SQL OFFSET

Skips a number of rows before starting to return results — the tool that makes pagination possible.

What & Why

OFFSET n skips the first n rows of the (sorted) result before returning anything. Paired with LIMIT, it's how "page 2 of results" gets built.

BUSINESS QUESTION

Skip the two highest-spend campaigns and show the remaining rows.

id	name	channel	spend	start_date	end_date	status	target_segment
1	Spring Launch	google_ads	55000.00	2024-01-15	2024-03-31	active	smb
2	Retention Webinar	email	45000.00	2024-02-10	2024-04-15	active	enterprise
3	Finance Retargeting	linkedin	50000.00	2024-03-12	2024-05-31	active	enterprise
4	Enterprise Search	google_ads	60000.00	2024-04-01	2024-06-30	active	enterprise

Sort first, then skip 2Step 1 of 2

ORDER BY spend DESC OFFSET 2

-- ORDER BY spend DESC (no OFFSET yet)

position	name	channel	spend
1	Enterprise Search	google_ads	60,000
2	Spring Launch	google_ads	55,000
3	Finance Retargeting	linkedin	50,000
4	Retention Webinar	email	45,000

The campaigns are sorted by spend, highest first.

EXAMPLE QUERY

SELECT name, spend FROM marketing.campaigns
ORDER BY spend DESC
OFFSET 2;