A store charges $280 for a coat. This price is 40 percent more than the amount it cost the store to buy the coat. At the end-of-season sale, the store employees can purchase any remaining coats at 30 percent off the price that store paid for them. How much would it cost an employee to purchase the coat at the sale?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To find how much an employee would pay for the coat at the end-of-season sale, we must first determine the original cost to the store and then apply the employee discount.
Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Find the store’s cost (C):
We’re told the store charges $280 for the coat, and this is 40% more than what the store paid.
Let the store’s cost be C.
So, 280=C+0.40C=1.40C280 = C + 0.40C = 1.40C
Solving for C: C=2801.40=200C = \frac{280}{1.40} = 200
So, the store originally paid $200 for the coat.
2. Apply the 30% employee discount:
At the sale, employees get 30% off the store’s cost. Employee price=200−(0.30×200)=200−60=140\text{Employee price} = 200 – (0.30 \times 200) = 200 – 60 = 140
✅ Correct Answer: $140
Explanation:
To determine how much an employee would pay for a coat during an end-of-season sale, we need to break the problem into two stages: first, understanding the markup, and then applying the discount. The coat is sold in-store for $280, but that is not the amount the store originally paid. In fact, $280 is 40 percent more than the store’s purchase price. A 40% markup means the selling price is 140% of the store’s cost. This allows us to set up an equation: $280 = 1.40 × cost. Solving this, we divide $280 by 1.40, which gives us $200. This is what the store originally paid for the coat.
Now, employees are given a 30% discount from that original store cost—not the marked-up price. A 30% discount means the employee pays only 70% of the cost ($200). We calculate this by taking 30% of $200, which is $60, and subtracting it from the original cost. So, $200 – $60 = $140. Therefore, an employee pays $140 to buy the coat during the sale.
This problem demonstrates how understanding percentages and how they apply to markups and discounts is crucial in real-world finance. A common mistake is to apply the employee discount to the selling price rather than the store’s cost, but careful reading of the problem helps avoid this error
