How do you calculate quote margin?

Subtract required cost from available price, then divide by your reference base. With a price of 125, a cost of 100, and a reference of 100, the gap is 25 and the margin is 25 ÷ 100 = 25%.

What is a good margin on a rare earth magnet quote?

It depends on volume and risk, but many magnet shops target 20-35% on custom work to absorb rare earth price volatility. The 25% in this example is a defensible mid-range margin.

Should I divide margin by cost or by price?

Both are used — markup divides the gap by cost, true margin divides by price. This tool lets you set the reference base explicitly, so pick one convention and apply it to every magnet quote for comparability.

Why does my quote margin shrink after the order ships?

Usually because the cost input wasn't fully loaded — rare earth material price moves, extra machining passes, or coating rework weren't captured. Always load the cost side completely before trusting the margin.

What's the difference between margin and the amount gap?

The amount gap is the raw dollars earned — 25 in the example. The margin is that gap as a percentage of the reference base, 25%. Thin per-unit magnets can show a good percentage but a small dollar gap, so watch both.

How do I protect margin against rare earth price swings?

Load current NdFeB and dysprosium pricing into the cost input, add a material escalation clause, and re-run the margin whenever feedstock prices move so the quote reflects real cost.

Rare Earth Magnet & Motor Materials calculator

Quote Margin Calculator

Quote margin measures the percentage cushion between what you charge for a rare earth magnet order and what it fully costs to make and ship, referenced against a chosen base such as price or cost. Estimators and commercial managers in magnet and motor-materials shops use it at quoting time to confirm a price clears target margin before it goes to the customer, and to see the raw dollar gap being earned per order. Rare earth magnet costs swing hard with neodymium and dysprosium pricing, so a margin that looked healthy at quote can evaporate by delivery if the base cost isn't fully loaded. Showing both the percentage and the absolute amount gap keeps thin-margin, high-material-cost quotes honest.

What this calculator does

Estimate quote margin for rare earth magnet and motor materials using production-ready inputs so teams can measure the gap between available and required amounts.
Use it when quote margin in rare earth magnet and motor materials needs a clean margin number for a rare earth magnet and motor materials go / no-go review.
It subtracts required cost from available price to get the dollar margin gap, then divides that gap by a reference base to express margin as a percentage.

Formula used

Quote margin amount gap = available quote margin amount - required quote margin amount
Quote margin = amount gap ÷ reference quote margin amount

Inputs explained

Quoted price per magnet order:
Fully loaded cost per magnet order:
Reference base for the margin:

How to use the result

Use it while pricing a magnet quote, comparing quote scenarios, or checking that a negotiated price still clears your margin floor.
The percentage depends entirely on which reference base you pick — dividing by cost versus by price gives different numbers, so keep the base consistent across quotes.

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).
The U.S. has 5,397 electrical equipment and appliances establishments employing about 369,437 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate quote margin? Subtract required cost from available price, then divide by your reference base. With a price of 125, a cost of 100, and a reference of 100, the gap is 25 and the margin is 25 ÷ 100 = 25%.
What is a good margin on a rare earth magnet quote? It depends on volume and risk, but many magnet shops target 20-35% on custom work to absorb rare earth price volatility. The 25% in this example is a defensible mid-range margin.
Should I divide margin by cost or by price? Both are used — markup divides the gap by cost, true margin divides by price. This tool lets you set the reference base explicitly, so pick one convention and apply it to every magnet quote for comparability.
Why does my quote margin shrink after the order ships? Usually because the cost input wasn't fully loaded — rare earth material price moves, extra machining passes, or coating rework weren't captured. Always load the cost side completely before trusting the margin.
What's the difference between margin and the amount gap? The amount gap is the raw dollars earned — 25 in the example. The margin is that gap as a percentage of the reference base, 25%. Thin per-unit magnets can show a good percentage but a small dollar gap, so watch both.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.