Discount Calculator
Find the sale price, the amount you save and the total with tax for any percent-off or dollar-off discount — instantly, right in your browser.
How to Use
- Enter the original price: The price of the item before any discount.
- Choose the discount type: Select % Off for a percentage discount or $ Off for a fixed amount.
- Enter the discount: Type the percent or dollar amount, or tap a preset (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 50%).
- Add a tax rate (optional): Sales tax is calculated on the sale price, after the discount.
- Read the results: The sale price, discount amount, tax, total and savings update instantly.
What You'll Discover
- You Pay — the final amount: the sale price, plus tax if you entered a rate.
- Discount amount — the dollars taken off, rounded to the nearest cent and never more than the original price.
- Sale price — the original price minus the discount, before tax.
- Tax amount and total with tax — your tax rate applied to the sale price, and the sale price plus that tax.
- You save — the dollars saved and the share of the original price that represents, such as $10.00 (20%).
If the price or discount is empty, or any value is negative or above one trillion, the results show a dash instead of a number. This calculator works forward from a price and a discount. To find the percent off between two prices you already know, use the percentage change calculator or the formula below.
How Discounts Are Calculated
A percentage discount removes a share of the original price. Turn the percent into a decimal, multiply, and subtract:
Discount amount = Original price × (Percent off ÷ 100)
Sale price = Original price − Discount amount
The quickest route is one multiplication: 25% off means you pay the other 75%, so multiply the price by 0.75. To work backwards from two prices, use:
Percent off = (Original price − Sale price) ÷ Original price × 100
| Percent off | You pay | $80 item | $250 item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | × 0.90 | $72.00 (save $8.00) | $225.00 (save $25.00) |
| 15% | × 0.85 | $68.00 (save $12.00) | $212.50 (save $37.50) |
| 20% | × 0.80 | $64.00 (save $16.00) | $200.00 (save $50.00) |
| 25% | × 0.75 | $60.00 (save $20.00) | $187.50 (save $62.50) |
| 30% | × 0.70 | $56.00 (save $24.00) | $175.00 (save $75.00) |
| 40% | × 0.60 | $48.00 (save $32.00) | $150.00 (save $100.00) |
| 50% | × 0.50 | $40.00 (save $40.00) | $125.00 (save $125.00) |
A fixed dollar discount is simpler: Sale price = Original price − Dollars off. The calculator never lets the discount exceed the price, so the sale price bottoms out at $0.00.
How the calculator rounds
Money is rounded to the nearest cent at each step: first the discount amount, then the sale price, then the tax. That keeps the figures on screen adding up exactly. A store's register may round differently, so a receipt can occasionally differ by a cent.
Percent Off vs Dollar Off: Which Saves More?
A percent-off offer grows with the price. A dollar-off offer is the same on everything. Which one wins depends on a break-even price:
Break-even price = Dollars off ÷ (Percent off ÷ 100)
Below the break-even price, the dollar-off offer saves more. Above it, the percent-off offer saves more. At exactly that price they are equal.
| Offer A | Offer B | Break-even price | Dollars off wins | Percent off wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 off | 10% off | $50.00 | under $50 | over $50 |
| $10 off | 20% off | $50.00 | under $50 | over $50 |
| $15 off | 25% off | $60.00 | under $60 | over $60 |
| $20 off | 20% off | $100.00 | under $100 | over $100 |
| $25 off | 30% off | $83.33 | under $83.33 | over $83.33 |
| $50 off | 25% off | $200.00 | under $200 | over $200 |
For example, take 30% off against $25 off. On a $60 item, 30% saves $18.00, so $25 off is better. On a $120 item, 30% saves $36.00, so the percentage wins.
To compare two offers in the calculator, enter the price, choose $ Off and type the coupon amount, then note the sale price. Switch to % Off, type the percentage, and compare the two sale prices. Also read the conditions: a coupon with a minimum spend may only apply at a higher price than the one you are testing.
Convert a dollar offer into a percentage
To compare offers quickly, convert the dollar amount into a percent of the price: Dollars off ÷ Price × 100. A $5 coupon on a $15 item is 33.3% off, which beats a 25% offer on the same item ($5.00 saved against $3.75). The same $5 on a $100 item is only 5%.
Stacked Discounts, Sales Tax and Coupons
When two percentage discounts stack, the second applies to the already-reduced price, so the percentages do not simply add. The combined discount is:
Combined % off = 100 × (1 − (1 − A ÷ 100) × (1 − B ÷ 100))
| First discount | Second discount | Combined discount | Price of a $100 item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | 10% | 19% | $81.00 |
| 20% | 10% | 28% | $72.00 |
| 25% | 25% | 43.75% | $56.25 |
| 30% | 20% | 44% | $56.00 |
| 50% | 20% | 60% | $40.00 |
The order of two percentage discounts does not matter: 20% then 10% gives the same price as 10% then 20%. To stack in this calculator, run it twice and enter the first sale price as the second original price.
