Field notes
Compare the discount with the sales it would require
A discount reduces the price of every sale, including sales you might otherwise have made at full price. The comparison above shows the discounted sales needed to match the original total gross profit. Use it to judge the increase you would need, not to predict demand.
Total sales and extra sales are different
Consider a product or service costing $60 and selling for $100. Each sale leaves $40 in gross profit, so 10 full-price sales produce $400. A 10% discount lowers the price to $90 and profit to $30 per sale.
To reach at least $400, you need 14 sales in total, or 4 extra sales compared with the original 10.
The count rounds upward because it uses whole sales. Thirteen sales produce $390; fourteen produce $420. That extra $20 comes from rounding.
A larger discount changes the hurdle
At a 20% discount, profit falls to $20 per sale. You need 20 sales in total—10 extra—to match the original $400. At 30%, only $10 remains, requiring 40 sales in total, or 30 extra.
At 40%, the $60 selling price equals cost. Each sale contributes no gross profit, so additional sales cannot recover the original $400. A larger discount creates a gross loss per sale. If the original price already produces zero profit or a loss, there is no positive original profit to preserve.
Check whether the extra volume is practical
This comparison assumes the same cost per sale before and after the discount. It cannot compare a promotion that changes that cost. More sales may also need extra labor, packaging, delivery, or capacity. Overhead, payment fees, advertising expense, and tax are not deducted separately. Check these expenses and whether the extra sales are plausible before running a discount.