16Hit1600
AlgebraHardCost price behind a markup and a discount

Algebra practice question

A shop marks a coat up by 25% above its cost price and later sells it at 20% off the marked price, for $96. What was the coat's cost price, in dollars?

Answer: 96

1.25c × 0.8 = c, so the selling price equals the cost price: $96.

Common wrong answers

If you answered 100
100 assumes the two percentages cancel to leave a 4% gain.
If you answered 120
120 adds 25% to 96.
If you answered 76.8
76.8 takes 20% off 96 as if 96 were the marked price.

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