Discount & Percentage-Off Calculator — Sale Price, Stacked Discounts, Tax & More
Discount & Percentage-Off Calculator 12 modes — sale price, reverse discount, stacked coupons, tax, tiers, BOGO & margin

Result

Original price
Discount
Amount saved
Final price

How this is calculated

What this discount calculator does

A discount calculator turns the back-of-the-envelope math of a sale into an exact number, and it's used by three kinds of people for three different reasons. Shoppers use it to check whether "40% off, then an extra 20%" really beats a flat 50%-off sign, or to work out what an item cost before a discount was applied. Small business owners and online sellers use it the other way around — starting from a cost price and a target margin, then working out how deep a discount can go before a sale stops being profitable. Accountants and bookkeepers use it to reconcile receipts where tax, coupons, and bulk-order tiers all interact, and where getting the order of operations wrong changes the final total.

This tool covers all twelve of those situations in one place: straightforward sale-price and reverse-discount math, multi-coupon stacking, tax before or after a discount, bulk and tiered pricing, BOGO deals, and a margin-safe discount ceiling for sellers. Every mode shows the formula it used, so the number isn't just an answer — it's something you can check by hand.

Worked examples

Sale price. A jacket is listed at $120 with 25% off. Discount amount = $120 × 0.25 = $30. Final price = $120 − $30 = $90.
Stacked discounts. A $200 order gets 20% off, then an extra 10% off at checkout. First discount: $200 × 0.80 = $160. Second discount: $160 × 0.90 = $144. The effective discount is ($200 − $144) / $200 = 28%, not the 30% a shopper might assume from adding 20 + 10.
Reverse discount. A pair of shoes is on sale for $56 after a 30% markdown. Original price = $56 ÷ (1 − 0.30) = $56 ÷ 0.70 = $80.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate 20% off?

Multiply the price by 0.20 to find the amount removed, then subtract it — or multiply directly by 0.80 to jump to the final price in one step.

Do stacked discounts add together, so is 20% + 10% the same as 30% off?

No. Each discount applies to the price left over after the previous one, not to the original price, so two stacked discounts are always a little gentler than their sum.

How do I find the original price before a discount?

Divide the sale price by (1 minus the discount rate as a decimal). This is the exact reverse of the standard sale-price formula.

Do you apply tax before or after a discount?

Most stores discount first and tax the reduced amount, since tax is generally owed on what's actually paid. With simple percentage rates, though, the final total is identical either way — the order only changes which line the tax appears to be calculated from on the receipt.

Markup vs. margin vs. discount

These three numbers sound related and get confused constantly, but they answer different questions. A discount reduces the price a customer pays, expressed as a percentage of the original price. A markup is how much a seller adds on top of their cost, expressed as a percentage of that cost — a $10 cost with a 50% markup sells for $15. A margin is how much of the final selling price is profit, expressed as a percentage of the selling price, not the cost — that same $15 item has a margin of ($15 − $10) / $15 ≈ 33%, not 50%. Mixing up markup and margin is one of the most common pricing mistakes small sellers make, and it usually means a "discount" was calculated against the wrong base.

All results are estimates for planning purposes. Actual totals may vary once your store's specific tax rules, rounding conventions, or promotional terms are applied.