $6.46 |
| Retail | 50% | $84.00 | $92.40 | 50% | 100% | $8.40 |
| RRP | 55% | $93.33 | $102.66 | 55% | 122.21% | $9.33 |
A cost of $42.00 sells for $70.00 ex GST ($77.00 inc GST). That is 40% margin; markup is 66.67%.
At a glance
- Margin
- (sell − cost) ÷ sell; markup = (sell − cost) ÷ cost
- Sell price from margin
- cost ÷ (1 − margin)
- GST-inclusive price
- ex-GST price × 1.10 (10% GST)
- Note
- A 40% margin is a 66.67% markup; a 50% margin is a 100% markup
- Price ladder
- trade, wholesale, retail and RRP as margins on the same cost
- Note
- Charm rounding (.95, .99) rounds up so margin never drops below target
How it is calculated
Divide landed cost by one minus the margin, or multiply cost by one plus the markup. Apply GST after calculating the selling price and round price ladders upwards when a price ending is selected.
margin = (sell − cost) ÷ sell
markup = (sell − cost) ÷ cost
sell = cost ÷ (1 − margin) (from margin)
= cost × (1 + markup) (from markup)
= sell_inc ÷ (1 + gst) (from an inclusive price)
sell_inc = sell × (1 + gst)
gst_on_sale = sell × gst
gross_profit = sell − cost
ladder tier: price = cost ÷ (1 − tier_margin), then charm-rounded UP to the chosen ending;
margin_achieved = (price − cost) ÷ price; markup = (price − cost) ÷ cost- Rates as at 2026-09-07 from Gst
How should trade and wholesale prices differ?
Each tier should reflect the cost to serve that customer and the margin the business needs. Set its margin against the same landed cost, then consider order size, payment terms and handling. The example tiers illustrate the calculation rather than prescribing a commercial policy.
Does a price ending change the achieved margin?
Yes. Rounding a calculated price upwards to an ending such as .95 increases the achieved margin slightly. The ladder displays the final selling price and achieved margin together, so you can check the customer-facing price before exporting the price list.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Both describe the gap between cost and sell price, but they divide by different things. Markup divides the profit by the cost: buy at $42.00, sell at $70.00, and the $28.00 profit is a 66.67% markup. Margin divides the same profit by the sell price: $28.00 on $70.00 is a 40% margin. Margin is always the smaller number, and the two converge only at zero. Retailers and ERPs report margin because it is what shows on the profit and loss; suppliers often quote markup because it is easy to apply to a cost. Mixing them up is the most common pricing error we see in price lists imported into a new ERP: a “40% markup” entered as a 40% margin overprices every line: $42 at a 40% markup is $58.80, while a 40% margin gives $70.00.
How do you calculate a sell price from a target margin?
Divide the cost by one minus the margin. For a 40% margin, cost ÷ 0.60; for a 35% margin, cost ÷ 0.65. Do not multiply the cost by 1.40, which gives a 40% markup and only a 28.6% margin. The calculator does the division and shows the markup alongside so you can see both. GST is applied last: the ex-GST sell price is what your margin is measured on, and the inc-GST price is that figure times 1.1 in Australia. If you set prices inc GST for a retail channel, enter the inc-GST price and solve backwards; the calculator strips the GST before working out the margin.
How should a wholesaler set trade, wholesale, retail and RRP prices?
Set each tier as a margin on the same landed cost so the relationships hold when costs change. A typical distribution ladder is trade or contractor pricing at a 20 to 30% margin, wholesale to resellers at 30 to 40%, direct retail at 45 to 55% and a recommended retail price a little above your own retail so resellers have room. Enter your tiers in the ladder and the calculator produces every price ex and inc GST, rounded up to the price ending you choose so no tier ever falls below its target. Export the ladder as a CSV and it becomes a price list ready to load into an ERP’s pricelists or customer price classes.
Why should margin be calculated on landed cost, not the supplier price?
Because freight, duty, insurance and broker charges are real costs of the product, and a margin calculated on the supplier invoice alone overstates profit by the landed cost uplift, often 15 to 30% on imported goods. Use the landed cost per unit from the landed cost calculator as the cost in this tool. In an ERP with landed cost allocation, the inventory cost already includes those charges, so margin reports are true; without it, the price ladder should start from the landed figure you worked out by hand.
| Tier | Margin | Sell ex GST | GST | Sell inc GST | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your price (40% margin) | 40.00% | $70.00 | $7.00 | $77.00 | 66.67% |
| Trade | 25.00% | $56.00 | $5.60 | $61.60 | 33.33% |
| Wholesale | 35.00% | $64.62 | $6.46 | $71.08 | 53.86% |
| Retail | 50.00% | $84.00 | $8.40 | $92.40 | 100.00% |
| RRP | 55.00% | $93.33 | $9.33 | $102.66 | 122.21% |
Frequently asked questions
How should trade and wholesale prices differ?
Each tier should reflect the cost to serve that customer and the margin the business needs. Set its margin against the same landed cost, then consider order size, payment terms and handling. The example tiers illustrate the calculation rather than prescribing a commercial policy.
Does a price ending change the achieved margin?
Yes. Rounding a calculated price upwards to an ending such as .95 increases the achieved margin slightly. The ladder displays the final selling price and achieved margin together, so you can check the customer-facing price before exporting the price list.
Is margin calculated on the GST-inclusive or GST-exclusive price?
Exclusive. GST is collected for the ATO and is not revenue, so margin is measured on the ex-GST sell price against the ex-GST cost. If you know only the inc-GST shelf price, divide it by 1.1 to get the ex-GST figure first; the calculator does this when you choose "sell price inc GST".
What is a good gross margin for a wholesaler in Australia?
It depends on the category and how much service is bundled in, but wholesale distributors commonly run gross margins between 20% and 40% on product, with faster-moving commodity lines at the low end and technical or exclusive lines at the high end. The useful comparison is your own margin by product line after landed cost, which an ERP reports automatically.
ERP for wholesale distribution in Australia
Price ladders like this one become pricelists and customer price classes in an ERP, updated from landed cost automatically. See how it works for your catalogue.
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