Chinese Shopping Discounts: 8折, 7.5折 and the Price You Pay

If a ¥200 item qualifies for an 8折 offer, you pay ¥160 and save ¥40. 八折 (bā zhé) means paying 80% of the price: a 20% discount.

On a Chinese sale sign, the number before 折 (zhé) tells you the share of the price you pay, in tenths. An English “% off” sign tells you the share removed. That difference matters when you compare offers in a shop or read a Chinese shopping app. All amounts below are in Chinese yuan (CNY).

Reading a discount sign

Chinese discounts can use digits, Chinese characters, or both. These pairs mean the same thing:

七五折 (qī wǔ zhé) is another way to write 7.5折. It means you pay 75%, so a ¥100 item costs ¥75. The two Chinese digits describe the retained percentage; they do not mean “75% off.”

For the same base price, a lower 折 number means a lower amount to pay. 五折 gives a larger saving than 八折.

Calculating the price

Use the price to which the offer applies:

Price to pay = base price × 折 number ÷ 10

For a ¥268 item at 7.5折:

• Price to pay: ¥268 × 7.5 ÷ 10 = ¥201.
• Amount saved: ¥268 − ¥201 = ¥67.

You can also work backwards. If an item falls from ¥250 to ¥200, you pay 200 ÷ 250 = 80% of its base price. That is 8折, or 20% off.

The Chinese discount calculator converts between 折, percentage off and the final price. For 七五折, enter 7.5 in its 折 field.

七折起: up to 30% off

The small character 起 (qǐ) changes the offer. 七折起 advertises prices starting at 70% of the base price—equivalent to up to 30% off.

It does not mean every item is 30% off. One eligible item might be 七折, while another is 八折 or 九折. Check the discount on the item you want before calculating its price.

Likewise, 低至五折 advertises prices as low as half price. Look for which products qualify, rather than applying that rate to everything on the shelf.

第二件半价: the second item

第二件半价 means “second item half price.” The saving applies to the qualifying second item, so the discount across the pair depends on both prices.

Suppose two qualifying items cost ¥100 each, with the first at full price and the second at half price:

¥100 + ¥50 = ¥150 for the pair.

You save ¥50 on a ¥200 purchase: 25% off overall, equivalent to 七五折 across the pair. It is not 50% off the whole purchase.

That 25% figure depends on equal prices. If the shop halves the cheaper item in a ¥100 and ¥60 pair, you pay ¥100 + ¥30 = ¥130. The ¥30 saving is 18.75% of the original ¥160 total. Check which items can be paired and which receives the discount.

Checking the displayed price

Before multiplying, confirm whether the price shown already includes the discount. A tag showing ¥200 crossed out and ¥160 beside 折后价 (“price after discount”) may already reflect an 八折 offer. Multiplying ¥160 by 0.8 again would give ¥128, which is only correct if another 20% reduction also applies.

Look for conditions such as 会员价 (“member price”) or 券后价 (“price after a coupon”). A crossed-out figure may be a reference price; it does not by itself establish what the item previously sold for.

If your calculated price differs from the checkout total, ask which starting price and offer were used.