Abstract: The system and method described herein provide a computationally efficient clearance markdown planning system that may quickly automate the calculations of many possible markdown plans to determine the impact of various pricing options on total sales volume and revenue. While considering business constraints and other parameters, the markdown planning system may determine an optimized markdown plan for a particular product, season, and locale. In some aspects, the markdown planning system may use scaling and a variation of dynamic programming (DP) to quickly calculate and compare different potential markdown plans.