Discount calculator
Work out a sale price, what you save, and what stacked discounts really come to.
The sale price and the saving
Thirty per cent off ₹2,499 is ₹1,749.30, and the saving is ₹749.70. Both are shown, because the one you want depends on whether you are deciding to buy or explaining the deal to somebody.
Stacked discounts do not add up
This is the one worth internalising. "An extra 20% off already reduced prices" where the first reduction was 30% is not 50% off. The second discount applies to the already-reduced price, not the original.
Take ₹2,000. Thirty per cent off gives ₹1,400. A further 20% off that gives ₹1,120. Compared with the original, that is 44% off, not 50%. To work it out here, run the first discount, then run the result through again with the second percentage.
The same arithmetic explains why a 10% price rise followed by a 10% discount does not return you to the original price — it leaves you 1% below it.
Working backwards from the sale price
Sometimes you have the discounted price and the percentage and want the original — to check whether "was ₹4,999" is honest. That is the "A is B% of what number" case on this page: if ₹1,749.30 is 70% of the original, the original is ₹1,749.30 ÷ 0.70 = ₹2,499. It is a quick way to test an advertised strike-through price against the actual reduction claimed.
Discount versus margin
Retailers conflate these and lose money on it. A 25% discount off the selling price is not a 25% reduction in margin — it can wipe out the margin entirely if the markup was thin. If something costs you ₹75 and sells for ₹100, a 25% discount takes the price to ₹75 and your margin to zero. Work out the discounted price first, then compare it against your cost, rather than reasoning in percentages of percentages.
Tax and discounts
Discounts are normally applied before tax, so the tax is charged on the reduced amount. If you are working from a tax-inclusive shelf price, extract the tax first with the GST and VAT calculator, apply the discount to the net figure, then add the tax back — doing it in the other order gives a slightly different answer, and only one of them matches the receipt.
Runs as you type
No button, no upload, no account. Change either number and the answer updates immediately.
Common questions
What is the difference between percentage change and percentage difference?
Change is measured against the starting value and has a direction: 200 to 150 is −25%. Difference is measured against the average of the two and is symmetric: between 200 and 150 it is 28.6% either way.
How do I work out what number A is a given percentage of?
Divide A by the percentage expressed as a decimal. If 50 is 25% of something, that something is 50 ÷ 0.25 = 200. It is the third option on this page.
Why does taking 20% off and adding it back not return the original?
Because the second 20% is calculated on the reduced number, so it is a smaller amount. 100 → 80 → 96.
Why will it not calculate a change from zero?
Because there is no meaningful answer. A percentage change compares the change to the starting value, and if that value is zero there is nothing to compare to. The honest response is to say so.
Can I use this for a discount?
Yes — "decrease A by B%" gives the sale price and shows how much came off. For tax, the GST and VAT calculator handles the inclusive-price case properly.
Does it round the intermediate steps?
No. Everything is computed at full precision and rounded only for display, at however many decimal places you choose.