Percent Off Calculator
Find the sale price after a percentage discount and exactly how much you save. Stack a second coupon, add sales tax, buy more than one, or switch to reverse mode to work out the percent off from an original and a final price.
Formula
Worked example
25% off an $80 item: savings = 80 × 0.25 = $20, so the sale price is 80 - 20 = $60. Stack a further 10% off and you pay 80 × 0.75 × 0.90 = $54, an effective 32.5% off.
How a percent-off discount works
A percent-off discount reduces the price by that fraction. To find your savings, multiply the original price by the discount written as a decimal; to find what you pay, subtract the savings, or equivalently multiply the price by (1 minus the discount). A 25% discount means you keep 25% of the price as savings and pay the remaining 75%. Switch the calculator to reverse mode and it works backwards instead: enter the original price and the final price you actually paid, and it returns the percent off that those two prices imply, useful for checking whether an advertised deal is really as deep as it claims.
Stacking discounts and the effective rate
When two discounts apply one after another they multiply rather than add. A 20% coupon on an item already 20% off is not 40% off; the second discount applies to the already reduced price, giving 0.8 times 0.8 = 0.64, or 36% off in total. The calculator shows this combined figure as the effective discount, so you always see the true headline rate. Turn on the second discount toggle to model a coupon on top of a sale, and the effective rate updates automatically. The same multiply-not-add rule is why three 10% offers come to about 27% off rather than 30%.
Adding tax and buying more than one
Sales tax or VAT is normally charged on the discounted price, not the original, so enable the tax option and enter your local rate to see the real out-the-door price per item. Set a quantity above one and the calculator reports both the total to pay and the total saved across all the items, which is handy for bulk buys or comparing a multi-pack deal against single units. To model a price increase instead of a discount, enter a negative percent off: a value of -10 raises the price by 10% using the percentage increase formula.
Common percent-off discounts on a $100 item
| Percent off | You pay | You save |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $90.00 | $10.00 |
| 15% | $85.00 | $15.00 |
| 20% | $80.00 | $20.00 |
| 25% | $75.00 | $25.00 |
| 33% | $67.00 | $33.00 |
| 50% | $50.00 | $50.00 |
| 70% | $30.00 | $70.00 |
Quick reference for what you pay and save at popular discount levels, before tax.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate 25% off?
Multiply the price by 0.25 to get the savings, then subtract that from the price. Or multiply the price by 0.75 directly to get the sale price. On $80, both methods give $60.
Do two 20%-off discounts equal 40% off?
No. Applied in sequence they multiply: 0.8 times 0.8 = 0.64, which is 36% off. Discounts only add up if they are applied to the original price at the same time. Use the stack-a-second-discount toggle and the calculator shows the true effective rate.
How do I work out the percent off from two prices?
Switch to reverse mode and enter the original price and the final price. The discount is (1 minus final divided by original) times 100. For example, $80 down to $60 is (1 minus 0.75) times 100 = 25% off.
Is tax added before or after the discount?
Usually after. The discount is applied to the listed price first, then any sales tax or VAT is calculated on the reduced amount you actually pay. Turn on the tax option to see the final price including tax.