The discount trap: on a 40% margin, a 15%-off sale needs 60% more unit sales just to make the same profit — and at a 20% margin it needs infinite (you'd be selling at cost). Discounts don't create profit; they trade it for volume, and the exchange rate is brutal at thin margins.
That doesn't mean never discount — it means knowing the price of the party before you throw it. Run the number first; if the required lift looks impossible, try a bundled offer or a minimum-spend threshold instead, which move volume without cutting the margin on every unit.
Keep going with these tools — they build on this calculation: Retail Markup Calculator, Markup vs Margin Calculator and Restaurant Profit Margin Calculator. When your prices look right, print the menu with the Menu Maker — free templates, PDF & PNG. Want us to set the whole system up for you? Ask about concierge setup.
On a 40% margin: +100% — double. On a 50% margin: +67%. On a 20% margin: mathematically impossible (you'd be selling below cost). The thinner the margin, the deadlier the discount.
No — they're fine for moving dead stock at cost, winning a new client whose repeat business is worth the give-up, or matching a competitor once. Bad is running them by habit without running this math.