How to Calculate Discount

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Calculating discount rates is one of the most useful math skills you should learn. You can apply it to calculate tips at restaurants, discount rates in stores, or offer a discount policy for your own products and services. The basic way to calculate the discount is to multiply the original price by a percentage. To calculate the post-discount price, subtract the discount from the original price. You can use a calculator or brainstorm to calculate the discount.

Table of Contents

Calculate discount rate and price after discount

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Convert percentages to decimals. The way to do it is to take the percentage number and add a comma to the right of the last digit. Then move the comma two digits to the left, you get the percentage converted to decimal. ^{[1] X Research Source} You can also use the symbol

%

{displaystyle %}

%

on the computer.

For example, you want to calculate the after-discount price of a pair of shoes whose regular price is $69.95. If these shoes are 25% off, you need to convert 25% to decimal by thinking $25$ $%$ $=$ $25$ $,$ $00$ $%$ $=$ $0$ $,$ $25$ ${displaystyle 25%=25.00%=0.25}$ $25%=25.00%=0.25$ .

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Multiply the original cost of the shoes by the decimal. You can do mental math or use a calculator. This step helps you determine the discount, or portion, of the original price. ^{[2] X Research Source}

For example, to calculate a 25% discount on shoes that cost $69.95, you would take $69$ $,$ $95$ $\times$ $0$ $,$ $25$ $=$ $17$ $,$ $49$ ${displaystyle 69.95times 0.25=17.49}$ $69.95times 0.25=17.49$ .

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Take the original price minus the discount. To do the subtraction, you would align the two numbers by the decimal point, then subtract like normal integer subtraction, and finally add a decimal point to the result. You can also use a computer. The result of the subtraction is the product price after reduction. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

For example, a pair of shoes with an initial price of $69.95, discounted by $17.49, calculate the following price reduction by performing the subtraction: $69$ $,$ $95$ $-$ $17$ $,$ $49$ $=$ $52$ $,$ $forty six$ ${displaystyle 69.95-17.49=52.46}$ $69.95-17.49=52.46$ . So, the price of the shoes after the discount is $52.46.

Estimated discount and sale price after discount

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Round the original selling price to the nearest ten. Apply rounding rules to round up or round down. Doing so makes it easier to determine the discount percentage. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

For example, if the original price of a shirt was $47.89, that would be rounded to $50.00.

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Calculate 10 percent of the rounded price. To calculate 10% of a price, mentally calculate the full price with a decimal point. Then move the decimal point one digit to the left. The main result is the equivalent value of 10%. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

For example, to calculate 10% of $50, think $$$ $50$ $=$ $$$ $50$ $,$ $00$ $=$ $$$ $5$ $,$ $00$ ${displaystyle $50=$50.00=$5.00}$ $$50=$50.00=$5.00$ . So, 5 is 10% of 50.

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Determine the number of tens in the percentage discount. To calculate the number of tens, divide the percentage by 10 using normal division. No need to pay attention to the number of years at this step.

For example, if a shirt is 35% off, you need to determine how many tens in 35. $35$ $\div$ $ten$ $=$ $3$ $,$ $5$ ${displaystyle 35div 10=3.5}$ $35div 10=3.5$ , so there are three times ten in 35.

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Multiply 10% of the rounded price by the multiplier. The multiplier is the number of tens in the percentage discount. Once you’ve determined what 10% of the price is, determine the value of the larger percentages by multiplying by the number of tens.

For example, if you have calculated that 10% of $50 is 5, to determine what 30% of 50 is, you multiply $5 by 3, since there are 3 tens in 30: $5$ $\times$ $3$ $=$ $15$ ${displaystyle 5times 3=15}$ $5times 3=15$ . So, 30% of $50 is $15.

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Calculate 5% of the rounded price if necessary. You need to take this step if the discount percentage ends up being 5, not 0 (for example, 35% or 55%). It is easy to figure out what 5% is by dividing 10% of the original price by 2, since 5% is half of 10%.

For example, if 10% of $50 is $5, then 5% of $50 is $2.50, since $2.50 is half of $5.

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Add 5% to the discount value if needed. The result is the total estimated discounted value of the item.

