Discount Calculations: Sale Price, Savings, and Original Price
Discount calculators serve both shoppers (finding actual savings) and businesses (setting sale prices and protecting margins). The same percentage arithmetic underlies all three use cases.
Finding the Sale Price
Sale price = Original price × (1 − discount%)
Example: £80 item at 25% off → £80 × 0.75 = £60Finding the Original Price from a Sale Price
Original price = Sale price ÷ (1 − discount%)
Example: £60 sale price at 25% off → £60 ÷ 0.75 = £80Calculating the Discount Percentage
Discount % = [(Original − Sale) ÷ Original] × 100
Example: Was £80, now £60 → [(80−60)÷80] × 100 = 25%Successive Discounts
Two discounts of 20% and 10% are NOT the same as one discount of 30%. £100 → −20% → £80 → −10% → £72. The effective discount is 28%, not 30%. Each discount is applied to the already-reduced price.
Discount vs Markdown vs Margin
- Discount: Reduction from normal selling price (consumer-facing)
- Markdown: Permanent price reduction (retail inventory management)
- Margin: Profit as a % of selling price — a 25% margin ≠ a 25% markup
Calculate discounts and savings: Free Discount Calculator