A price tag that reads "was $100, now $75" raises one simple question: how big a reduction is that, really? This markdown calculator takes the original ticket price and the sale price you actually see on the shelf, and returns the markdown in dollars, the markdown in percent, and the total savings across whatever quantity you plan to buy. It is the quick way to check a store's advertised "percent off" claim, and the same math retailers use when they plan end-of-season clearance.
Adjust the two price boxes and the result card updates instantly. Add a quantity and the calculator rolls the per-unit markdown up to a total so you can see exactly how much you walk away saving.
How to Use
- Enter the Original (Ticket) Price — the list or MSRP price printed on the tag, on the box, or shown next to the strikethrough on a product page.
- Enter the Actual Sale Price — the price the item is selling for right now: the shelf sticker, the checkout price, or the price after coupons that already appear on the page.
- Set the Quantity if you are buying more than one identical item. Leave it at 1 for a single piece.
- Read the result card:
- Markdown Amount (per item) — the dollar reduction off the ticket price on each unit.
- Markdown Percent Off — that reduction as a share of the original price.
- You Still Pay — the fraction of the ticket price the sale price represents, which is the complement of the markdown percent.
- Total Markdown Savings — per-unit markdown times the quantity you are buying.
- Total You Pay — sale price times quantity, before tax.
A useful habit: when a banner screams "50% off!", type in the was and now prices and let the percent fall out. Retail signage is often rounded aggressively, and the real number is frequently lower than the sign suggests.
The Markdown Formula
Markdown in retail is the gap between the original ticket price and the actual selling price, expressed either in dollars or as a percent of the original price:
Markdown Amount = Original Price − Sale Price
Markdown Percent = Markdown Amount ÷ Original Price × 100
Worked example from the default values: an item ticketed at $100 that is selling for $75 carries a markdown of $100 − $75 = $25. As a percentage of the ticket price, that is $25 ÷ $100 × 100 = 25% off, and you are still paying 75% of the original price.
Notice the denominator: markdown percent is always divided by the original price, never by the sale price. That is the detail people get wrong. If you instead divided $25 by $75, you would get 33% — that is a different ratio (the markup you would need to add back to the sale price to restore the ticket price), not the markdown.
If the sale price equals the ticket price, the markdown is $0 and 0%. If the item is free (sale price $0), the markdown is the entire ticket price — a 100% markdown.
Markdown vs Discount vs Margin
The words get used loosely, but the numbers are not the same:
- Markdown is a reduction taken down from the original ticket price to move slow inventory. It is backward-looking on what the price already was: original minus selling.
- Discount is usually a temporary percentage applied at checkout (a coupon, a loyalty offer, a member day). It is forward math: ticket times (1 − discount%).
- Margin is selling price minus cost, divided by selling price. It is a merchant profitability metric and never uses the ticket price as its denominator.
This calculator backs out the markdown from two observed prices. If you know the percent off and want the final price instead, use a percent-off or clearance-price tool — that is the forward direction of the same arithmetic.
Examples
Example 1 — The classic 25% off check. A jacket carries a $100 ticket and rings up at $75. Markdown per item is $25, markdown percent is 25%, and the "You Still Pay" line shows 75% of the ticket. Buying one, your total markdown savings is $25 and you pay $75 before tax.
Example 2 — The "70% off" clearance rack. A luggage piece ticketed at $400 is on a clearance table for $120. The markdown is $400 − $120 = $280, and $280 ÷ $400 = 70% off — the sign matches. You still pay 30% of ticket, or $120.
Example 3 — Bulk markdown. A retailer marks a $100 accessory down to $80 and you take all four units left on the shelf. Per-unit markdown is $20 (20% off), but across four units your total markdown savings is $80 and you pay $320 before tax. The per-item percent stays the same; only the dollar totals scale with quantity.
Example 4 — High-ticket item. A mattress ticketed at $2,500 is bundled down to $2,000. The markdown is $500, which is 20% off the ticket. On a five-figure purchase, even a few points of markdown is hundreds of dollars, so it is worth typing both prices in rather than trusting a "huge savings!" sticker.
FAQ
How do I calculate the markdown percentage?
Subtract the sale price from the original ticket price to get the markdown amount, then divide that amount by the original ticket price and multiply by 100. Formula: Markdown % = (Original Price − Sale Price) ÷ Original Price × 100. On a $100 item selling for $75, that is ($100 − $75) ÷ $100 × 100 = 25%.
What is the difference between markdown and discount?
Markdown is a permanent or season-driven reduction off the original ticket price, used by retailers to clear inventory. A discount is usually a temporary percentage taken at checkout — a coupon, a loyalty code, or a members-only event. Mathematically both shrink the price, but markdown percent is always based on the original ticket, while a coupon compounds on whatever price is already on the tag.
Is markdown calculated on the original price or the sale price?
Always on the original (ticket) price. Markdown percent = reduction ÷ original price. Dividing by the sale price instead gives you the reverse ratio — how much you would have to mark the sale price back up to return to the ticket price — which is not the markdown.
If something is marked 50% off and then an extra 20% off, what is the total markdown?
Not 70%. The second percent applies to the already-reduced price. On a $100 item, 50% off brings it to $50, then 20% off that $50 brings it to $40 — a total markdown of $60, or 60% off the original. Stacked discounts compound on the discounted price, not on the ticket price.
What does "You Still Pay X%" mean?
It is the complement of the markdown percent. If the markdown is 25%, you still pay 75% of the ticket price. It is a quick sanity check: the two percentages should always add to 100%.
Is a free item a 100% markdown?
Yes. When the sale price is $0, the markdown amount equals the full ticket price, and dividing that by the original price gives 100%. The engine also guards against a zero or negative original price, which would make the division undefined.
Disclaimer
This markdown calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, retail, or pricing advice. Markdown amounts and percentages are computed directly from the prices you enter; actual store pricing, tax, coupons, membership discounts, and clearance rules vary by retailer and location. Always confirm the final price at the register or checkout page before purchasing.