Discount Calculator
Calculate discounts
Calculate discounts Runs locally in your browser
Price, then discount percentage, separated by a comma.
About the
The Discount Calculator takes a price and a discount percentage and returns what you save and what you pay. It also quietly settles the question that comes up at every sale: whether two successive discounts are the same as one larger one. They are not. Twenty percent off followed by a further ten percent is a total of 28 percent, not 30, because the second discount applies to the already reduced price. The reverse direction is the other trap, where subtracting the percentage back off the sale price does not return you to the original.
Where people use the
- Checking whether a sale price is actually the discount advertised.
- Working out the real total of a stacked promotion.
- Comparing two offers, such as 25 percent off against 20 pounds off.
- Finding the pre-discount price when only the sale price is shown.
How to use the
- 1
Enter the price and the discount
Type them as price, then a comma, then the percentage. For example 200, 20 means 200 with 20 percent off.
- 2
Read the breakdown
You get the original price, the discount rate, the amount saved and the final price.
- 3
Check a stacked discount separately
Run the tool once, then run it again on the new final price with the second percentage. Do not add the two percentages together.
- 4
Reverse a price if you need the original
Divide rather than subtract. If something costs 80 after 20 percent off, the original is 80 divided by 0.8, which is 100.
Tips and best practices
- Multiply successive discounts, never add them.
- Divide to reverse a discount; do not subtract.
- Compare the final price, not the headline percentage.
Frequently asked questions
Is 20 percent off plus 10 percent off the same as 30 percent off?
No, it is 28 percent. The first discount gives 80 percent of the price, and the second takes 90 percent of that, so 0.8 times 0.9 is 0.72, meaning you pay 72 percent. Percentages only add when they apply to the same base.
How do I find the original price from the sale price?
Divide by the remaining fraction. A sale price of 80 after 20 percent off means 80 divided by 0.8, which is 100. Subtracting 20 percent from 80 gives 64, which is the common mistake.
Does this include tax?
No. It converts a pre-tax price into a discounted pre-tax price. If tax is applied afterwards, calculate it on the discounted figure, not the original.
What does a discount over 100 percent mean?
It is not a real discount. Anything at or above 100 percent means the item is free or the seller is paying you, which in practice means one of the numbers was entered wrong.
Why is my result a few cents different from the shop's?
Rounding. The tool keeps two decimal places throughout, while a till may round each line, round only at the total, or round to the nearest five cents.