25% off an 80 jacket
You pay 60 and save 20. The remaining 75% of the price is what reaches the till.
The same 25% on a 400 coat saves 100 — the percentage is identical, the money is not.
Discount calculator
Three ways round the same sum: what you will pay, what percentage you are being offered, or what the price was before the sticker went on.
Result
Fill in the fields to see your result.
How it works
A discount multiplies rather than subtracts. Twenty-five percent off means you pay 75% of the price, so the sale price is the original multiplied by 0.75. Framing it that way makes the awkward cases easy: the price before a discount is the sale price divided by 0.75, not multiplied by 1.25.
Stacked offers are where most people lose money to arithmetic. A 30% sale with a further 20% at the till does not take off 50%. The second discount applies to the already-reduced price: 0.70 × 0.80 = 0.56, so 44% comes off, not half. The calculator shows both figures so the gap is visible.
Sales tax is charged on what you actually pay, which means the discount reduces the tax too. Enter your local rate and the panel shows the till total alongside the shelf price.
Formulas used
Sale price
S = P × (1 − d)
- P
- original price
- d
- discount as a decimal (25% = 0.25)
Percentage off
d = (P − S) ÷ P
- P
- original price
- S
- sale price
Price before the discount
P = S ÷ (1 − d)
Two discounts in a row combine as (1 − d₁) × (1 − d₂), never as d₁ + d₂.
Worked examples
Is 60 from 80 a good deal?
The 20 taken off is a quarter of 80, so the offer is 25% — whatever the sign in the window claims.
Working backwards like this is the fastest way to check a "half price" label that isn’t.
30% off, then 20% more at the till
The first discount brings 80 down to 56. The second takes 20% of 56, not of 80, leaving 44.80.
Total saved: 35.20, which is 44% — noticeably less than the 50% the two figures suggest.
Assumptions and limits
- The discount applies to the full price of the item.
- Any extra discount is applied to the already-reduced price.
- Tax is charged on the discounted price.
- No shipping, deposit or handling charges are included.
Frequently asked questions
Do two discounts add together?
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in retail. 30% then 20% is not 50% — the second discount applies to the reduced price, so the real saving is 44%.
The rule is to multiply what remains: 0.70 × 0.80 = 0.56, meaning you pay 56% of the original.
How do I find the price before the discount?
Divide the sale price by what remains after the discount. A 60 item at 25% off was 60 ÷ 0.75 = 80.
Adding the percentage back does not work: 60 plus 25% is 75, and that answer is wrong.
Is tax charged before or after the discount?
After, in almost every jurisdiction. The discount lowers the taxable amount, so a bigger discount also means less tax.
Enter your local rate and the panel shows both the discounted shelf price and the amount you hand over.
What does "up to 70% off" actually mean?
That at least one item somewhere in the shop is 70% off. It says nothing about the item you are holding.
Use the second mode: enter the original and sale prices, and see the real percentage for that specific item.
Updated
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