Confused by the wording of the problem

Jeff bought a 100 items for a total of $50,000, what was the cost of the least expensive item?

(1) The highest price was 4 times the lowest price.
(2) The highest price Jeff paid was $1500.

What does 'least expensive' mean???

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:57 am

Mo2men wrote:What does 'least expensive'???

The least expensive item is the item with the LOWEST PRICE.

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Mo2men: Legendary Member; Posts: 712; Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:39 am; Thanked: 14 times; Followed by:5 members

by Mo2men » Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:07 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:What does 'least expensive'???
The least expensive item is the item with the LOWEST PRICE.

Thanks Mitch,

When the question ask for 'cost' while the two facts are about price. Combining the two statements, we do not have any relation between cost and price. Also, we do not have any info about how many sold in low or expensive prices. Hence, Answer is E

Is it Valid reasoning??

thanks in advance for you help

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:20 am

Mo2men wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:What does 'least expensive'???
The least expensive item is the item with the LOWEST PRICE.
Thanks Mitch,

When the question ask for 'cost' while the two facts are about price. Combining the two statements, we do not have any relation between cost and price. Also, we do not have any info about how many sold in low or expensive prices. Hence, Answer is E

Is it Valid reasoning??

thanks in advance for you help

Unfortunately, this line of reasoning is not valid.
Your confusion -- which stems from the meaning of the word cost -- is understandable.

cost = the amount of money required to buy, pay for, or do something.
For a manufacturer, cost = the amount required to PRODUCE an item.
For a customer, cost = the amount required to BUY an item.
The problem above is about a CUSTOMER (Jeff).
Thus -- in the context of this problem -- cost and price both refer to the same thing: the amount of required to BUY an item.

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