---
id: "quote-profit-from-final-dollars"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶6"]
tags: ["margin", "financials"]
related: ["claim-haphazard-discounting-margin-destruction", "concept-profit-cannibalization"]
speakers: ["Rafi Mohammed"]
speaker: "Rafi Mohammed"
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-ext-22-art-of-discounting"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/the-art-of-discounting"
sourceTitle: "The Art of Discounting"
---
# Profit comes from the final dollars

> "Remember, your profit comes from the final dollars of your price. Thus, discounts are directly deducted from your profit."
> — [[entity-rafi-mohammed|Rafi Mohammed]]

The stark mathematical reminder underpinning [[claim-haphazard-discounting-margin-destruction]] and the danger of [[concept-profit-cannibalization]]: with S&P 500 net margins around 13.2%, a careless 10% discount nearly erases per-transaction profit.