Item #2 receives the discount.
Stacked bar chart comparing regular price vs. BOGO deal price for both items.
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Regular Price Item #1 | $49.99 |
| Regular Price Item #2 | $39.99 |
| Regular Price Both Items | $89.98 |
| BOGO Price Item #1 | $49.99 |
| BOGO Price Item #2 | $20.00 |
| BOGO Price Both Items | $69.98 |
| Total Savings | $20.00 |
| Actual Percent Savings | 22.22% |
In a BOGOHO (Buy One Get One Half Off) deal, you pay full price for the first item and get 50% off the second item. The discounted item is typically the lower-priced one. While “half off” sounds impressive, your actual savings on the combined purchase is lower than you might expect.
When both items are the same price, your true savings is 25% off the combined total. When the items have different prices — especially when the second item is much cheaper — the real discount percentage can be significantly less than 25%.
A shoe store offers “Buy One Pair, Get the Second Pair Half Off.” Pair #1 costs $100 and Pair #2 costs $50. What do you actually pay?
The headline says “half off” but your true savings on the total purchase is only 16.67%.
Many shoppers confuse these two promotions, but the savings difference is substantial:
BOGO Free gives you double the savings of BOGO Half Off when items are the same price. Always check which promotion applies before assuming you are getting a great deal.
Buy One Get One Half Off (BOGOHO) means you pay full price for the first item and get 50% off the second item. The discounted item is typically the lower-priced one when two items have different prices.
When both items are the same price, yes — BOGO half off gives you exactly 25% off the combined total. You pay 1.5x the item price instead of 2x. When items have different prices, the actual percentage varies.
Yes, BOGO 50% off and BOGO half off are identical promotions. Both mean the second item is sold at half its regular price. The terminology varies by retailer but the math is the same.
BOGO Free is always a better deal. With BOGO Free you get the second item for nothing (up to 50% savings on equal items). With BOGO Half Off the second item is only 50% off (up to 25% savings on equal items). BOGO Free saves you twice as much.
Pick two items as close in price as possible. The closer the prices, the closer your true discount gets to 25%. If the second item is much cheaper, your real savings percentage shrinks because the half-off discount applies to a smaller amount.