Discount Calculator (Sale Price and Percent Saved)
Sale price from a percentage off, or the percent saved from an original and a sale price.
Inputs
- Working
- 140 × 35% = 49 off; 140 − 49 = 91
- You save
- 49
- You pay
- 65% of the original
Use this calculator on your own site
Free embed
- Two lines of HTML, unlimited views
- Shows a small CalculateEveryday bar, with a credit link under the calculator
What each Discount input means
- Find
- Sale price from a percentage off, or the percentage off from the original and sale prices — the question to ask of a 'was/now' price tag.
- Original price
- The price before the discount: the 'was' or list price.
- Discount
- The percentage off, from 0 to 100. For two discounts in a row, run the page twice: the first sale price becomes the second original.
- Sale price (for % saved)
- In '% saved' mode, the price you would pay now. It must be between 0 and the original price.
Discount formula
discount = original × rate · sale price = original − discount · percent saved = (original − sale price) ÷ original × 100
A percentage discount is a fraction of the original price taken off it. Multiply the original by the rate to get the amount saved, and subtract it for the sale price — or, in one step, multiply the original by (100% − rate): 35% off means you pay 65%. The reverse question, what percent off a marked-down price represents, is the saving divided by the original price, not by the sale price; a {{$140}} item reduced to {{$91}} is 35% off because {{$49}} is 35% of {{$140}}. Both directions are on this page.
Discount worked example
A $140 dress marked 35% off: the discount is $140 × 0.35 = $49, and the sale price is $140 − $49 = $91. The same answer comes from paying 65%: $140 × 0.65 = $91. Run backwards, an item that was $140 and is now $91 is ($140 − $91) ÷ $140 = 35% off.
More Discount examples
A $2,999 laptop at 20% off: 2,999 × 0.20 = 599.80 off, so the sale price is 2,399.20 before tax.
A jacket that was $80 and is now $60: the saving is $20, and $20 ÷ $80 = 25% off. Measured against the sale price instead, the same $20 would look like 33%, which is the mistake to avoid.
Where the Discount calculator can give the wrong answer
- Percent saved is always measured against the original price. Dividing the saving by the sale price instead gives a bigger, wrong number — {{$49}} ÷ {{$91}} is 54%, and the dress is not 54% off.
- Two discounts do not add. 20% off and then a further 10% off is 28% off in total, because the second 10% is taken from the already-reduced price: pay 80%, then 90% of that, is 72%.
- Sales tax is usually added after the discount, so a 35% discount on a taxed item leaves the tax on {{$91}}, not on {{$140}}. Use the sales tax calculator on the result.
- A '35% off' badge on an original price that was itself raised the week before is still 35% off that number. The page cannot see what the price was last month.
- Discounts above 100% are refused; a 100% discount is free.
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Discount reference table
| First discount | Then a further | Total discount | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 10% | 28% | 72% |
| 20% | 20% | 36% | 64% |
| 25% | 10% | 32.5% | 67.5% |
| 30% | 20% | 44% | 56% |
| 40% | 10% | 46% | 54% |
| 50% | 20% | 60% | 40% |
| 50% | 50% | 75% | 25% |
Discount FAQ
- Multiply the original price by the percentage as a decimal to get the saving, then subtract it: 35% off {{$140}} is {{$140}} × 0.35 = {{$49}} off, {{$91}} to pay. Quicker: multiply by what you pay, 100% − 35% = 65%, so {{$140}} × 0.65 = {{$91}}.
- Saving ÷ original price × 100. Was {{$80}}, now {{$60}}: the saving is {{$20}}, and {{$20}} ÷ {{$80}} = 25% off. Choose '% saved from original and sale price' and enter both prices.
- One-fifth, roughly three-tenths and one-half of the original price. 20% off {{$50}} is {{$10}} off ({{$40}} to pay); 30% off is {{$15}} off ({{$35}}); 50% off is {{$25}} off ({{$25}}). A quick mental route: 10% is the price with the decimal point moved one place, and every other percentage is a multiple of that.
- Only if you buy two of the same price: you pay 1.5 items for 2, which is 75% of the full price, so 25% off. Buying one gets no discount at all, and if the two items differ in price the half-price one is usually the cheaper.
- Divide the sale price by the share you paid. A {{$91}} item at 35% off cost 65% of the original, so the original was 91 ÷ 0.65 = {{$140}}.