Run a markdown without wrecking your margin. Enter your original price, unit cost and discount %, and this tool shows the sale price, the profit per unit and the margin you have left — and flags the point where a bigger discount starts selling below cost. The math is exact; every number comes from the figures you enter, so nothing is invented.
⚠️ The math is exact; the numbers are yours. Sale price, profit and margin are pure arithmetic — no error margin. But a real margin needs a real cost: enter your fully-loaded (landed) cost per unit, not just the factory FOB price. Freight and US import duty sit on top of FOB — estimate them with the knitwear cost calculator first, then bring the landed figure back here.
A markdown doesn't shave a slice off cost and profit evenly — it lands entirely on your profit. That's why a 30% price cut can wipe out far more than 30% of your earnings.
Once the price drops, the margin has to be measured against the new price. This tool re-runs margin% = (sale − cost) ÷ sale × 100 on the discounted figure, so you see the real number, not the full-price one.
There's a discount at which the sale price exactly equals your cost — go past it and every unit sells at a loss. The result shows that ceiling for your numbers and warns you the instant you cross it.
Nothing is pre-filled, because there's no honest default price for clothing without a spec. The result follows exactly from the price, cost and discount you type.
No black box. Every figure on the result card is one of these exact lines:
sale price = original price × (1 − discount/100) profit at sale = sale price − cost margin at sale% = (sale price − cost) ÷ sale price × 100 break-even discount% = (1 − cost ÷ original price) × 100 Worked example: a garment priced at $40 that costs you $18, put on a 30% discount, sells for $28. That's $12 off, $10 profit per unit and a 35.71% margin — down from a 55% margin and $22 profit at full price. You'd break even at a 55% discount, so anything steeper sells below your $18 cost.
Planning a promotion end to end? Pair this with the clothing margin & markup calculator to set your full-price margin in the first place, and the break-even units calculator to see how many discounted pieces you need to move to cover your fixed costs. See every tool on the free tools hub.
Work it in three exact steps. First the sale price: sale price = original price × (1 − discount/100). Then the profit left: profit = sale price − your cost. Then the margin on that discounted price: margin% = (sale price − cost) ÷ sale price × 100. Example — a $40 piece at 30% off sells for $28; against an $18 cost that leaves $10 profit and a 35.71% margin, down from 55% at full price. Every figure comes from the price, cost and discount you enter — nothing is assumed.
You break even when the sale price equals your cost, so the maximum discount before a loss is (1 − cost ÷ price) × 100. On a $40 piece that costs you $18, that is (1 − 18/40) × 100 = 55% — any discount above 55% sells below cost. This calculator shows your break-even discount for the numbers you enter and warns you the moment a discount pushes the sale price under your cost.
No — it almost always cuts profit by much more, because the markdown comes straight out of your margin, not evenly off the whole price. Take a $40 piece costing $18: at full price you make $22. Knock 30% ($12) off and the sale price is $28, so profit drops to $10 — a 55% fall in profit from a 30% cut in price. The thinner your starting margin, the harder a discount bites, which is why you should read the profit left, not just the headline percentage off.
Enter whichever price you are actually discounting, and the matching cost. For a season-end sale to consumers, use your retail price and your fully-loaded (landed) cost per unit. For a markdown to a wholesale buyer, use your wholesale price and the same landed cost. The discount always applies to the original price you type, and the tool never assumes a figure. To build an accurate landed cost first, use our knitwear cost calculator, then bring that number back here as your cost.
Send your tech pack (or use our free template) with your target price and landed cost, and we'll reply within one business day with real per-piece pricing, a sample timeline and an honest read on how much discount room your margin actually has.