Question

The table below shows the earnings, in thousands of dollars, for three different commissioned employees.

$2,000 + 3% on all sales
7% on all sales
5% on the first $40,000 + 8% on anything over $40,000
December
4.4
5.6
5.2
January
3.5
3.85
3.6
February
4.7
4.9
4.4
Who had the largest dollar amount in sales for the month of December?
a.
The salary plus commission employee.
b.
The straight commission employee.
c.
The graduated commission employee.
d.
They each had the same dollar amount in sales.

Answer 1

d. They each had the same dollar amount in sales.

Work: Let S be sales in thousands. For December
- Salary+commission: 2 + 0.03S = 4.4 → 0.03S = 2.4 → S = 80.
- Straight commission: 0.07S = 5.6 → S = 80.
- Graduated: 0.05(40) + 0.08(S−40) = 5.2 → 2 + 0.08(S−40) = 5.2 → S = 80.
So each had $80,000 in sales.