Percent Off Calculator
Sticker price and discount in, sale price and savings out — instantly, and correctly even when coupons stack.
Enter your values to see instant results:
Keyboard shortcuts
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Next / previous field |
| ↑ / ↓ | Step a value by 1 (Shift: 10, Alt: 0.1) |
| Enter | Copy the focused row's result |
| [ / ] | Fewer / more decimal places |
| Esc | Clear the field |
Discount math, in one multiplier
"25% off" means "pay 75%": sale = price × (1 − discount ÷ 100). The $80
example: 80 × 0.75 = $60, and the savings are the other slice, 80 × 0.25 =
$20. Thinking in what-you-pay multipliers rather than what-you-save
percentages is the single upgrade that makes every store-sale situation easy.
How to use it
- Enter the original price. Type the sticker price into the first field — 80 in the example.
- Enter the percent off. Type the discount into the second field — 25 for 25% off.
- Read the sale price and savings. The final price ($60) and what you save ($20) update as you type.
Stacked discounts: multiply, never add
"Extra 30% off already-reduced items" applies to the sale price, not the original. A $100 jacket at 20% off, then an extra 30% off: 100 × 0.8 × 0.7 = $56 — a 44% total discount, six dollars shy of the 50% your instinct suggests. This isn't a niche slip: consumer research shows people systematically add sequential percentage changes, and retailers price promotions accordingly (Chen & Rao, 2007). To check any stack: convert each discount to its pay-multiplier and multiply them; the total discount is 100% minus the product.
One honest caveat: the studies cover retail discounts specifically; the same add-the-percents error in salary and tax contexts is documented less directly, though the arithmetic is identical.
Discount FAQ
How do I calculate a percent-off price?
Multiply the price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). A $80 item at 25% off: 80 × 0.75 = $60, saving $20. Equivalently, find the discount amount (80 × 0.25 = 20) and subtract it — same answer, one more step.
Is 20% off plus an extra 30% off the same as 50% off?
No — it's 44% off. The second discount applies to the already-reduced price: × 0.8 × 0.7 = × 0.56, so you pay 56% of the original. Retailers know shoppers add the numbers; research by Chen & Rao (2007) found sequential discounts reliably beat a mathematically identical single discount at the register. The math is in the double-discount trap.
How do I find the original price from a sale price?
Divide the sale price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). If $60 is the price after 25% off, the original was 60 ÷ 0.75 = $80. Never add the discount back — $60 plus 25% is $75, not $80. The reverse percentage calculator is built for exactly this.
Does sales tax apply before or after a discount?
In the US, tax is almost always charged on the discounted price you actually pay — 25% off $80 taxed at 8% is $60 × 1.08 = $64.80. Store-issued coupons typically reduce the taxable amount; some states treat manufacturer coupons differently, so an odd receipt isn't necessarily a mistake.