What is the typical profit margin a company shoots for when selling one item? Is there a standard percentage?

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I am just trying to get an idea of what the % of profit a company wants to make on a product. For example, if I buy a motorcycle for the wholesale cost of $2,000 (just an example) how much profit is generally aimed for?

One Response to “What is the typical profit margin a company shoots for when selling one item? Is there a standard percentage?”

  1. Manufacturing companies usually get about 8% profit, that is after tax and everything, if they are good. Some make 1% and are happy with it.
    With distributors its different. They can take anything between 1% and 100%, depending on a lot of things.
    The big difference in manufacturers and distributors is the capital involved, which usually cost enourmous money for the manufactorers, drawing down the profits.
    Another issue is the transportation of goods, from the place of origin to the place of sale, that can get very expensive.
    In some instances, transport is 90% of the cost of a product.
    Naturally, as more distributors involved, as more expensive a product gets.

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