Percentage Off Calculator

How to work out a percentage off a price

To take a percentage off a price, multiply the price by (1 minus the percentage divided by 100): 25% off £120 is £120 x 0.75 = £90. A percentage off means the price is reduced by a proportion of the original. To find out how much you save, convert the percentage to a decimal and multiply by the original price. Subtract the saving from the original to get the sale price.

Percentage off formula

You can also calculate the sale price in one step: multiply the original price by (1 - % Off / 100). For example, 25% off means you pay 75% of the original.

Why this works: A percentage off represents a fraction of the original price you do not pay. Multiplying the original by that fraction gives the saving. Subtracting the saving from the original gives the amount you do pay. The one-step shortcut (multiplying by the complement) combines both steps into a single calculation.

New to percentages? Read percentages explained for quick mental methods such as finding 10% and 5% of a price.

Percentage off examples

Is "25% off" or "save £30" the better deal?

On a £120 item, "25% off" and "save £30" are exactly the same deal; they just feel different. Percentage framing often sounds more impressive on lower-priced items (a 30% saving on a £15 candle sounds big) while a cash saving lands harder on higher-priced ones (saving £600 on a £2,000 sofa feels more real than "30% off"). Understanding this helps you cut through the marketing and focus on the number that matters to your budget.

Reference prices are at the heart of every "was/now" promotion, and a "was" price only means something if the item genuinely sold at that price. If a deal seems unusually large, it is worth checking how long the item was sold at the reference price.

A practical test: cover the "% off" badge and the "was" price. Ask yourself whether you would buy the item at the sale price on its own merits. If the answer is yes, it is a genuine deal for you. If you would not have considered it without seeing the original price, the discount is doing more emotional work than financial work.

When do you need a percentage off calculation?

You need one whenever a price is cut by a percentage: in sales, with student and loyalty discounts, on introductory subscription offers and on trade orders.

• Seasonal sales and Black Friday: A laptop listed at £1,199 with 20% off costs £959.20, saving £239.80. Calculating the precise saving lets you compare across retailers who may advertise different base prices for the same product.
• Student and loyalty discounts: Some UK retailers offer a percentage off for students, NHS staff or other groups. On a £150 pair of boots with 15% off, the saving is £22.50 and you pay £127.50. Worth checking against other retailers without the discount before assuming it is the best deal.
• Subscription introductory offers: Broadband and streaming providers sometimes advertise a percentage off for the first 6 or 12 months. On a £38 per month broadband plan, 40% off saves £15.20 per month, or £91.20 over a 6-month intro period. Knowing the exact figure helps you budget before the full price kicks in.
• Trade discounts: Builders, plumbers and electricians often get a trade discount from merchants. On a £2,400 bathroom suite, a 25% trade discount saves £600. Verifying the exact amount prevents billing errors on larger orders.

What 25% off really means you pay

25% off always means you pay 75% of the original price. The sale price and saving scale in direct proportion to the original price. A 25% off deal always means you pay 75% of the original, whether the item costs £10 or £10,000. What changes is the absolute saving. This is why percentage-off can feel abstract compared to seeing the cash amount: 5% off a £500 laptop (£25) and 5% off a £10 pair of socks (50p) are the same percentage, but they feel completely different.

Watch out for stacked discounts. A further 10% off a price already reduced by 20% does not equal 30% off the original. You save 20% first, bringing the price to 80% of original, then 10% of that reduced price. The combined saving is 28%, not 30%. Always apply each discount step by step.

Reverse prices, discounts and percentage falls

• If you know the sale price but not the original, the reverse percentage calculator works backwards from any sale price to find what it cost before the reduction.
• For a step-by-step breakdown of the saving and final price, the discount calculator shows each step from original price to sale price.
• To see the same price drop expressed as a percentage fall, the percentage decrease calculator shows the reduction as a rate relative to the starting value.

How to take a percentage off in Excel

Put the original price in A1 and the percentage off as a plain number in B1 (type 25, not 25%), then enter the formula in C1. It multiplies the original by the proportion you still pay: £120 with 25 in B1 returns 90. If B1 is formatted as a percentage, use =A1*(1-B1) instead. To show the saving, put =A1*B1/100 in D1. For a list of items, copy both formulas down and use =SUM(D1:D10) to total the savings. Format the results as currency.

Working out a percentage off in your head

Start from 10% (divide by 10) and scale up or down from there. For 25% off a £120 item: 10% = £12, 20% = £24, 5% = £6, so 25% = £30 saving. Sale price = £120 - £30 = £90. For 15% off, find 10% and add half of 10% to get 15%. This mental arithmetic works well for round prices and common discount percentages like 10%, 20%, 25%, and 50%.

Everyday percentage off calculations

• Calculating the price of an item in a Black Friday, Boxing Day, or January sale.
• Checking what you pay for clothing after a student or loyalty discount is applied.
• Working out the advance booking price for a hotel, flight, or train ticket.
• Finding the monthly cost of a subscription plan after an introductory discount.
• Verifying the saving on any item before adding it to your online basket.

Where percentage off sums go wrong

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