What a discount really saves you
A sign that says 30% off gives you a rate, not a price. The calculator turns it into numbers you can compare: the price you pay, the money you save and, when two discounts are stacked, the real total discount. It works in three directions, chosen after “Work out”.
The price after a discount
Multiply the original price by 1 minus the discount. A $129.99 jacket at 30% off costs 129.99 × 0.7 = $90.99, and you save $39.00. In your head: 10% of $129.99 is about $13, so 30% is about $39. The box after “then” takes a second discount, taken from the price already reduced. Leave it at 0 if there is only one.
Stacked discounts are not added together
Stores often stack offers: 40% off on the rack, then an extra 20% off at the checkout. It is tempting to read that as 60% off, but the second discount comes off the lower price. On a $100 item: 100 × 0.6 = $60, then 60 × 0.8 = $48. You pay $48, a total discount of 52%, not 60%. Another example: $80 at 25% off is $60, and a further 10% off brings it to $54, which is 32.5% off in total rather than 35%. When a second discount is typed in, the calculator shows the total discount next to what you save, so you can compare it with a single offer.
The discount from two prices
Seen a price drop from $80 to $60 and want the percentage? Subtract, then divide by the original price: (80 − 60) ÷ 80 × 100 = 25%. The calculator shows it as −25%, with the $20 you save. This is the quickest way to check that a “was / now” label matches the percentage advertised, or to compare a sale in one store with a coupon in another.
The original price
If you paid $60 after 25% off, the full price was not 60 plus 25% ($75). It was 60 ÷ 0.75 = $80: you divide by what is left after the discount. The calculator also shows how much the discount was worth ($20). Handy when a receipt only shows the final price, or to check a refund.
Reading sale offers
- Buy one, get one half price. You pay for one and a half items to get two, which is 25% off each item, and only a saving if you wanted two.
- Dollars off or percent off? $20 off a $150 order is 13.33% off; 15% off the same order saves $22.50. Compare both with the “discount from two prices” mode, or with the percentage calculator.
- Sales tax comes after. In the US, sales tax is usually added at the register, on the discounted price. The prices here are before tax; in the UK and Ireland, shelf prices already include VAT, so the sale price is what you pay.
- Price per unit. A bigger pack on sale is not always cheaper per ounce. Check with the unit price calculator.
For shops and sellers
If you set the discounts yourself, check what is left of your margin before the sale starts. A 25% discount does not simply take 25 points off your margin. On a $100 item that cost you $60 (a 40% margin), the sale price of $75 leaves $15 of profit, a margin of 20%: your profit per item goes from $40 to $15. The margin calculator works it out from your cost and your new price.
Small details
Amounts are rounded to the cent, as on a receipt. Currency, in the bottom bar, switches the symbol between $, £, €, C$ and A$, and the choice is remembered on every page of the site. You can also say “25% off 80” into the microphone at the top, and Share gives a link that opens the same calculation, handy to send a deal to a friend.