Original price after 40% off
Enter what you paid and this page works back to the pre-sale price. The discount is fixed at 40% — the price is yours to change.
Worked example at 40% off
You paid £51.00 in a 40% off sale.
- 100% − 40% = 60% of the original price remains
- As a decimal that is 0.6
- 51 ÷ 0.6 = £85.00
- You saved £34.00
Check it forwards: £85.00 − 40% = £51.00 ✓
Adding 40% back to £51.00 would give £71.40 — which is wrong, and wrong by more as the percentage grows. The discount was taken off the larger original, so putting it back on the smaller sale price never reaches it.
Where 40% off shows up
Forty percent is firmly clearance territory. At this depth most retailers are recovering cost rather than margin, which is why it tends to appear late in a season and on broken size runs rather than across a full range.
It is also a common depth for outlet pricing, where the "original" is a recommended retail price the item may never have sold at in that store. Reversing tells you the claimed original, which is worth comparing against the price elsewhere.
40% off price table
What twenty common sale prices were before the 40% reduction. Every figure is divided by 0.6.
| You paid | Original price | You saved |
|---|---|---|
| £10.00 | £16.67 | £6.67 |
| £15.00 | £25.00 | £10.00 |
| £20.00 | £33.33 | £13.33 |
| £25.00 | £41.67 | £16.67 |
| £30.00 | £50.00 | £20.00 |
| £35.00 | £58.33 | £23.33 |
| £40.00 | £66.67 | £26.67 |
| £45.00 | £75.00 | £30.00 |
| £50.00 | £83.33 | £33.33 |
| £55.00 | £91.67 | £36.67 |
| £60.00 | £100.00 | £40.00 |
| £65.00 | £108.33 | £43.33 |
| £70.00 | £116.67 | £46.67 |
| £75.00 | £125.00 | £50.00 |
| £80.00 | £133.33 | £53.33 |
| £85.00 | £141.67 | £56.67 |
| £90.00 | £150.00 | £60.00 |
| £95.00 | £158.33 | £63.33 |
| £100.00 | £166.67 | £66.67 |
| £105.00 | £175.00 | £70.00 |
Doing it without a calculator
You paid 60%, so the original is what you paid divided by 0.6, which is the same as multiplying by five thirds. Take a third of what you paid and add it twice. On £51: a third is 17, so 51 + 17 + 17 = £85.
The exact method is always the same: divide by 0.6. 40% off leaves 60% of the original, so dividing by 0.6 undoes it precisely. Multiplying, or adding the percentage back on, gives a number that is always too small — and the error grows with the discount.
Frequently asked questions
›Does 40% off mean the shop is losing money?
Usually not. Typical retail markup means a 40% discount still clears cost on many categories. It does signal that shifting the stock now matters more than the remaining margin.