Marketing calculatorsFree, no sign-up
Percent Off Calculator: Sale Price, Stacked Discounts and BOGO Deals
Enter a price and a percent off to see what you pay and what you save. Stack discounts, work back to the original price and compare BOGO and 3 for 2 deals.
Sale price
–
–You save
–Share of the price you pay
Stacked discounts
E.g. 20% off in the sale plus a 10% coupon on top.–
Original price
E.g. you paid $68 with 15% off: what was the original price?–
BOGO, 3 for 2 or second item discounted
The real discount of each deal, if you take every unit.| Deal | You get | You pay | Each one costs | Real discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b21Biggest saving | – | – | – | – |
| b32Biggest saving | – | – | – | – |
| b43Biggest saving | – | – | – | – |
| s2Biggest saving | – | – | – | – |
| dirBiggest saving | – | – | – | – |
Everything is calculated in your browser: nothing is saved or sent.
This percent off calculator does more than take a percentage off a price: it stacks discounts the way stores actually apply them, works back to the original price and turns every promotion into a real percentage. Type a price and a discount and the sale price shows up instantly.
How to use the percent off calculator
-
Enter the original price and the percent off
Or tap one of the quick percentages. You get the sale price, what you save and what share of the price you pay.
-
Stack discounts if there is more than one
In “Stacked discounts”, enter the price and up to three discounts. You get the real total discount, which is never the sum.
-
Work back to the original price
In “Original price”, enter what you paid and the percent off to see what the item cost before the sale.
-
Compare deals and copy the result
Enter the price of one item to see BOGO, 3 for 2, 4 for 3 and a discounted second item as a percentage. Every block has its own copy button.
How to calculate discount: the formulas
Everything comes from one idea: with 25% off, you pay 75% of the price.
| What you calculate | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | price × (1 − discount) | 80 × 0.75 = $60 |
| You save | price × discount | 80 × 0.25 = $20 |
| Percentage off | (price − sale) ÷ price | 20 ÷ 80 = 25% |
| Original price | sale ÷ (1 − discount) | 68 ÷ 0.85 = $80 |
| Stacked discounts | 1 − (1 − d1) × (1 − d2) | 1 − 0.8 × 0.9 = 28% |
To find the original price, don’t add the percentage back to the sale price: $68 plus 15% is $78.20, not the $80 it used to cost. You have to divide. That is also why a discount calculator that only subtracts can’t answer every question.
Discount calculator with sales tax: discount first, then tax
For a percent-off deal, the order does not change your total, because both steps are percentages of the same price. What matters is whether the store taxes the price before or after the discount. In most stores the tax is charged on the discounted price, and the receipt shows it. The rate below is made up; use your own combined state and local rate. Take an $80 jacket at 8.25% tax.
| Case | Calculation | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| 25% off, then tax | 80 × 0.75 × 1.0825 | $64.95 |
| Tax, then 25% off | 80 × 1.0825 × 0.75 | $64.95 |
| $10 coupon before tax | (80 − 10) × 1.0825 | $75.78 |
| $10 coupon after tax | 80 × 1.0825 − 10 | $76.60 |
A fixed-dollar coupon is different: it saves you more tax when it comes off before tax is added. Rules for manufacturer coupons can differ by state, so check your state tax agency before you advertise a deal.
Stacking discounts: why 20% + 10% isn’t 30%
Stacking discounts is where most shoppers and many store owners get the math wrong. When a store runs 20% off and you add a 10% coupon, the coupon applies to the price that is already reduced:
- $100 with 20% off becomes $80.
- $80 with 10% off becomes $72.
- You saved $28: 28%, not 30%.
The order makes no difference: 10% first and then 20% also ends at $72. The more discounts you stack, the further the real one drifts from the sum.
Markdown vs markup: why 20% off and 20% back up don’t match
A markdown is a price cut from the original price. A markup, here, is an increase on the current price. They are not mirror images, because each percentage is measured from a different starting point. Start with a $100 item.
| Move | Calculation | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 20% markdown | 100 × 0.80 | $80 |
| Then a 20% markup | 80 × 1.20 | $96 |
| Markup needed to get back to $100 | 20 ÷ 80 | 25% |
| 25% markup | 100 × 1.25 | $125 |
| Markdown needed to get back to $100 | 25 ÷ 125 | 20% |
So a 20% sale needs a 25% price increase to undo. It is worth knowing when a promotion ends and you want to return to list price. The same trap shows up in price rises: a 10% hike followed by a 10% cut leaves you at 99% of the old price. If you mean the markup on cost, that is a different calculation: see the margin calculator.
BOGO, 3 for 2 or second item half off: which saves more
If you take every unit, each deal works out to a fixed discount:
| Deal | You get | You pay for | Real discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy one, get one free | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 3 for 2 | 3 | 2 | 33.3% |
| 4 for 3 | 4 | 3 | 25% |
| Second item 50% off | 2 | 1.5 | 25% |
| Second item 70% off | 2 | 1.3 | 35% |
For shoppers, the best deal is the one with the deepest discount on what they actually need. For sellers, it is the one that moves more units without eating the margin. Before you launch one, check what you keep with the margin calculator. For any other percentage math, the percentage calculator has five calculations in one.
Frequently asked questions about discounts
How do I calculate percent off from the original price?
Subtract the sale price from the original price, divide by the original price and multiply by 100. A jacket that went from $80 to $60 is (80 − 60) ÷ 80 × 100 = 25% off. Always divide by the price before the sale: dividing by $60 gives 33%, which overstates the deal. It is the math worth doing when a tag only shows the two prices.
How do I calculate percent off without a calculator?
Start with 10%: move the decimal point one place to the left. On $45, 10% is $4.50, so 20% is $9 and 5% is $2.25. Build the rest from those pieces: 25% is 20% plus 5%, or simply a quarter of the price. Then subtract from the price, or skip a step and work out what you pay: 25% off means you pay 75%, three quarters of the price.
How do I calculate percent off in Excel?
With the price in A2 and the discount in B2 (say 20%), the sale price is =A2*(1-B2) and the savings are =A2*B2. To get the percent off between two prices, with the original in A2 and the sale price in C2, use =(A2-C2)/A2 and format the cell as a percentage. To work back to the original price, use =C2/(1-B2). Drag the formulas down to mark down a whole price list.
How does stacking discounts work?
Each discount applies to the price left after the previous one, so they never simply add up. A 20% sale plus a 10% coupon turns $100 into $80 and then $72: you save 28%, not 30%. The order doesn’t matter, since 10% then 20% also lands at $72. The more discounts you stack, the further the real total falls below the sum. The stacked discounts card shows the real figure.
Is buy one get one free the same as 50% off?
Only if you take both items. Buy one, get one free means you pay for one and walk out with two, so each costs half price: a 50% discount per unit. But 50% off a single item halves what you spend, while BOGO keeps your spend the same and doubles what you take home. If you only need one, a straight 30% off beats BOGO.