For example, if the shirt is 35% off, you first calculate 30% of the price of $15. Then you calculate 5% of the price of $2.50. Sum of 30% and 5%, you get $$$ $15$ $+$ $$$ $2$ $,$ $50$ $=$ $$$ $17$ $,$ $50$ ${displaystyle $15+$2.50=$17.50}$ $$15+$2.50=$17.50$ . So the estimated discount for the shirt is $17.50.

Examples

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Calculate the exact selling price after discount. A television has an initial price of $154.88. The discount for this TV is 40%.

Convert percentages to decimals by moving the decimal point two digits to the left: $40$ $%$ $=$ $40$ $,$ $0$ $%$ $=$ $0$ $,$ $40$ ${displaystyle 40%=40.0%=0.40}$ $40%=40.0%=0.40$ .
Multiply the original price by the decimal: $154$ $,$ $88$ $\times$ $0$ $,$ $40$ $=$ $sixty one$ $,$ $95$ ${displaystyle 154.88times 0.40=61.95}$ $154.88times 0.40=61.95$ .
Subtract the original price from the discount: $154$ $,$ $88$ $-$ $sixty one$ $,$ $95$ $=$ $92$ $,$ $93$ ${displaystyle 154.88-61.95=92.93}$ $154.88-61.95=92.93$ . So the price of the TV after the discount is 92.93 dollars.

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Calculate the price of the camera with a 15% discount. Initial price is $449.95.

Convert the discount percentage to a decimal by moving the decimal point two digits to the right: $15$ $%$ $=$ $15$ $,$ $0$ $%$ $=$ $0$ $,$ $15$ ${displaystyle 15%=15.0%=0.15}$ $15%=15.0%=0.15$ .
Multiply the original price by the decimal: $449$ $,$ $95$ $\times$ $0$ $,$ $15$ $=$ $sixty seven$ $,$ $49$ ${displaystyle 449.95times 0.15=67.49}$ $449.95times 0.15=67.49$ .
Subtract the original price from the discount: $449$ $,$ $95$ $-$ $sixty seven$ $,$ $49$ $=$ $382$ $,$ $forty six$ ${displaystyle 449.95-67.49=382.46}$ $449.95-67.49=382.46$ . So the price of the after-discounted camera is $382.46.

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Estimated selling price after discount. A regular tablet costs $199.99. The discount rate is 45%.

Round the original price to the nearest ten. Since $199.99 is only 1 cent less than $200, you round to $200.
Calculate 10% of the price after rounding. Move the decimal point one digit to the left, you get 10% of $200.00 which is $20.00.
Determine the number of tens in the discount percentage. Do $ten$ $\times$ $4$ $=$ $40$ ${displaystyle 10times 4=40}$ $10times 4=40$ , you get 4 tens in 45%.
Multiply 10% of the rounded price by the appropriate multiplier. Since the discount rate is 45%, you multiply the value of 10% of the rounded price by 4: $$$ $20$ $\times$ $4$ $=$ $$$ $80$ ${displaystyle $20times 4=$80}$ $$20times 4=$80$
Calculate 5% of the rounded price. Since 5% is half of 10% and 10% is worth $20, half would be $10.
Add the value of 5% to the discount value. 40% is $80, so 45% is $90.
Subtract the discounted value from the rounded price: $$$ $200$ $-$ $$$ $90$ $=$ $$$ $110$ ${displaystyle $200-$90=$110}$ $$200-$90=$110$ . So the estimated selling price after discount is $110.

Advice

Download a reliable discount calculator app to your phone. You can search by keyword “discount calculator” on Google Play or App Store. Then, open the app, set the discount rate and enter the item price. Select “calculate” to determine the discount rate.
You can also automatically calculate the post-discount price instead of subtracting the original price from the discounted value. Take 100 minus the discount percentage. For example, if the discount rate is 30 percent, the price after the discount will be 70 percent of the original price. Use the same calculation above to calculate how much 70 percent of the initial price corresponds to the reduced selling price. ^{[6] X Research Source}

Steps

Calculate discount rate and price after discount

Estimated discount and sale price after discount

Examples

Advice

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