Discount Calculator

Percent off

Sale Price

$60.00 (You Save $20.00)

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Includes your inputs and results for this calculation, plus any additional calculations you've compared.

How This Calculator Works

A sale price is the original price minus the discount percentage applied to it. Enter the original price and the discount percentage from a sale, coupon, or markdown, and this calculator shows exactly how much you save and what you’ll actually pay. It’s the same math a cashier’s register does automatically at checkout, made visible before you get there.

Three related questions are covered:

  • Percent off — the common case above, with an optional second discount for stacked promotions (a coupon on top of a sale price).
  • Fixed amount off — when the discount is a flat dollar amount (“$15 off”) rather than a percentage.
  • Reverse — work backward from what you actually paid and the discount percent applied, to find the original price — useful for expense reports or just satisfying curiosity about a receipt.

An optional sales tax field (for the percent-off and fixed-off modes) shows the actual out-the-door total after the discount.

The Formula

Every quantity is color-coded and carried through consistently:

Amount Saved=Original Price×(Discount Percent100)\vC{\text{Amount Saved}} = \vA{\text{Original Price}} \times \left(\frac{\vB{\text{Discount Percent}}}{100}\right) Sale Price=Original PriceAmount Saved\vD{\text{Sale Price}} = \vA{\text{Original Price}} - \vC{\text{Amount Saved}}

A 100% discount means the amount saved equals the original price, making the sale price $0 — useful as a sanity check, since a discount can never take more than 100% off a price.

Fixed amount off is simpler still: Sale Price=Original PriceAmount Off\vD{\text{Sale Price}} = \vA{\text{Original Price}} - \vE{\text{Amount Off}}, capped at $0 — a coupon larger than the price just makes the item free, not a negative price.

Reversing a percent-off discount solves the sale-price formula backward:

Original Price=Sale Price1(Discount Percent÷100)\vA{\text{Original Price}} = \frac{\vD{\text{Sale Price}}}{1 - (\vB{\text{Discount Percent}} \div 100)}

Worked Example

A jacket originally priced at $80 is 25% off.

  1. Amount Saved: 80×(25÷100)=20\vA{80} \times (\vB{25} \div 100) = \vC{20}.
  2. Sale Price: 8020=60\vA{80} - \vC{20} = \vD{60}.

The jacket costs $60, and you save $20. If two discounts apply — say an additional 10% off at checkout — apply them one at a time rather than adding the percentages together: 10% off the new $60 price saves another $6, for a final price of $54, not the $52 you’d get by (incorrectly) treating it as a flat 35% off the original $80.

Source: Wikipedia: Discounts and Allowances.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate a sale price?

Multiply the original price by the discount percent divided by 100 to get the amount saved, then subtract that from the original price to get the sale price.

How do I stack two discounts?

Apply them one at a time: calculate the sale price after the first discount, then use that sale price as the "original price" for the second discount. Applying both percentages to the original price at once overstates the total discount. This calculator's "Percent off" mode has an optional second-discount field that does this automatically.

How do I find the original price from a sale price?

Divide the sale price by (1 minus the discount percent as a decimal): original price = sale price ÷ (1 − discount% ÷ 100). Use this calculator's "Reverse" mode to do this directly.

How do I calculate a fixed dollar-amount discount?

Simply subtract the discount amount from the original price — no percentage math needed. Use this calculator's "Fixed amount off" mode; it also caps the discount at the original price, so a coupon larger than the item's price just makes it free rather than showing a negative total.