Comprehensive Guide
Learn more in our Personal Finance Guide.
How it works
A discount is a percentage removed from a listed price, and the sale price is whatever survives it. This calculator handles the case shoppers actually meet: a headline discount plus a second stacked offer — a coupon code landing on top of a sale tag. Stacked discounts multiply rather than add, which surprises almost everyone: 25% off followed by an extra 10% is not 35% off but 32.5%, because the second percentage bites into the already-reduced price. The calculator computes the true final price, the dollars saved against the original, the intermediate price after the first cut, and the single effective discount that describes the whole stack honestly. Three habits keep the number trustworthy. Check the original price against what the item actually sold for recently — anchor prices are chosen to make discounts read larger than they are. Compare final prices across retailers rather than percentages, since 40% off an inflated base loses to 25% off a real one. And remember the discount only counts as saving if the purchase would have happened anyway.Formula
Final = list x (1 - d1/100) x (1 - d2/100) | Saved = list - final | Effective off = saved / list x 100
Tips
- Stacked discounts multiply: 25% plus 10% is 32.5% off, never 35%.
- Order never changes the result — 25%-then-10% lands exactly where 10%-then-25% does.
- Judge the final price against other stores, not the percentage on the tag.
- The effective discount is the one number worth remembering from a stack.
- A discount on something you would not buy at full price is not saving money.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate 20% off a price?
Multiply the price by 0.80 — equivalently, find 10% and double it, then subtract. $249.99 less 20% is $199.99. Add any coupon on top by multiplying again rather than adding percentages.
How do stacked discounts work?
Sequentially: the second percentage applies to the already-discounted price, so they compound multiplicatively. 25% off followed by an extra 10% leaves 67.5% of the original — an effective 32.5% discount, not 35%. Order makes no difference to the final number.
How much is 20% off plus 15% off?
An effective 32% off: 0.80 x 0.85 = 0.68, so 68% of the price survives. On a $200 item that is $136, saving $64 — not the naive-sounding $70 that adding 20 and 15 suggests.
How do I find the original price from a sale price?
Divide the sale price by (1 - discount): a $150 item sold at 25% off came from $150 / 0.75 = $200. With stacked discounts, divide successively by each surviving fraction in reverse order.
Is a bigger discount always a better deal?
No — percentages attach to bases. A 40% discount off an inflated anchor price can cost more than 25% off a competitor's honest price. Always compare the resulting final prices across sellers, and sanity-check the original against recent selling history.