Discount calculator
Calculate the sale price and the saving from a percentage discount.
Calculations are based on Estonia's tax rates in force for 2026. Results are informational.
Last updated: 2026-06-03
How to calculate a discount?
Discount amount = price × discount% / 100. Final price = price − discount amount. For example, a 100 € item with a 20% discount costs 80 €, a saving of 20 €.
How it is calculated
Formula
saved = price × discount% ÷ 100; final price = price − saved.
Example
Price 80 €, discount 25% → saved 20 €, final price 60 €.
Stacked discounts: why 30% + 20% is not 50%
Shops often advertise "an extra 20% off already reduced items". It feels like 30% and 20% should add up to 50%, but the second discount is actually taken from the already reduced price.
Example: a jacket costs 120 €. The first 30% discount saves 36 € and brings it to 84 €. The second 20% is taken of 84 euros, which is 16.80 €, so the final price is 67.20 €. You save 52.80 € in total, which is 44% of the original price, not 50%.
The general formula is 1 - (1 - d1) × (1 - d2). The order does not matter: applying 20% first and then 30% also ends at 67.20 €. You can check it in the calculator by entering the first result as the new price.
- 10% + 10% = 19% in total
- 20% + 20% = 36% in total
- 50% + 50% = 75% in total, not free
Percentage off or a fixed amount: which is better
Sometimes you get a choice: 25% off or 15 € off. The answer depends on the purchase amount. On an 80 € purchase, 25% saves 20 € and the price becomes 60 €, while the fixed discount leaves 65 €, so the percentage wins.
The break-even point is the fixed amount divided by the percentage: 15 ÷ 0.25 = 60 €. Below 60 euros the 15 € off is better, above 60 euros the 25% is better. At exactly 60 euros they are equal.
When a percentage and a fixed amount both apply, the order starts to matter. For the 120 € jacket, taking 30% off first and then 10 € gives 74 €, but taking 10 € off first and then 30% gives 77 €. A percentage of a smaller amount is a smaller saving, so the customer is better off when the percentage is applied first.
A "buy 3, pay for 2" offer equals a 33.33% discount, but only if you actually need the third item. If you do not, you are simply paying full price for two.
Discount and markup use different bases
A retailer buys an item for 40 euros and sells it for 60 euros. The markup is based on the cost price: (60 - 40) ÷ 40 = 50%. If the item is later reduced back to 40 euros, the discount is based on the selling price: 20 ÷ 60 = 33.33%.
This leads to a common mistake: undoing a 50% markup with a 50% discount goes too far, bringing the price down to 30 euros and selling at a loss. In the calculator, a 60 € price with a 33.33% discount gives exactly 40 €.
For the same reason the margin (profit as a share of the selling price, here 33.33%) is always smaller than the markup (profit as a share of the cost, here 50%). Anyone running a small business should know which of the two a price list refers to.
Finding the real discount percentage
If a label shows only the old and new price, you can work out the percentage yourself. A price falling from 89 to 69 euros saves 20 €, a discount of 20 ÷ 89 × 100 = 22.47%. Always divide by the old price.
A frequent error when working backwards is adding the percentage to the sale price. If an item costs 45 € after a 25% discount, the original price is not 45 × 1.25 = 56.25 € but 45 ÷ 0.75 = 60 €. Check: 25% of 60 is 15, and 60 - 15 = 45.
It is also worth looking at a discount over time. If a price was raised from 100 to 125 euros before a sale and then advertised at 20% off, it costs 100 € again. The percentage is accurate, but compared with the earlier price you save nothing.
A sign saying "up to 50% off" means the largest discount is 50%, but most items may be reduced far less. Look at the price of the specific item, not the advertised maximum.
Practical tips when shopping
A discount does not automatically make an item cheaper than the alternative. Compare unit prices: a 500 g pack at 3.49 € with 20% off costs 2.79 €, which is 5.58 € per kilo. If a 1 kg pack without any discount costs 5.29 €, the bigger pack is still the better deal.
- The calculator rounds the saving to the cent, so at a till with several items the total may differ by a few cents.
- If the discount applies to only part of your basket, calculate it separately and add the other items at full price.
- The discount can be between 0 and 100 percent; anything higher is capped at 100% by the calculator.
- Delivery and service fees are usually excluded from discounts, so the saving on the whole order is smaller in percentage terms.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a discount?+
Multiply the price by the discount percent and divide by 100 to find the saving; the final price is the price minus the saving.
How do I find the original price from a discount?+
If you know the final price and a discount of d%, the original price is final ÷ (1 − d ÷ 100).