A retailer bought a shirt at wholesale and marked it up 80% to its initial retail price of $45. By how many more dollars does he need to increase the price to achieve a 100% markup? 1 2 3 4 5

pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:A retailer bought a shirt at wholesale and marked it up 80% to its initial retail price of $45. By how many more dollars does he need to increase the price to achieve a 100% markup? 1 2 3 4 5 One approach would be to plug in the answer choices, which represent the increase needed from 45 to achieve a 100% markup. Let w = wholesale price. C) 100% markup = 45+3 = 48. w = 48/2 = 24. (Since a 100% markup is the wholesale price doubled.) Now let's see whether w=24 gives us an initial markup of $45: 80% of 24 = .8*24 = 19.2. Initial mark-up = 24 + 19.2 = 43.2. Too small. Need a bigger answer. D) 100% markup = 45+4 = 49. w = 49/2 = 24.5 Incorrect. The wholesale price must be an integer since the initial markup = 45. The correct answer is E. Here's the algebraic solution: A retailer marked it up 80% to...45: 1.8w = 45 w = 45/1.8 = 450/18 = 25 100% markup of the wholesale price: 2w = 2*25 = 50. (A 100% mark-up means the wholesale price doubled.) 100% markup - initial markup = 50-45 = 5. The correct answer is E.

GMATGuruNY wrote:pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:A retailer bought a shirt at wholesale and marked it up 80% to its initial retail price of $45. By how many more dollars does he need to increase the price to achieve a 100% markup? 1 2 3 4 5 One approach would be to plug in the answer choices, which represent the increase needed from 45 to achieve a 100% markup. Let w = wholesale price. C) 100% markup = 45+3 = 48. w = 48/2 = 24. (Since a 100% markup is the wholesale price doubled.) Now let's see whether w=24 gives us an initial markup of $45: 80% of 24 = .8*24 = 19.2. Initial mark-up = 24 + 19.2 = 43.2. Too small. Need a bigger answer. D) 100% markup = 45+4 = 49. w = 49/2 = 24.5 Incorrect. The wholesale price must be an integer since the initial markup = 45. The correct answer is E. Here's the algebraic solution: A retailer marked it up 80% to...45: 1.8w = 45 w = 45/1.8 = 450/18 = 25 100% markup of the wholesale price: 2w = 2*25 = 50. (A 100% mark-up means the wholesale price doubled.) 100% markup - initial markup = 50-45 = 5. The correct answer is E. Dear GMATGuru, Isnt the algebraic solution much faster in this case? What you recommend?