Discount Calculator
See what you actually pay after a discount, and how much you save.
Enter your numbers
Formula
How the calculation works
A discount is a percentage taken off a marked price, so the arithmetic is one multiplication followed by one subtraction. What catches people out is the order: the percentage applies to the original price, never to the already-reduced one, and it is applied once.
The saving scales with the price but the proportion does not. Taking 30% off a 200 sweater saves 60 and leaves 140. Taking 30% off a 2,000 laptop saves 600 and leaves 1,400. The percentage is identical; only the money changes. That is why a shopper comparing two sale tags should compare the percentages and a shopper comparing two purchases should compare the money.
If you know the total you want to pay and the discount rate, the tool runs backwards as well, dividing the target by the remaining fraction rather than subtracting a percentage from it. Subtracting goes wrong here because the reduction is not a share of the larger number.
Common mistakes
- Subtracting to find the original price. At 30% off, 130 is not the original of a 100 item; dividing by 0.7 is what returns the marked price.
- Applying the discount to the already-discounted price, which quietly gives a second reduction nobody offered.
- Treating two successive discounts as one. 20% then 20% is not 40% off, it is 36% off, because the second applies to the smaller number.
When to use it
- Use it when you want the final price and the money saved, or when you know your budget and need the marked price that lands on it.
- It is not the tool for two discounts stacked on top of each other; use the double-discount calculator, which applies the second rate to the reduced price.
Worked example
A 2,400 item at 15% off saves 360 and costs 2,040.
Common questions
What if there are two successive discounts?
You cannot add them. Apply the first, then the second to the new price — 20% then 10% is really 28%, not 30%.
How do I find the price before a discount?
Divide the sale price by (100 − discount)%. Divide — never add the percentage back.
Related tools
-
Tip Calculator
Add a tip to the bill and split it between people.
-
Add Tax / VAT Calculator
Add tax or VAT to a price to get the total.
-
Percentage Calculator
Find what percentage one number is of another.
-
Percentage Change
How much a number rose or fell between two points.
-
Monthly Budget Split
Divide monthly income into needs, wants and savings.
-
Profit Margin & Markup
Profit, margin and markup from a cost and a selling price.