The Discount Calculator finds the sale price after a discount, how much you save, the original price, or the discount rate. Fill in any two of the four values below (and choose the discount type), leave the rest blank, then click Calculate.
The discount calculator is a fast, flexible tool for working out the math behind any sale. It can find the sale price after a discount, the amount you save, the original price before a markdown, or the discount percentage itself. Because it works as a solver, you simply enter any two of the four values - price before discount, discount, price after discount, and amount saved - and the calculator fills in the rest. It supports both percent-off discounts (like "25% off") and fixed-amount-off discounts (like "$10 off"), the two ways nearly every sale is advertised.
Whether you are standing in a store deciding if a deal is worth it, comparing two offers, reverse-engineering an original price from a sale tag, or figuring out what percentage you are actually saving, this calculator gives you an instant, accurate answer.
A discount is a reduction from the original or list price of a product or service. Retailers use discounts constantly - to clear inventory, reward loyalty, attract new customers, celebrate holidays, or move seasonal merchandise. For shoppers, understanding discounts is essential to knowing whether a "deal" is genuinely a good value or just clever marketing. A discount is expressed in one of two ways: as a percentage of the original price (for example, 30% off) or as a fixed dollar amount (for example, $20 off).
The core relationships behind every discount are simple. The two foundational identities the calculator uses are:
Amount Saved = Price Before − Price After
Price After = Price Before − Amount Saved
From there, the discount type determines how the saving is found:
For a percentage discount, the amount you save is the original price multiplied by the discount rate:
Amount Saved = Price Before × (Discount % ÷ 100)
Price After = Price Before × (1 − Discount % ÷ 100)
Example: An item priced at $59.99 with 15% off saves you $59.99 × 0.15 = $9.00, giving a sale price of $59.99 − $9.00 = $50.99. To work in reverse and find the percentage from prices, divide the savings by the original price: Discount % = (Amount Saved ÷ Price Before) × 100.
For a fixed-dollar discount, the amount saved is simply the discount itself, and the sale price is the original minus that amount:
Price After = Price Before − Fixed Discount
Example: A $100 item with $10 off costs $90, and the equivalent discount percentage is ($10 ÷ $100) × 100 = 10%. The calculator always shows you the equivalent percentage so you can compare a fixed-amount deal against a percentage deal on equal footing.
The real power of this tool is that you do not have to know which formula you need. Enter any two known values and the calculator determines the rest. Common ways people use it include:
Retailers are skilled at making discounts look larger than they are. A "50% off" sign on an item whose price was quietly raised first may save you less than a modest "$15 off" coupon on a fairly priced product. Converting every deal into both a dollar amount and a percentage - which this calculator does automatically - lets you compare offers apples-to-apples. It also helps you spot the common trick of inflating a "list price" to make the discount appear steep. When you can reconstruct the original price from the sale price and discount, you hold the advantage.
One of the most misunderstood areas of discounting is combining multiple discounts. Two discounts of 20% and 10% do not add up to 30% off. Sequential percentage discounts are multiplied, not added. A $100 item with 20% off becomes $80; applying a further 10% off the $80 gives $72 - a total saving of $28, or 28%, not 30%. To model stacked percentage discounts, run the calculator once with the first discount, then take the resulting sale price as the new "price before discount" and apply the second. The order does not matter for the final price when both are percentages, but it does matter when mixing a percentage with a fixed-dollar coupon, so check your store's terms.
In most places, sales tax is calculated on the discounted price, not the original price - so a discount reduces your tax as well. For example, a $100 item with 20% off costs $80 before tax; at an 8% tax rate you pay $86.40, not $108 minus the discount. Manufacturer rebates and some coupons are treated differently in certain jurisdictions (tax may be charged on the pre-coupon price), so the exact rule depends on where you shop. This calculator focuses on the pre-tax discount math; pair it with a sales tax calculator to find your final out-the-door price.
Multiply the original price by the discount rate as a decimal to find the savings, then subtract from the original price for the sale price. For 15% off $59.99: $59.99 × 0.15 = $9.00 saved, so the sale price is $50.99.
Divide the sale price by (1 minus the discount rate). For a $50.99 item that was 15% off: $50.99 ÷ 0.85 = $59.99. The calculator does this for you when you enter the sale price and the discount percentage.
Subtract the sale price from the original price to get the savings, divide by the original price, and multiply by 100. If a $100 item sells for $80, the discount is ($20 ÷ $100) × 100 = 20%.
No. Sequential percentage discounts multiply. A 20% discount followed by a 10% discount equals 28% off, not 30%, because the second discount applies to the already-reduced price.
In most jurisdictions, sales tax is applied to the discounted price, so a discount also lowers the tax you pay. Some manufacturer rebates and coupons are exceptions where tax is charged on the original price - check your local rules.
Percent-off scales with the price (20% off saves more on expensive items), while fixed-amount-off subtracts a set dollar value regardless of price. The calculator handles both and shows the equivalent percentage for fixed-amount deals so you can compare them.