Mixing a percentage with a dollar amount is different, because the order does matter. On a $100 item, 20% off followed by $10 off costs $70.00, while $10 off followed by 20% off costs $72.00. The store's terms decide which comes first.
Tax before or after the discount
This calculator charges tax on the sale price. For a percentage discount the order makes no difference to the final total, because both steps are multiplications. For a fixed coupon it can. On a $100 item with a $10 coupon and 8% tax, tax on the sale price gives $97.20, while tax on the full price minus the coupon gives $98.00. Which applies depends on the seller and the place. The Minnesota Department of Revenue, for one, says sales tax is charged after a retailer's own coupon (one not reimbursed by a third party) but before a manufacturer or other third-party coupon (Minnesota Department of Revenue: coupons and other discounts). Other places have their own rules, and this page is not tax advice. For tax-inclusive prices, try the VAT calculator or the GST calculator.
What Is the Sale Price If...
What is the sale price if an item is 20% off $50?
A $50 item at 20% off costs $40.00, so you save $10.00. The discount is $50 × 0.20 = $10.00, and $50 − $10 = $40.00. Equivalently, you pay 80% of the price: $50 × 0.80 = $40.00.
What is the sale price if an item is 25% off $80?
An $80 item at 25% off costs $60.00, a saving of $20.00. A quarter of $80 is $20, and $80 − $20 = $60. The 25% preset gives this result in one tap.
What is the sale price if an item is 30% off $79?
A $79 item at 30% off costs $55.30, so you save $23.70. The discount is $79 × 0.30 = $23.70, and $79 − $23.70 = $55.30.
What is the sale price if an item is 15% off $49.99?
A $49.99 item at 15% off costs $42.49, a saving of $7.50. Fifteen percent of $49.99 is $7.4985, which rounds to $7.50, and $49.99 − $7.50 = $42.49.
What is the sale price if an item is 50% off $59.99?
A $59.99 item at half price shows $30.00 off and a sale price of $29.99. Half of $59.99 is $29.995, a half-cent that this calculator rounds up to $30.00 for the discount, and $59.99 − $30.00 = $29.99. A store might round the sale price instead, so a register can differ by a cent.
What is the sale price if an item is 35% off $240?
A $240 item at 35% off costs $156.00, so you save $84.00. The discount is $240 × 0.35 = $84.00, and $240 − $84 = $156.00. Type 35 into the discount box, since there is no 35% preset.
What is the sale price if I have $15 off a $60 item?
A $60 item with $15 off costs $45.00, which works out to 25% off. Switch to $ Off, enter 15, and the savings row shows $15.00 (25%). Dollar offers are easiest to judge once you see them as a percentage.
What do I pay if 40% off $120 is taxed at 8.25%?
You pay $77.94 in total: a $72.00 sale price plus $5.94 tax. The discount is $120 × 0.40 = $48.00, which leaves $72.00. Tax of 8.25% on $72.00 is $5.94, and $72.00 + $5.94 = $77.94.
What do I pay if the dollar discount is bigger than the price?
The discount stops at the item's price, so $100 off an $80 item makes it $0.00. The calculator caps the discount at $80.00 and shows a saving of $80.00 (100%) rather than a negative price. Tax on a $0.00 sale price is also $0.00.
What is the price if a 10% discount is followed by another 10%?
Two successive 10% discounts on a $100 item bring it to $81.00, which is 19% off, not 20%. The first discount leaves $90.00, and the second takes 10% of that: $90 × 0.90 = $81.00. Run the calculator twice, using $90.00 as the second original price.
People Also Search For
How to calculate a discount in your head
Find 10% by moving the decimal point one place left, then build up from there. For 15% off $64: 10% is $6.40, half of that (5%) is $3.20, so the discount is $9.60 and you pay $54.40. For 20%, double the 10% figure. For 25%, take a quarter: 25% off $84 saves $21.00, leaving $63.00.
How to calculate the percent off between two prices
Subtract the sale price from the original, divide by the original, and multiply by 100. A price that drops from $80 to $60 is ($80 − $60) ÷ $80 × 100 = 25% off. A drop from $129.99 to $99.99 is $30.00 ÷ $129.99 × 100 ≈ 23.08% off. The percentage change calculator does the same sum for any two numbers.
