How do you calculate repair margin?

Subtract delivered cost from billed revenue, then divide by your basis. With $125 billed and $100 cost, gross margin is $25, and on a $100 basis that is 25%.

What is a good gross margin on electronics repair?

Healthy depot repair margins commonly run 30-50% on out-of-warranty and refurbishment work, lower on contracted warranty rates. The 25% in the example is thin and worth reviewing for pricing or cost leakage.

Should margin be on revenue or on cost?

The reporting basis lets you choose. Dividing by revenue gives margin percent; dividing by cost gives markup. Using a $100 cost basis with $25 profit reads as 25% markup, while a revenue basis would read 20%.

What costs belong in delivered repair cost?

Everything to complete and ship the job: parts, technician labor, test-station and consumables, inbound and outbound freight, and an allowance for rework or scrap on failed repairs.

Repair margin vs. repair-versus-replace: how are they linked?

If a repair's delivered cost approaches the replacement unit cost, margin collapses and replacement is often smarter. Run the margin first; a near-zero or negative margin is the signal to scrap and replace.

Why is my margin lower than quoted?

Usually unaccounted cost: a second parts pull, rework after a failed test, or expedited freight. Track delivered cost as-actuals, not as-estimated, to catch the leak.

Electronics Repair, Refurbishment & Depot Operations calculator

Repair Margin Calculator

Repair margin is the gross profit a depot keeps on a repair or refurbishment job after the fully delivered cost of completing it, expressed both in dollars and as a percentage of a chosen basis. Service estimators, account managers, and finance use it to set flat-rate pricing, decide whether a board is worth repairing versus replacing, and protect profitability across warranty, out-of-warranty, and refurbishment work. Because parts, labor, freight, and rework all eat into a fixed repair price, margin is where good shop-floor discipline either shows up or disappears. It is the cleanest single check on whether a repair tier is priced to make money.

What this calculator does

Calculate margin percentage for an electronics repair, refurbishment, exchange, or depot service quote after expected cost is subtracted from billed revenue.
Use it when repair margin in electronics repair, refurbishment and depot operations needs a clean margin number for a electronics repair, refurbishment and depot operations go / no-go review.
It subtracts delivered repair cost from billed revenue to get gross margin dollars, then divides by your chosen reporting basis to express margin as a percentage.

Formula used

Repair gross margin dollars = billed repair or refurbishment revenue - estimated delivered repair cost
Repair margin = repair gross margin dollars ÷ margin reporting basis

Inputs explained

Billed repair or refurbishment revenue:
Estimated delivered repair cost:
Margin reporting basis:

How to use the result

Use it when quoting flat-rate tiers, reviewing job profitability, and making repair-versus-replace decisions.
It is only as honest as the delivered cost: leaving out freight, rework, test-station time, or scrap on failed repairs overstates margin.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for copper and brass mill shapes stands at 559.593 (BLS, May 2026), up 76.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move. Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026).
U.S. manufacturing runs at 75.6% of capacity (Federal Reserve, May 2026). New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).
The U.S. has 11,261 computer and electronic products establishments employing about 815,443 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate repair margin? Subtract delivered cost from billed revenue, then divide by your basis. With $125 billed and $100 cost, gross margin is $25, and on a $100 basis that is 25%.
What is a good gross margin on electronics repair? Healthy depot repair margins commonly run 30-50% on out-of-warranty and refurbishment work, lower on contracted warranty rates. The 25% in the example is thin and worth reviewing for pricing or cost leakage.
Should margin be on revenue or on cost? The reporting basis lets you choose. Dividing by revenue gives margin percent; dividing by cost gives markup. Using a $100 cost basis with $25 profit reads as 25% markup, while a revenue basis would read 20%.
What costs belong in delivered repair cost? Everything to complete and ship the job: parts, technician labor, test-station and consumables, inbound and outbound freight, and an allowance for rework or scrap on failed repairs.
Repair margin vs. repair-versus-replace: how are they linked? If a repair's delivered cost approaches the replacement unit cost, margin collapses and replacement is often smarter. Run the margin first; a near-zero or negative margin is the signal to scrap and replace.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.