Question

During a sale at a department store, the price of a sofa is marked down by 30%. two weeks later, the price is marked down another 30%. the sales person tells a customer that the new price is 60% below the original price. but this is not correct. find the actual total markdown. __________ %

Answer 1

The actual total markdown after two consecutive markdowns of 30% each on the sofa is 49%, not 60% as mistakenly suggested by the salesperson.

Step-by-step explanation:

The actual total markdown after two successive 30% discounts is not 60%, but a bit less. To calculate the actual discount, you can apply the discounts one after another on the original price.

Let's assume the original price is P. After a 30% markdown, the new price is P - 0.30P = 0.70P. Two weeks later, another 30% markdown is applied to the already discounted price, so the new price becomes 0.70P - 0.30(0.70P) = 0.70P(1 - 0.30) = 0.70P × 0.70 = 0.49P.

Therefore, the total markdown from the original price is P - 0.49P = 0.51P, which means the price is now 51% of the original price. The actual total markdown is 100% - 51% = 49%.