Calculating your cost price is straightforward once you know the Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit formula and what each input means. This guide explains the method in plain language, walks through a manual calculation, and gives worked examples you can follow — then you can do it instantly with the Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit Calculator.
What is Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit?
The Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit calculation tells you your cost price from a few simple inputs. The figure you are solving for here is the cost price, expressed in INR.
The Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit formula
The core formula is:
Cost price = Selling price ÷ (1 + Profit percentage (on cost) ÷ 100)Here is what each input means:
- Selling price — a money amount. Example: ₹1,200.
- Profit percentage (on cost) — a percentage, such as an annual rate. Example: 2%.
How to calculate it step by step
- Write down the selling price (for example, ₹1,200).
- Write down the profit percentage (on cost) (for example, 2%).
- Apply the formula above to get your cost price.
- Double-check the result with the Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit Calculator.
Worked examples
Example 1
| Input / Output | Value |
|---|---|
| Selling price | ₹1,200 |
| Profit percentage (on cost) | 2% |
| Cost price | ₹1,000.00 |
With selling price of ₹1,200 and profit percentage (on cost) of 2%, the cost price works out to ₹1,000.00.
Example 2
With selling price of ₹2,400 and profit percentage (on cost) of 2%, the cost price works out to ₹2,000.00.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost price | ₹2,000.00 |
Example 3
With selling price of ₹600 and profit percentage (on cost) of 2%, the cost price works out to ₹500.00.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost price | ₹500.00 |
Tips for an accurate result
- Keep your units consistent — mixing, say, months with years or grams with kilograms is the most common source of error.
- Round only at the very end. Rounding inputs early can shift the final answer noticeably.
- Re-run the numbers whenever an input changes, rather than estimating from an old result.
- Annual rates must be converted to the period you are calculating for (for example, divide an annual rate by 12 for a monthly figure).
Prefer not to do the maths by hand? — the Cost Price from Selling Price and Profit Calculator does it instantly, for free, with the formula and a worked example built in.
Related calculators
Continue exploring finance calculators with these tools: SIP Calculator, EMI Calculator, CAGR Calculator, FD Calculator, Effective Annual Rate (EAR) Calculator.