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Discount Calculator

Enter the price and the discount to see what you actually pay. The stacked-discount tab shows why "extra 10% off sale prices" is never as good as it sounds.

This calculator needs JavaScript to run. The formula, the worked examples and the explanations below all work without it.

Applied after the discount, which is how sales tax works
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Prices and results use the currency you pick — no conversion is applied.

How a discount is calculated

Formulasale price = original × (1 − discount % ÷ 100)

A 25% discount means you pay 75% of the price. Multiplying by 0.75 is one step and is less error-prone than working out the saving and subtracting it — though the calculator shows you both, because the amount saved is usually the number you actually care about.

Why stacked discounts never add up

"20% off, then an extra 10% off at the register" is not 30% off. The second discount applies to the already-reduced price, so on $100 you get:

  1. $100 × 0.80 = $80
  2. $80 × 0.90 = $72

That is 28% off, not 30%. The gap widens with bigger discounts: 50% then 50% is 75% off, not 100% — you never get anything free that way.

Useful corollary: the order does not matter. 20% then 10% gives the same result as 10% then 20%, because multiplication is commutative. If a shop tells you the order matters, they are applying one of the discounts to something other than the running total.

The stacked tab shows both the true effective discount and the number you would get by naively adding the percentages, so you can see exactly how much of the advertised saving is real.

Sales tax

In the United States sales tax is added after the discount, on the reduced price — so a discount saves you the tax on the discounted portion too. Enter your local rate in the optional tax box and the calculator shows the reduced price, the tax and the final amount separately.

This is the opposite of VAT-style pricing in Europe, where the tax is already inside the displayed price and a discount simply reduces the whole thing. If your prices already include tax, leave the tax box empty.

Worked examples

An $80 jacket at 25% off

You save $20 and pay $60. With 8.25% sales tax the total is $64.95.

$15 off a $60 order — is that better than 20% off?

$15 off $60 is exactly 25%, so yes, it beats 20% off. Fixed-amount coupons are worth more on cheaper items and less on expensive ones — the crossover here is $75.

You paid $60 in a 25%-off sale. What was the ticket price?

60 ÷ 0.75 = $80. Dividing by the multiplier is the only correct way back — adding 25% to $60 would give $75, which is wrong.

Percent off or amount off — which is better?

Set them equal and solve. A $15 coupon beats 20% off whenever 0.20 × price < 15, which means any price below $75. Above that, the percentage wins. The same logic applies to every "$X off vs Y% off" choice: divide the coupon by the percentage as a decimal to find the crossover price.

Worth checking before you add something to the basket just to hit a coupon threshold — spending $20 more to save $15 is not a saving.

Common uses

  • Shopping: what you actually pay at the register.
  • Black Friday and clearance: checking stacked offers.
  • Comparing coupons: fixed amount versus percentage.
  • Reselling: working back from a sale price to a ticket price.
  • Pricing your own products: seeing what a promotion really costs you.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate a percentage discount?
Multiply the price by the discount over 100 to get the saving, then subtract. Or in one step, multiply by (1 − discount ÷ 100): a 30% discount on $50 is $50 × 0.70 = $35.
Is 20% off plus an extra 10% off the same as 30% off?
No. The second discount comes off the already-reduced price, so the real total is 28% off. On $100 you pay $72 rather than $70. The stacked tab shows the true effective rate next to the naive sum.
Is sales tax applied before or after the discount?
After, in the United States — tax is charged on what you actually pay, so a discount reduces the tax as well. In countries where tax is already included in the shelf price, leave the tax box empty.
How do I find the original price from a sale price?
Divide the sale price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). A $60 item at 25% off started at $60 ÷ 0.75 = $80. The "Find the original price" tab does this — note that adding the percentage back gives the wrong answer.
Which is better, $20 off or 20% off?
It depends on the price. They are equal at $100; below that the fixed $20 is worth more, above it the percentage is. Divide the coupon amount by the percentage as a decimal to find the crossover point for any pair.
Can the discount be more than 100%?
No, and the calculator refuses it. A discount above 100% would mean the shop pays you, which is not what any real promotion means — usually a figure like that is a stacked offer entered as a single one.