Compare profit over equal periods, using actual quantities sold. A higher margin per item can still produce less total profit if sales fall. There is no verified universal markup recommendation on this page.
Cost, market value and your price
Write down what you paid per unit and what you charge per unit. These are the numbers needed to calculate gross profit. The market value shown by the game is another reference point; it is not automatically the same as your purchase cost.
Keep the two percentages distinct: markup on cost divides the difference by cost, while margin divides it by the selling price. A price of 18 for an item costing 12 gives 50% markup and approximately 33.3% gross margin. These example figures are invented to demonstrate arithmetic.
Run an A/B observation
- Choose one item, or use properly weighted averages for a known product mix.
- For session A, record cost, price, units actually sold, running costs and the elapsed time.
- For session B, adjust the price and collect the same measurements over a comparable period.
- Record changes in shop level, stock availability, staffing or layout. These can make the comparison less informative.
- Repeat before making a major purchasing decision. Two observations alone do not establish causation.
Use the two-session worksheet to calculate the difference and export your figures. It deliberately uses measured sales instead of estimating customer acceptance from an unverified formula.
A higher price can still lose
Suppose session A sells 40 units for 12 each; session B sells 25 units for 15. Both have a unit cost of 8 and allocated running costs of 50. Session A produces 110 of contribution after those costs; B produces 125. B wins this example by 15 despite selling fewer units.
Change B to 20 sales and its result falls to 90. A is now ahead by 20. That is why a percentage on a price tag cannot answer the whole question. The example is not an estimate of in-game demand.
What belongs in the comparison
Use the costs attributable to the same time period and scope as the sales. If you compare one product, do not silently charge it with all shop overhead unless that is the allocation you intend. Include costs of sold stock through the unit-cost input; do not enter them again as running costs.
Keep major furniture purchases and unsold inventory visible in a separate cash budget. The tool measures operating contribution for your selected scope, not the total change in your wallet or a complete accounting ledger.
Check video advice against its version
Tenkiei Gaming's profit video explicitly identifies its footage as versions 0.43–0.44. Its focus on profit, experience and layout is useful for deciding what to measure, but its results are not a current-version benchmark. Our video notes link to the relevant chapters.
Sources & scope
Official facts and editorial suggestions are identified in the text. No current-build gameplay benchmark was performed for this guide. Old video results are not treated as 1.0 measurements.