Percentages
How do you calculate a discounted price?
Final price after discount and how much you save.
Quick answer
Discounted price = original × (1 − discount% ÷ 100). At €89.90 with 30% off: 89.90 × 0.70 = €62.93. You save €26.97 (30% of 89.90).
Discounted price
$62.93
- You save
- $26.97
How it works
Stacked discounts multiply, they do not add. 20% off then 10% off is 0.80 × 0.90 = 72% of original (28% total off), not 30%. Apply each reduction to the current price — order rarely matters when multiplying factors.
Sale season traps: “up to 70% off” applies to one clearance SKU, not the jacket you want. Small sellers can relabel shelves faster with a price label gun; shoppers should sanity-check totals on a pocket calculator before tapping pay. For planned online buys, loading a fixed Amazon gift card budget caps impulse overspend on fake “limited time” deals.
A rise and a fall of the same percentage do not cancel out. Take twenty per cent off and then add twenty per cent back and you are at ninety-six per cent of where you started, not a hundred — because the increase is applied to a smaller number than the decrease was. Read it the other way round and it explains a familiar shop trick: raise a price by twenty-five per cent, then advertise twenty per cent off, and the label is back exactly where it began while the sign says sale. The only defence is knowing the price before the season, which is what a photo of the shelf in June is for.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I find the original price?+
Original = sale price ÷ (1 − discount% ÷ 100). €62.93 at 30% off: 62.93 ÷ 0.70 = €89.90. For stacked discounts, divide by each factor in reverse order (÷ 0.90 then ÷ 0.80).
What discount is half price?+
50% off. BOGO on identical items is effectively 50% per unit if you use both — but BOGO on different sizes may not be a true half-price deal.
Discount before or after tax?+
Usually pre-tax. €100 at 20% off then 22% VAT: €80 + €17.60 = €97.60. In Italy retail prices are usually VAT-inclusive — the discount applies to the shelf price you see.
How do I compare two discount offers?+
Convert both to final price including shipping and cashback lag. Percentage alone misleads when starting prices differ — a 40% off €200 item can still cost more than 20% off a €150 competitor.
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