I worked out my price with the selling-price calculator; how do I turn it into the tax-inclusive price customers see?

Where 76.39 came from

In the Selling-price calculator we entered a product cost of 45, shipping we absorb of 10, payment fees of 3% of the price and a target margin of 25%. It returned a selling price of 76.39. That price covers the costs and leaves the target margin, but it contains no tax, because that calculator does not add it.

That is the right way round: your margin is measured on what you keep, and the tax is not yours. So you find the net price first and put the tax on top.

Step two: add the tax

1. Open the VAT calculator and choose Add tax to a net amount.
2. Enter 76.39 and the rate that applies to your product once you have confirmed it; this example uses 15.
3. Result: tax 11.46, gross 87.85.

If your store wants prices before tax and adds it at checkout, enter 76.39 on the product and customers will see 87.85. If it wants tax-inclusive prices, enter 87.85.

When you round the shelf price

87.85 does not look great on a product page, so you lean towards 89, 85 or 87. Any rounding of the tax-inclusive price changes your net, which is why you work backwards again:

• Extract 89 at the same rate: net 77.39, tax 11.61. Your net is exactly one unit above 76.39, so the margin sits a little over target.
• If you choose a figure below 87.85, extract it too and you will find a net below 76.39, meaning a margin under 25%.

The usual slip is rounding the shelf price up and forgetting that the extra is shared between your net and the tax, then treating all of it as profit.

An order of work that protects you

Always work in this order: costs and fees, then the net price that hits your margin, then tax, then rounding, then extract to check. Reverse it and add tax before the percentage fees and your payment fees end up calculated on a different amount than you assumed. Throughout, the rate is the one you have confirmed, never a figure the tool assumes.