Question

A mattress underwent the following changes in price before being removed from the store.

20%
Markdown
35%
Markup
24%
Markdown
13%
Markup
31%
Markdown

If the final price of the mattress was $227.83, what was the original price of the mattress, to the nearest dollar? Round all dollar values to the nearest cent.
a.
$356
b.
$312
c.
$251
d.
$146

Answer 1

Let the original price be P.

Overall multiplier = 0.80 (20% markdown) × 1.35 (35% markup) × 0.76 (24% markdown) × 1.13 (13% markup) × 0.69 (31% markdown)
= 0.63997776.

So P = 227.83 / 0.63997776 ≈ 356.00.

Rounded to the nearest dollar, the original price is $356. Answer: (a) $356.