Business tools
Discount Impact Calculator
Compare original and discounted selling price, gross margin, profit per unit and total gross profit. Find how many additional units you need to sell to preserve gross profit.
Use the same currency for price and cost. Amounts display with a generic dollar sign; no currency is assumed or converted.
The calculation runs locally in your browser. No input values are saved or sent to a server.
Compare your original price with a discounted price.
Worked example
At a $100 selling price with a $60 unit cost, a 20% discount reduces profit per unit from $40 to $20. You would need to sell 200 units instead of 100—a 100% increase—to preserve the original gross profit.
About this calculator
Why discount volume matters
Discounting reduces revenue per unit but can reduce gross profit much faster when margins are already thin. A 20% discount does not necessarily mean you need 20% more sales: with a modest original margin, the volume increase required to preserve gross profit can be substantially larger.
Frequently asked questions
How is the required sales volume calculated?
The calculator divides original gross profit by discounted profit per unit. The mathematical volume can include a fraction; the separate whole-unit sales target rounds up to preserve at least the original gross profit.
What if the discounted price is below cost?
The calculator shows the negative profit per unit and gross margin. If discounted units produce no positive gross profit, no finite sales volume can restore the original gross profit.
Does this include taxes or fees?
No. It compares the price and unit cost you enter and does not add tax, fees, changing costs or other business expenses.
For planning purposes only. The estimate assumes price, unit cost and sales volume remain as entered and does not account for taxes, fees or capacity limits.