How is the sale price calculated?

The savings are the original price times the discount percent divided by 100, and the final price is the original minus the savings. A $200 item at 25% off saves $50, so you pay $150. Equivalently, you pay (100 − discount)% of the price — 75% of $200.

How do stacked discounts like “extra 20% off clearance” work?

The second discount applies to the already-reduced price, not the original, so the percentages multiply rather than add. A $200 item at 25% off drops to $150; an extra 20% off that takes it to $120. Total savings are $80, which is 40% off the original — not the 45% you would get by adding 25 and 20.

How do I find the original price from a sale price?

Divide the sale price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). If something costs $120 after 40% off, the original was $120 ÷ 0.60 = $200. This is useful for checking whether a “was” price on a sale tag is genuine.

Which is the better deal — percent off or dollars off?

Convert both to dollars and compare. On a $200 item, 25% off saves $50 and beats a $40 coupon; on an $80 item the same 25% saves only $20, so the $40 coupon wins. Percent discounts grow with the price, while fixed coupons are worth more on cheaper items.

Is sales tax charged before or after the discount?

In the US, store discounts and markdowns generally reduce the taxable price, so tax is computed on the discounted amount. Treatment of manufacturer coupons and rebates varies by state (as of 2025). Either way, calculate the discount first, then apply your tax rate to the result.

How does the calculator round?

Both the savings and the final price are rounded to 2 decimal places, i.e. to the cent. Stores may round differently on multi-item baskets, so a register total can differ by a cent or two.

No — the math runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Discount Calculator

Find the sale price and amount saved from an original price and discount percent.

Runs in your browser — files never leave your device

Original price$Discount%

Final price

$150

You save

$50

How it works

Enter an original price and a percent off, and the calculator returns the two numbers that matter at the shelf: the final price you will pay and the amount you save. It recalculates as you type, so it works as a quick sanity check on sale tags, coupon math and “was/now” claims.

The formulas are the plain percent-off definitions:

You save = original price × discount ÷ 100
Final price = original price − savings, which equals price × (1 − discount ÷ 100)

A worked example at the defaults: a $200 item at 25% off saves 200 × 0.25 = $50, so the final price is $150. A useful mental shortcut is to think in remaining percent: 25% off means you pay 75%, so multiply the price by 0.75 and the tag math checks out instantly. The same shortcut runs in reverse to audit a sale tag — $150 ÷ 0.75 lands back on the $200 original.

The classic pitfall is stacked discounts. An “extra 20% off” a 25%-off item applies to the reduced price: $200 falls to $150, then 20% off $150 takes it to $120. Total savings are $80 — a 40% overall discount, not 45%, because sequential percentages multiply instead of adding: you pay 75% × 80% = 60% of the original. To model a stack here, run the calculator once, then run it again with the discounted result as the new original price. Also remember that sales tax is usually charged on the discounted price, so the register total will be the final price shown here plus your local tax.

Estimates only — store rounding rules, coupon exclusions and local taxes can shift the exact register total by a small amount.

Frequently asked questions

How is the sale price calculated?: The savings are the original price times the discount percent divided by 100, and the final price is the original minus the savings. A $200 item at 25% off saves $50, so you pay $150. Equivalently, you pay (100 − discount)% of the price — 75% of $200.
How do stacked discounts like “extra 20% off clearance” work?: The second discount applies to the already-reduced price, not the original, so the percentages multiply rather than add. A $200 item at 25% off drops to $150; an extra 20% off that takes it to $120. Total savings are $80, which is 40% off the original — not the 45% you would get by adding 25 and 20.
How do I find the original price from a sale price?: Divide the sale price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). If something costs $120 after 40% off, the original was $120 ÷ 0.60 = $200. This is useful for checking whether a “was” price on a sale tag is genuine.
Which is the better deal — percent off or dollars off?: Convert both to dollars and compare. On a $200 item, 25% off saves $50 and beats a $40 coupon; on an $80 item the same 25% saves only $20, so the $40 coupon wins. Percent discounts grow with the price, while fixed coupons are worth more on cheaper items.
Is sales tax charged before or after the discount?: In the US, store discounts and markdowns generally reduce the taxable price, so tax is computed on the discounted amount. Treatment of manufacturer coupons and rebates varies by state (as of 2025). Either way, calculate the discount first, then apply your tax rate to the result.
How does the calculator round?: Both the savings and the final price are rounded to 2 decimal places, i.e. to the cent. Stores may round differently on multi-item baskets, so a register total can differ by a cent or two.
Is my data uploaded?: No — the math runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Discount Calculator

How it works

Frequently asked questions

Related tools