Question

You are the buyer for The Shoe Outlet. You are looking for a line of men’s shoes to retail for $79.95. If your objective is a 55% markup based on selling price, what is the most that you can pay for the shoes and still get the desired markup?

Answer 1

you want to sell the shoes for $79.95, and you want to make 55% profit

that is you want to get the shoes for x dollars and then sell them for 55% more (or more) so that the final price is $79.95

so (x cost)*1.55=$79.95

solve for x
$79.95/1.55=$51.58

you have to buy the shoes for at most $51.58 to make the desired profit at the desired selling price.

hope this helps

Answer 2

this is the answer I got at first but it was wrong. And I did this problem several times.

Answer 3

The key is that the profit here is based on the selling price, not the cost.

If an item costs $10 and you sell it for $15, that's 50% profit based on cost

If an item sells for $10 and is 50% profit based on selling price, that means the cost is $5, since 50% of the selling price is profit.

So, we want 55% of $79.95 to be profit. That is, the cost is only 45% of the selling price, or $35.98

Answer 4

@Sharon did you ever find out how to solve this problem.

Answer 5

Aw yes I led you astray on two fronts (don't tell Writeacher, mistakes are not allowed here). But seen as you did it the same way I did, Sharon, perhaps I can explain the trap we both fell into. (Steve did an excellent job himself, but it never hurts to have extra explanation.)

First of all, we are basing the 55% on selling price. The x(1.55) you and I did would represent a percent based on cost, because you are multiplying the 55% to the cost.

If it's based on selling price it needs to be 79.95x (a percent multiplying the selling price).

So like Steve said, 79.95(0.55)= profit of $43.97

Therefore the cost is $79.95 - $43.97 = $35.98
(because revenue - profit = cost)

Answer 6

its $51.58

Answer 7

$35.98 is accurate