Markup and Margin Calculator (Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe's price-display duty is in section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act [Chapter 14:44], published in the Government Gazette Extraordinary on 10 December 2019. A supplier may not display goods for sale, or services on offer, without displaying a price (section 26(2)). Goods shown only as advertising in a part of the premises the public cannot enter carry no price (section 26(3)).

A price is adequately displayed when it is written in the country's currency on the goods or on a band, ticket, label, package, reel or shelf, or published in a catalogue, brochure or circular that states the date after which that price no longer applies (section 26(4)). The displayed price must include all taxes and levies, so a VAT-registered shop cannot add VAT at the till (section 26(5)(a)). If you show a sale placard announcing a monetary or percentage reduction, the price the customer pays is the displayed price minus that reduction (section 26(8)).

A supplier is not bound by a price that someone without authority has altered, covered or removed (section 26(7)). Breaking section 26 is an offence on each count, punishable by a fine up to level 5, imprisonment up to three months, or both (section 26(9)).

When you mark up goods, the markup calculator gives you a selling price. It must be the price that is then displayed, since the Act does not allow a higher price at the counter. Section 32 also requires a written record of each sale, showing the unit price, quantity, the price before tax, the tax and the total including tax.