There is a clear line between marking up and ripping someone off, but most people draw it in the wrong place. Charging ten times cost is not necessarily wrong, but charging nothing over cost means you are losing on yourself.
Many people have a fundamental misunderstanding about profit. They equate markup with immorality.
But this equation ignores a basic fact of business: reasonable profit is not exploitation. It is recognition of value and compensation for risk.
Something costs ten pounds and sells for a hundred. Looks greedy on the surface. But what you do not see is the full cost chain: acquisition cost, screening cost, trust cost, after-service cost, time cost, opportunity cost. Add all these up and they often far exceed the raw material price.
The real rip-off is not high margin. It is hiding information, making false promises, selling inferior goods at premium prices. If you price reasonably, deliver your service honestly, and your customers buy willingly, even if your margin is high, that is legitimate business.
Markets run on voluntary exchange. A customer paying your price means they have decided your service is worth at least that much. If you underprice yourself, you are actually breaking this market signal. Customers will not thank you for low prices. They will doubt your quality.
What should truly worry you is not reasonable profit being earned. It is reasonable profit being shamed out of existence. When good people are afraid to charge what they are worth, only scammers remain.