---
title: "Discount stacking: definition, formula and example"
description: "Two or more discounts applying to one order: a sale price, a subscription discount, a code. Each looked affordable alone; together they may not be."
url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/discount-stacking
updated: 2026-10-13
---

# Discount stacking

Two or more discounts applying to one order: a sale price, a subscription discount, a code. Each looked affordable alone; together they may not be.

## In plain words

Discount stacking is what happens when more than one discount lands on the same order. A sale price meets a subscribe-and-save discount. A welcome code is used on a bundle that is already reduced.

Each discount was set on its own, against a full-price order. Stacked, the second applies to a price the first has already cut, and the order's fixed costs have not moved at all. An order can be comfortably profitable under either discount and close to break-even under both.

## Formula

- Stacked price = price × (1 − discount A) × (1 − discount B)
- Two discounts applied in turn come to less than their sum: 20% then 10% is 28% off

## Worked example

A 20% sale takes the $40.00 bag to $32.00 and leaves $7.99 of margin. A 10% subscription discount alone leaves $11.68.

With both, one after the other, the bag sells for $28.80 and the engine puts the order's margin at $5.04, or 17.5%.

### The example order

A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted

Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%)

Revenue

$40.00

Cost of goods

−$12.00

Pick and pack

−$1.18

Packaging

−$0.50

Shipping label

−$7.50

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$2.00

Card processing

−$1.16

Contribution margin

$15.36

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost.

## Stacking is not adding the percentages

Discounts applied in turn multiply, so 20% and 10% make 28%. And some discounts do not combine at all: a platform may apply only the larger, or refuse the second. What a customer is really charged is decided at checkout, so check it there.

## Using it

List every discount that can meet on one order, and price the worst case on your smallest order. Then decide which combinations to allow. Check the result in a real cart: which discounts combine is a matter of how each is set up, and it is easy to get a different answer from the one you planned.

## In Offer Suite

Offer Suite verifies an offer on a real cart before it goes live: the price each option promises is compared with what the store actually charges, so a discount that stacks, or fails to, shows up before a customer sees it.

Source: Offer Suite's publish verification.

## Related

- [Glossary **Glossary of offer economics** The terms behind offer profit, defined plainly with their formulas and a worked number: contribution margin, profit per visitor, break-even lift and more.](https://offersuite.io/glossary)
- [Calculator **Bundle pricing calculator: shipping, subscriptions** Price a bundle against a single unit, one-time and subscribed, with the shipping and pick costs it saves, and the conversion it can lose and still earn as much.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/bundle-pricing)
- [Calculator **Subscription first order vs renewal calculator** Margin on a subscription's first order and on each renewal, and the expected profit per subscriber over time at your retention, against a one-time buyer.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-first-order-vs-renewal)
- [Glossary **Percentage discount: definition and formula** A share taken off the price. It comes off revenue in full while most costs stay put, so it removes a much larger share of the margin.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/percentage-discount)
- [Glossary **Subscribe and save: definition, formula and example** A standing discount for buying on subscription, often with a deeper first-order discount. Its cost has to be priced over the renewals, not the first order.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/subscribe-and-save)
- [Glossary **Break-even price: definition, formula and example** The lowest price at which an order still covers its own costs. Below it, every sale loses money before any fixed cost is counted.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/break-even-price)