Work out discounts
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The discount formula

A discount is a percentage taken off the marked price. Four terms come up again and again:

• Marked price: the price on the tag, before any offer.
• Discount: the percentage taken off.
• Saving: the discount expressed in rupees.
• Final price: what you actually pay.

Work out the saving first, then the final price. Or do it in one step by multiplying the price by what remains after the discount.

Mental-math shortcuts

Almost any discount can be built from 10% and 5%, because both are easy to find. Work out those two first, then add or double them. Use ₹2,499 again:

• 10%: move the decimal point one place left, which gives ₹249.90.
• 5%: half of 10%, which is ₹124.95.
• 15%: 10% plus 5%, which is 249.90 + 124.95 = ₹374.85.
• 20%: double 10%. 25%: divide by 4, which is ₹624.75.
• 35%: three tens plus a five, so 249.90 × 3 + 124.95 = ₹874.65.

You can also work from the price you pay. A 35% discount means you pay 65%, and 65% is 50% + 10% + 5%. Half of ₹2,499 is ₹1,249.50, and adding ₹249.90 and ₹124.95 gives ₹1,624.35 again.

For a quick estimate in a shop, round the price to ₹2,500 and take 35% of that, which is ₹875. It is close enough to decide whether a deal deserves a closer look. For a large purchase, confirm the exact figure with the Discount Price Calculator.

Stacked discounts: 20% then 10% is not 30%

When a shop offers 20% off and then an extra 10% off, the second discount applies to the price after the first, not to the original. So the two do not add up.

The shortcut is to multiply the remaining shares. The order of the two discounts does not change the result.

Three stacked offers work the same way. A 20% sale, a further 10% and then a 5% card offer leave 0.80 × 0.90 × 0.95 = 0.684 of the price, a total of 31.6% off, not 35%.

Read the wording of an offer closely. "Up to 50% off" means the best deal in the range, not every item. An "extra 10% off" is normally taken from the already reduced price, which makes it a stacked discount. Minimum-spend rules and maximum caps can also change the real saving, so check the terms.

Working backwards to the original price

If you know the sale price and the discount, divide rather than add. Original price = sale price ÷ (1 − discount ÷ 100). A jacket sells for ₹2,100 after 30% off, so the original price was 2,100 ÷ 0.70 = ₹3,000. Adding 30% to ₹2,100 would give ₹2,730, which is wrong, because the discount was taken from the larger original amount. Check: 3,000 × 0.70 = 2,100.

The same trap catches price rises. Add 20% to ₹1,000 and then take 20% off, and you reach ₹960, not ₹1,000. To undo a 20% discount you need to add 25%.

To find the discount from two prices, use the Percentage Change Calculator, which works out (new − old) ÷ old × 100. Going from ₹2,499 to ₹1,799 is −700 ÷ 2,499 × 100, about −28%. The minus sign shows a drop.

₹ off or % off: which saves more?

Compare offers in the same terms. A flat ₹400 off beats 20% off on any price below ₹2,000. Above ₹2,000, the percentage saves more. The break-even price is the rupees off divided by the percentage: 400 ÷ 0.20 = ₹2,000.

To turn rupees into a percentage, divide the amount off by the price. ₹500 off a ₹2,499 item is about 20%.