The someone else needs some remedial math :-) $10 x 2.5 = $25.....$10 x 3 = $30. It's just simple multiplication.

I think the confusion is between margin and mark up because if you mark up $10 by 250% you actually get $35 the margin (the difference between the two figures) is $25.

Ink, you want to try that again?? A 2.5 markup is not the same as 250% - a 2.5 markup actually computes to 150%. Using the example the OP provided, a 2.5 markup on $10 is $25. The margin is the difference between the cost and the marked up retail price (although in the real world there are other factors involved that impact what the true margin is). Since percentages seem to give so many folks palpitations, using a flat multiplier rather than a percentage on anything marked up more than 100% seems to be a lot simpler.

Granted, retail math can be a little confusing, specially in its terminology, but as a buyer for a retail nursery, achieving a satisfactory margin by calculating markup rates occupies a good deal of my time :-)

Sheesh! I bet poor willy is really confused now eh?

Now I'm really confused, so I just (copied & paste) sent the answer to her. Thanks gardengal and inkognits, willy