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Which is the better buy? 5-pound bag of potting soil for $1.68 or 6-pound bag of potting soil for $2.47

2 Answers

4 votes

Answer: 5 pound bag

Explanation:

User AndyS
by
9.0k points
4 votes

Answer:

5-pound bag

Explanation:

You want to know which of 5 pounds for $1.68 or 6 pounds for $2.47 is a better buy.

Relative cost

You can go to the trouble to find the per-pound cost of each bag. Or, you can compare relative cost to relative weight.

The 6-pound bag, at about $2.40 is 50% more than the 5-pound bag, at about $1.60. The weight of the 6-pound bag is 20% more than the weight of the 5-pound bag. (6/5 = 1.20 = 120%)

When you spend $2.47 for a 6-pound bag, you're paying 50% more for 20% more soil, not a good deal.

The better buy is the 5 pound bag.

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Additional comment

The actual price difference is 2.47/1.68 -1 ≈ 0.47, or 47%, reasonably close to our 50% estimate.

Another way to consider the question is to realize that 6 pounds is 20% more than 5 pounds, and 20% more than the 5-pound price is 1.68 +2(.168) ≈ 2.02. At the 5-lb price you could get 6 lb for $2.02, not $2.47.

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User Ghassan Idriss
by
8.2k points

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