BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

Paul sells encyclopedias door-to-door. He earns $160 on

Expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Moderator
Posts: 2632
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:08 pmFollowed by: 2 members
by AAPL » Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:25 am

Timer

00:00

Answers

A

0%

B

0%

C

0%

D

0%

E

0%

Stats

Difficulty—

0% CorrectAvg —

0% IncorrectAvg —

Veritas Prep

Paul sells encyclopedias door-to-door. He earns $160 on every paycheck, regardless of how many sets he sells. In addition, he earns commission as follows:

Commission Sales
10% $0.00 - $10,000.00
5% $10,000.01 --->

He does not earn "double commission." That is, if his sales are $12,000, he earns 10% on the first $10,000 and 5% on the remaining $2,000. His largest paycheck of the year was $1,320. What were his sales for that pay period?

A. 13,200
B. 14,800
C. 16,400
D. 15,800
E. 19,600

OA A.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Problem Solving |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 8134
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 43 times

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Mon Nov 12, 2018 7:17 am
AAPL wrote:Veritas Prep

Paul sells encyclopedias door-to-door. He earns $160 on every paycheck, regardless of how many sets he sells. In addition, he earns commission as follows:

Commission Sales
10% $0.00 - $10,000.00
5% $10,000.01 --->

He does not earn "double commission." That is, if his sales are $12,000, he earns 10% on the first $10,000 and 5% on the remaining $2,000. His largest paycheck of the year was $1,320. What were his sales for that pay period?

A. 13,200
B. 14,800
C. 16,400
D. 15,800
E. 19,600
Since he earns $160 as base salary and 10% of $10,000 is $1,000, if he sells no more than $10,000 worth of encyclopedias, the maximum he earns is $1,160. However, since he earns $1,320, he must have sold more than $10,000 worth of encyclopedias. Therefore, if we let x = his sales for the paycheck of $1,320, we can create the equation:

160 + 0.1(10,000) + 0.05(x - 10,000) = 1,320

160 + 1,000 + 0.05x - 500 = 1,320

660 + 0.05x = 1,320

0.05x = 660

x = 13,200

Answer: A

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

Image

See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews

ImageImage
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:45 am
Hi All,

We're told that Paul sells encyclopedias door-to-door. He earns $160 on every paycheck, regardless of how many sets he sells and a commission as follows:

10% on the first $10,000.00 and 5% for any additional sales beyond that.

His largest paycheck of the year was $1,320. We're asked for his sales for that pay period. This question can be approached in a couple of different ways. Based on the given answer choices, we can take advantage of a couple of built-in patterns and avoid some of the extra 'math steps.'

To start, we can see that all of the answers are ABOVE $10,000, so we know that part of his commissions was 10% of $10,000 = $1,000. Paul received $160 on top of that piece of his commission, so we have accounted for $1,160. Now, we just have to account for the extra $1320 - $1160 = $160 he earned...

That extra commission was based on 5% of the sales ABOVE $10,000.
5% of $1,000 = $50
$160 is a little more than (3)($50), so the extra sales had to be a little more than (3)($1000). Thus, his total sales for that period were a LITTLE MORE than $10,000 + $3000 = $13,000...

Final Answer: A

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1