Discount Calculator
Enter the original price and discount percentage to instantly see the sale price and your savings.
How discount calculations work
A percentage discount reduces a price by a fraction of its original value — for example, a 20% discount on a $100 item means you're paying for 80% of the original price. This calculator multiplies the original price by the discount percentage to determine the exact dollar amount you're saving, then subtracts that from the original price to arrive at the final amount you'll actually pay.
Why percentage discounts can be misleading
Retailers sometimes advertise a discount based on an inflated "original" price that wasn't the item's typical selling price, making the percentage-off figure look more impressive than the actual savings. It's worth checking a product's price history when possible, since a "40% off" sale on an artificially inflated price might still result in a higher price than the item's normal selling price at a different retailer.
Stacked and sequential discounts
When two discounts are applied one after another — for example, 20% off, then an additional 10% off the already-discounted price — the combined savings is not simply 30%. Because the second discount applies to the already-reduced price, the actual combined discount works out to slightly less than the sum of the two percentages. To calculate a stacked discount accurately, you'd apply this calculator twice: once for the first discount, then again using that result as the new starting price for the second discount.
Does this work for stacked discounts?
No - this calculates a single discount. Stacked discounts (e.g. 20% off, then an extra 10% off) are applied sequentially, not added together, so you'd need to run this calculator twice using the first result as the new starting price.
How is sales tax handled?
This calculator shows the discounted price before tax. Sales tax is typically calculated on the final discounted price, not the original price, so you would add applicable tax after applying the discount shown here.
What's the difference between a discount and a markdown?
The terms are often used interchangeably in everyday language, though "markdown" is sometimes used specifically to describe a permanent price reduction versus "discount" for a temporary promotional price cut.