Discount Calculator
Provide any two values — the price before, the discount, the price after, or what you saved — and the rest are calculated. Works for a percentage off or a fixed amount off, and handles a second, stacked discount for the sales that layer them.
"Extra 15% off the sale price" sounds like 20% + 15% = 35% off. It isn't: the second cut applies to what's left, so the true total is 32% — on $100, you pay $68, not $65. Retailers count on the addition; this calculator does the multiplication.
Two Kinds of Discount
Percent off scales with the price: 25% off an $80 jacket takes $20 off, leaving $60 — equivalently, you pay 75% of $80. The same percentage is worth more money on a bigger ticket, which is why stores advertise percentages on expensive goods. Fixed amount off doesn't scale: a $15 coupon takes $15 off a $120 service, leaving $105, whether the service cost $120 or $1,200. Coupons and gift-card-style offers are usually fixed; sales events are usually percentages. Both live in the calculator above — the toggle switches the discount field between % and $.
Stacked Discounts Compound
When two percentage discounts apply in sequence, each works on the price the previous one left behind: pay (1 − d₁) × (1 − d₂) of the original. Twenty percent then fifteen percent leaves 0.80 × 0.85 = 0.68 — a 32% total discount, never 35%. The same logic makes "50% off + another 50% off" a 75% discount, not a free item, a fact that surprises shoppers every sale season. Add a second discount in the calculator to see the honest equivalent single percentage.
Working Backwards: The Original Price
Sale tags often show only the final price and the percentage. Recovering the original is a division, not an addition: original = final ÷ (1 − discount). A $51 final price at 15% off means a $60 original — while "adding 15% back" gives $58.65 and quietly understates it, because the 15% was taken from the larger original number. The same asymmetry explains why an item marked up 25% and then discounted 25% ends below where it started. Give the calculator the after-price and the percent, and it does the division for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is 15% off $59.99?
$9.00 off (15% of $59.99 is $8.9985), for a final price of $50.99 — the page defaults, worked exactly.
Which is better: 20% off or $20 off?
Depends on the price: they're equal at $100. Below $100 the $20 wins; above it, the percentage does. At $59.99, $20 off is a 33.3% discount — far better than 20%.
Does the discount apply before or after tax?
Usually before: most jurisdictions tax the discounted price, though manufacturer coupons are taxed on the pre-discount price in some U.S. states. The Sales Tax Calculator next door handles the tax half of the receipt.
Related Calculators
The other half of the receipt: tax on the discounted price.
What the discount does to the seller's margin and markup.
Prices outside the U.S.: net, gross and the tax between them.
The discount nobody advertises: value lost year by year.