Discount Calculator
Find sale prices, discount percentages, or original prices — three modes for every scenario.
What is the sale price?
How discount calculations work
A percentage discount reduces a price by a fraction of its original value. A 20% discount on a $100 item means you pay $80 — the discount amount is $20. The reverse problem (finding the original price from the sale price and the discount percentage) uses division: original = sale ÷ (1 − discount/100). This is useful when a sale tag shows the discounted price and you want to know what the item used to cost.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a double discount (e.g. 20% off, then another 10% off)?
Apply them sequentially, not additively. A 20% discount followed by 10% off is not 30% off. On a $100 item: 20% off = $80, then 10% off $80 = $72. The effective combined discount is 28%, not 30%.
What is the difference between "discount" and "markdown"?
In retail, a markdown is a permanent reduction from the original retail price, while a discount is typically a temporary promotional reduction. Both are calculated the same way mathematically — the difference is business context, not formula.
Why can't I find the original price with a 100% discount?
A 100% discount makes the sale price $0, and dividing by zero is undefined. In practice, a 100% discount means the item is free, so there is no meaningful "original price" to work back to from $0.
