Discount Calculator
Work out the sale price for any discount, with or without tax. Add your cost to see what the discount does to your profit, and how many more sales you need to earn the same.
Built and checked by Saurabh Pandey · page updated
Calculator
Fee breakdown
Enter the original price and the discount.
How to use the Discount Calculator
- Enter the normal price and choose whether the discount is a percentage or a fixed amount.
- Enter the discount. The sale price and the customer's saving appear straight away.
- If tax is added at checkout (as with US sales tax), enter the rate to see what the customer pays. In the UK, EU, Australia and India prices usually already include tax, so leave it at 0.
- Add your cost per item to see your profit and margin after the discount, and how many more sales you need to make the same total profit.
How it is calculated
Discount (percentage) = price × discount ÷ 100 Sale price = price − discount Price with tax = sale price × (1 + tax ÷ 100) Profit before / after = price − cost / sale price − cost Extra sales needed = (profit before ÷ profit after − 1) × 100
The last line is the one most sellers never check. Because your cost does not fall when you discount, a modest discount can cut profit per item by a lot. If an $80 item costs you $30, a 25% discount reduces profit from $50 to $30, so you need 67% more sales just to earn the same.
Worked examples
US: 25% off an $80 item with 8.25% sales tax
The customer pays $64.95 at checkout.
| Original price | $80.00 |
| Discount | −$20.00 |
| Sale price | $60.00 |
| Sales tax / VAT (8.25%) | $4.95 |
| Customer pays | $64.95 |
Sale price $60.00 · Profit falls from $50.00 to $30.00, so you need 66.67% more sales to earn the same
UK: £10 off a £45 jumper (price already includes VAT)
A fixed-amount discount of £10 is a 22.2% discount on this item.
| Original price | £45.00 |
| Discount | −£10.00 |
| Sale price | £35.00 |
Sale price £35.00 · Profit falls from £30.00 to £20.00, so you need 50% more sales to earn the same
India: a 40% festive discount on a ₹1,499 item
Deep discounts on low-margin products can need more than double the sales to break even.
| Original price | ₹1,499.00 |
| Discount | −₹599.60 |
| Sale price | ₹899.40 |
Sale price ₹899.40 · Profit falls from ₹849.00 to ₹249.40, so you need 240.42% more sales to earn the same
Percentage off or money off?
Shoppers tend to read a percentage as bigger on cheap items and a fixed amount as bigger on expensive ones: "20% off" a $15 item sounds better than "$3 off", while "$50 off" a $250 item sounds better than "20% off". The cost to you is identical, so choose the wording that sounds larger for your price point.
Discounts and marketplace fees
On Etsy, eBay and most marketplaces the percentage fees are charged on the discounted price, so fees fall a little when you discount, but fixed fees (like a listing fee or per-order fee) do not. Run the sale price through the Etsy or eBay fee calculator to see the real profit.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a percentage discount?
Multiply the price by the discount percentage and divide by 100, then subtract that from the price. 25% off $80 is 80 × 25 ÷ 100 = $20 off, so the sale price is $60.
Is sales tax calculated before or after a discount?
In the US, sales tax is normally charged on the discounted price for a store discount or coupon. Manufacturer coupons can be taxed differently in some states. In VAT countries, prices shown to consumers already include VAT.
How do I work out the original price from a sale price?
Divide the sale price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). A $60 sale price after 25% off was originally 60 ÷ 0.75 = $80.
How many more sales do I need after a discount?
Divide your profit per item before the discount by your profit after it, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. The calculator shows this as "Extra sales needed".
Are two discounts of 10% the same as 20% off?
No. Two 10% discounts applied one after the other take 19% off in total, because the second 10% is taken from the already-reduced price.