How to find the original price before a discount
Divide the sale price by what you paid as a decimal: Original = Sale price ÷ (1 − Percent off ÷ 100). If a coat costs $127.50 after 15% off, the original was $127.50 ÷ 0.85 = $150.00. Do not add the percentage back onto the sale price: $60 after 25% off was $80, not $75.
How to calculate successive or stacked discounts
Apply each discount to the price left by the one before it; do not add the percentages. A 20% discount followed by a 10% coupon on $100 gives $100 × 0.80 × 0.90 = $72.00, a combined 28% off. The table above shows more pairs.
Do you pay tax on the original price or the sale price?
This calculator charges tax on the sale price, which is how Minnesota treats a retailer's own coupon. Third-party coupons can be taxed on the full price instead, as the Minnesota example above shows. Check your receipt or your state's revenue department if the exact tax matters. For a fixed percentage discount, the final total is identical either way.
How buy one get one and multi-buy deals work as a percent off
Buy one get one free is 50% off the pair, and buy two get one free is 33.3% off the three. With three $20 items, you pay $40 instead of $60, a saving of $20 out of $60. Buy one get one half off on two $30 items costs $45 instead of $60, which is 25% off. To check a deal, divide the total you save by the total at full price.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate a percentage discount?
Multiply the original price by the discount percentage divided by 100 to get the amount off, then subtract it from the original price. For 20% off $80: $80 × 0.20 = $16.00 off, so you pay $64.00. A shortcut is to multiply the price by what you pay as a decimal, here 0.80.
Is the tax calculated before or after the discount in this calculator?
After. The tax rate is applied to the sale price, which is the original price minus the discount. With 40% off $120 and 8.25% tax, the tax is 8.25% of $72.00, or $5.94, not 8.25% of $120.00.
Does the order of the discount and the tax change the final price?
Not for a percentage discount: $100 at 10% off and 8% tax is $97.20 whichever step comes first. For a fixed dollar coupon it can: $100 with a $10 coupon and 8% tax is $97.20 if the tax is on the reduced price, or $98.00 if the tax is charged on the full price before the coupon. Which rule applies depends on the seller, the type of coupon and the place, so this is not tax advice.
Can I stack multiple discounts with this calculator?
It handles one discount at a time, but you can chain them. Run the first discount, then enter its sale price as the original price for the second. A 20% discount followed by 10% on $100 leaves $72.00, which is 28% off in total, not 30%.
What is the difference between % off and $ off, and which is the better deal?
A percent-off discount scales with the price, while a dollar-off discount is the same on every item. Divide the dollars off by the percentage (as a decimal) to get the break-even price. For $20 off against 20% off the break-even is $100, so below $100 the $20 coupon is better and above $100 the percentage is better.
What does the “You save” row show?
It shows the discount in dollars and, in brackets, the share of the original price it represents, to one decimal place at most. For $10.00 off $50.00 it reads $10.00 (20%). A dollar-off discount is converted to the same percentage, so you can compare it with a percent-off offer.
What happens if the discount is larger than the price?
The discount is capped at the original price, so the sale price never goes below $0.00. A 150% discount is treated as 100%, and $100 off an $80 item shows $80.00 off and a sale price of $0.00. Negative numbers are not accepted and clear the results.
How does the calculator round to the cent?
It rounds to the nearest cent at each step: the discount amount, then the sale price, then the tax. A half-cent rounds up, so 50% off $59.99 shows $30.00 off and a $29.99 sale price. A store's register may use a different rounding rule, so a receipt can differ by one cent.
Does this work for currencies other than US dollars?
Yes. The arithmetic is the same in any currency, and the $ sign is only a label. Amounts always display with two decimal places, so for a currency without cents you will see .00. For prices that already include a sales tax, use the VAT calculator or the GST calculator.
How do I find the original price from the sale price?
Divide the sale price by one minus the discount as a decimal. If an item costs $60.00 after 25% off, the original price was $60.00 ÷ 0.75 = $80.00. This calculator works forward from the original price, so use the formula for this reverse step.
How can I tell whether a “was” price is genuine?
US Federal Trade Commission guidance on pricing (16 CFR § 233.1) says a former price used for comparison should be the actual price at which the item was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time. A price inflated only to make a later reduction look large is called fictitious. If a deal looks too good, compare the item across several sellers or check its price history. This is general information, not legal advice.
How does a discount affect a seller's profit?
A discount cuts profit by more than its percentage suggests because the cost stays the same. Take a $50 item that costs $30 to supply, leaving $20 profit. At 20% off the price is $40 and the profit is $10, so the seller must sell twice as many units to earn the same total profit. At 40% off, the profit is zero.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. All calculations run in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server or saved, and no account is needed.
Last reviewed: November 2026 — formulas and worked examples verified.