How Wholesale Artificial Plant Pricing and Retail Margin Work
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Margin is profit as a share of your selling price; markup is profit as a share of your cost. To calculate either correctly for artificial plants, strip VAT from your retail price first, then build a landed cost from the trade price ex VAT plus your share of delivery and any fulfilment costs. Every worked figure in this guide is illustrative, chosen to show the arithmetic; none is a Leaf Design Wholesale price, which you see once logged in.
Markup vs margin in one minute
The two formulas, with every figure ex VAT:
- Markup = (selling price − cost) ÷ cost
- Margin = (selling price − cost) ÷ selling price
Buy at £10 and sell at £20 ex VAT and the markup is 100% while the margin is 50%. The same £10 of profit gives two very different percentages, which is why a supplier talking markup and an accountant talking margin can appear to disagree. Pick one measure for your business and use it consistently. This table converts between them:
| Markup on cost | Selling price for £10 cost (ex VAT) | Margin on selling price |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | £15.00 | 33.3% |
| 100% (keystone) | £20.00 | 50.0% |
| 150% | £25.00 | 60.0% |
| 200% | £30.00 | 66.7% |
| 300% | £40.00 | 75.0% |
Margin can never reach 100%, however high the markup. If you plan a range as a whole, our range planning page for retailers shows live lines by category, height and stock so you can build the mix these numbers apply to.
Stripping VAT before you calculate
The commonest mistake is calculating margin on a price that still contains VAT. Trade prices on our site are ex VAT; your shelf price almost certainly includes it. Divide an inc-VAT price by 1.2 to find the ex-VAT figure at the standard 20% rate.
Illustrative example: you buy an item at £10 ex VAT and sell it at £29.99 inc VAT.
- Wrong: (£29.99 − £10) ÷ £29.99 = 66.7% "margin".
- Right: £29.99 ÷ 1.2 = £24.99 ex VAT, so (£24.99 − £10) ÷ £24.99 = 60.0% margin.
The difference, nearly seven percentage points, is VAT you collect for HMRC, not profit. If your business is not VAT registered the calculation changes: you cannot reclaim the VAT on your purchase, so your cost is £12, and you charge no VAT on the sale, so the whole £29.99 is yours. Margin is then (£29.99 − £12) ÷ £29.99 = 60.0%. We supply a VAT invoice with every order, which a registered business needs for its reclaim. Our guide to who can buy trade covers reading ex-VAT prices in more detail.
Building landed cost: delivery threshold and multibuy
Your real cost of an item is its trade price plus its share of what it cost to get it to you. On our site UK mainland delivery is £14.99 on orders under £300 ex VAT and free at £300 or more, so the delivery share depends on the size of the order, not the item.
| Order value (ex VAT) | Delivery | Delivery as a share of goods | Add to a £10 item |
|---|---|---|---|
| £150 | £14.99 | 10.0% | £1.00 |
| £200 | £14.99 | 7.5% | £0.75 |
| £250 | £14.99 | 6.0% | £0.60 |
| £299.99 | £14.99 | 5.0% | £0.50 |
| £300 or more | Free | 0% | £0.00 |
The simplest allocation is pro rata: multiply each item's cost by delivery ÷ goods value. On a £150 order, a tenth goes on every item's cost, which at a 50% target margin takes several points off. That is why regular buyers plan orders past £300 where storage and cash flow allow.
The multibuy is the other adjustment. Every line is sold individually, and a 20% multibuy discount applies automatically when you take 6 or more items, mixed and matched, across single flower stems, stem ferns and foliage, hanging plants, ceramic storage canisters and any line priced under £8, so factor that saving into your unit cost where it applies. Online sellers should also add fulfilment per unit: the box, void fill, labels and the courier charge. Those often matter more than the delivery share.
Worked examples (illustrative figures, not Leaf prices)
A gift shop counter line. Bought at £6.00 ex VAT on a £200 order, so the delivery share is 7.5%, or £0.45, and landed cost is £6.45. Sold at £14.99 inc VAT, which is £12.49 ex VAT. Margin is (£12.49 − £6.45) ÷ £12.49 = 48.4%; markup is 93.7%.
An online seller's stem bunch. Stems bought at £3.00 each, on an order over £300 so no delivery share. A bunch of three sells for £24.99 inc VAT (£20.83 ex VAT). Costs: stems £9.00, box £1.20, courier £4.50, so £14.70. Margin is (£20.83 − £14.70) ÷ £20.83 = 29.4%. Charging the customer £3.99 inc VAT for delivery (£3.33 ex VAT) lifts revenue to £24.16 ex VAT and margin to 39.2%. Buying 6 or more multibuy lines earns 20% off the stem cost and lifts margin further. For online sellers, the courier line decides the margin.
