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 Question from Connie, a student: I am trying to determine the profit margin on selected items. ex: A bottle of juice costs me $\$.70$, I sell it at$\$3.75.$ How can I determine what my profit percentage is?

Hi Connie,

Your cost was $\$0.70$and your selling price was$\$3.75$ so your profit is $\$3.75 - \$0.70 = \$3.05.$You can express your profit as a percentage in two different ways. To express the profit as a percentage of your cost divide the profit$(\$3.05)$ by your cost $(\$0.70)$and multiply by$100.$That is $\frac{\3.05}{\0.70} \times 100 = 436\%$ This is sometimes called the markup. To express the profit as a percentage of your selling price divide the profit$(\$3.05)$ by your selling price $(\$3.75)$and multiply by$100.\$ That is

$\frac{\3.05}{\3.75} \times 100 = 81\%$

This is sometimes called the margin.

I hope this helps,
Penny

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