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I always prefer to work in terms of margin rather than markup, makes it easier to figure out exactly how much profit is in each job.
Eg: an item that costs $60 and you sell for $100 gives you a 40% margin (67% markup); if you pay $20 for an item and sell it for $100 then the margin would be 80% (400% markup);
If I've priced something at $150 using a 40% margin and I'm negotiating a price with a customer It's easy to figure out in my head how much I'll make on the materials (.40 x 150 = $60) furthermore if I give up 10% on the materials, my margin then becomes 30% (of the original price) and it's just as easy to figure out profit (.30 x 150 = $45)
I tend to shop hard and in volume, freight to this neck of the woods is a killer, so I order less frequently but place bigger orders, in doing this I get volume pricing from my suppliers as well as a freight allowance. Buying this way this allows me to take a healthy margins 40% - 50% on media, 50 - 60% on vinyls.
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