How to use the sale calculator
- Enter your regular price and the discount you are thinking about.
- Enter your full cost per item, including materials, labor, packaging and the postage you pay.
- Enter your marketplace's percentage fees and fixed fees. For a US Etsy shop without ads, about 9.5% plus 0.45 is a reasonable starting point. Use our Etsy fee calculator for exact figures.
- Read the result. Look closely at the last line. It shows how many more orders you need for the sale to earn the same total profit as selling at full price.
Why a discount costs more than it looks
A 25% discount does not cut your profit by 25%. It cuts it by much more, because your costs stay the same while your price falls. In the default example, a 60 item with a cost of 20 makes 33.55 profit after fees at full price. At 25% off, the sale price is 45 and profit falls to 20.05, a 40% drop. To end up with the same total profit, you would need about 67% more orders. A sale is only worth it if it brings that extra demand, or if it serves another clear goal, such as clearing old stock, getting first reviews or bringing back past customers.
Making sales work for you
- Know your floor. Never discount below the price where profit is zero, unless you are deliberately clearing stock.
- Use time limits. Short, clear sale periods around real shopping moments, such as holidays or a shop anniversary, create urgency without teaching buyers to wait for discounts.
- Try alternatives. Free shipping over a set order value, a gift with purchase or "buy two, save 10%" can protect your margin better than a big discount on everything.
- Be honest. Do not raise prices just before a sale to make the discount look bigger. Buyers notice, and many countries have consumer-protection rules about reference prices.
- Measure the result. Compare orders, revenue and profit during the sale with a normal period of the same length.
Percentage off vs. fixed amount off
On low-priced items, "save 5" may sound bigger than "10% off". On expensive items, a percentage usually sounds better. Whichever you use, put the real numbers into this calculator first, so you know exactly how much each sale order earns you.
Want the full explanation? Read our guide: How to run a profitable sale without losing money.
More guides on this topic:
- How to calculate percentage increase and decrease
- How to calculate break-even for a small online business
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a discounted price?
Multiply the original price by (1 − discount ÷ 100). For example, 60 at 25% off is 60 × 0.75 = 45.
How do I calculate profit at the sale price?
Take the sale price, then subtract the marketplace's percentage fees, the fixed fees and your full cost per item. The calculator does this automatically.
How many more sales do I need to make a discount worthwhile?
Divide your profit per item at full price by your profit per item at the sale price, then subtract 1. The calculator shows this as a percentage increase in orders.
Do marketplace fees drop when I run a sale?
Percentage fees are charged on what the buyer actually pays, so they fall with the price. Fixed fees, such as listing or per-order fees, stay the same.
What discount should I offer?
Choose the largest discount that still leaves a profit you are happy with, and make sure the sale is likely to bring in the extra orders shown by the calculator.