A designer's project recharge. A tree and a planter cost £160 ex VAT together, delivered free as part of a larger order. Recharged to the client with a 40% markup, the goods bill is £224 ex VAT, a margin of 28.6%, plus an hour of installation charged separately. Designers who recharge goods usually earn most of their return on fees, so the goods markup can be modest.
Where the arithmetic changes by product type
A few formats in the range need a second look before you set a price:
- Stems sold individually. A line such as the 55cm dusty pink dahlia stem is sold singly, and 6 or more mixed multibuy items earn 20% off. Any stems used as spares in a display are a cost against the ones you sell.
- Pairs. Some topiary is listed as a pair, such as the pair of 90cm boxwood spiral tower trees. Decide whether you sell as a pair or singly and halve the cost for single pricing.
- Trees with a planter included. Lines such as the 150cm twisted-trunk ficus with gold planter include a separate metal planter in one price. Compare that with buying the tree and planter separately before you price the finished piece.
- Attach sales. A planter sold with a plant lifts the transaction value on the same customer. The 18cm white ceramic planter with metal stand has a 13.5cm inner opening, which suits a plant in a 10cm pot such as the 40cm variegated pothos. Price the pair as a set and as singles.
- Low-ticket shelf lines. Small plants such as the 18cm light pink flowering freesia sell on impulse at a low price point, so the delivery share and your till price rounding move the margin more than on large items.
- Large trees. A 180cm deluxe fiddle leaf fig carries the same flat delivery charge as a stem, so its delivery share is small, but your onward delivery or installation cost to a customer can be large. Cost it in.
Compare formats by height and stock in the topiary collection, the flower stems collection and the planters and vases collection.
Stockturn vs margin
Margin tells you what each sale earns; stockturn tells you how often the cash invested in stock comes back. A retailer needs both. Artificial plants do not perish, so unsold stock is not written off for freshness, but it still ties up cash and space and may need marking down.
A useful measure is gross profit earned per year on each £100 of stock held at cost. Illustrative comparison:
- Line A: 60% margin (150% markup), sells through twice a year. £100 of stock earns £150 per cycle, so £300 a year.
- Line B: 45% margin (81.8% markup), sells through five times a year. £100 of stock earns £81.80 per cycle, so £409 a year.
The lower-margin line earns more because it turns faster. Track sell-through by line for a season before you judge a line on its percentage alone. Our live stock counts, shown on every product page, make it practical to buy little and often on faster lines rather than stocking deep. For range mix by category, see our guide to artificial plant categories for UK retailers.
A quick calculator you can run on paper
- Take your intended selling price inc VAT and divide by 1.2.
- Find the unit cost ex VAT; take off 20% if the line qualifies for the multibuy and you are buying 6 or more multibuy items.
- Add the delivery share: unit cost × (delivery ÷ order goods value).
- Add your fulfilment cost per unit, if you ship to customers.
- Margin = (ex-VAT selling price − landed cost) ÷ ex-VAT selling price.
To work backwards from a target, divide the landed cost by (1 − target margin) for the ex-VAT price, then multiply by 1.2. With a landed cost of £6.45 and a 55% target, that is £6.45 ÷ 0.45 = £14.33 ex VAT, or £17.20 inc VAT; round to the nearest price point your customers expect.
Frequently asked questions
What is keystone pricing?
Doubling your cost to set the selling price: a 100% markup, or 50% margin, on ex-VAT figures. It is a quick rule of thumb, not a target; your price point, competitors and sell-through should set the final price.
Do you offer lower prices for larger quantities?
Yes, on some ranges. A multibuy discount of 20% applies automatically when you buy 6 or more items, mixed and matched, across single flower stems, fern and foliage stems, hanging plants, ceramic storage canisters and any line priced under £8. Outside those ranges the trade price shown is the price per item, and the other saving on a larger order is free UK mainland delivery once it reaches £300 ex VAT.
What margin should I aim for?
There is no single right figure. Work backwards from the price your customers will pay, include every landed and fulfilment cost, and test lines for a season. The scheduled guides Choosing Artificial Plants for Different Ecommerce Price Bands and Building Margin: Reselling Artificial Stems and Arrangements go into positioning.
Can I see trade prices before I register?
No. Prices show once you are logged in. Register online, log in to see trade prices.
Run your own numbers
Register on our registration page to see trade prices, then run the calculator above on the lines you are considering. Our range planning page for retailers and garden centre range planning page list live lines by category with stock, and the free trade catalogue is useful for shortlisting. Delivery thresholds and payment terms are on our ordering and delivery page.
