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# A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an

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Manager
Joined: 23 Apr 2007
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A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an [#permalink]  26 Jun 2007, 05:58
A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an asking price that would give a profit to the dealer of 40 percent of the original cost. What was the original cost of the bracelet?
(1) After reducing this asking price by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a profit of $403. (2) The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for$1,953.
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Re: food for thought! [#permalink]  26 Jun 2007, 06:08
AugiTh wrote:
A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an asking price that would give a profit to the dealer of 40 percent of the original cost. What was the original cost of the bracelet?
(1) After reducing this asking price by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a profit of $403. (2) The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for$1,953.

Shouldn't this be D? Or am I missing a trick?
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S: selling price
R: original price

questions gives 1.4R = S
Profit = S-R = 1.4R-R = 0.4R which is the 40% profit.

(1) 0.9S - R = 403
----------------------
two equations, two unkowns --> can solve for both R and S

statement 1 is sufficient

(2) S = 1953
----------------
1.4R = 1953 .. you do the math by solving for R and finding the profit with 0.4xR

statemenet 2 is sufficient

Manager
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I too thought ít was 'D'. The given ans is 'A'.

But then when I take the time and do the calculation, I do not get the same ans for statement1 and statement2.

For a choice to be 'D', isnt it necessary that both the statements should give the same answer? I based my aproach to this problem with this assumption and I did not get the same ans. Hence I was a lil confused.
It would be nice if someone could clarify this.
Senior Manager
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AugiTh wrote:
I too thought ít was 'D'. The given ans is 'A'.

But then when I take the time and do the calculation, I do not get the same ans for statement1 and statement2.

For a choice to be 'D', isnt it necessary that both the statements should give the same answer? I based my aproach to this problem with this assumption and I did not get the same ans. Hence I was a lil confused.
It would be nice if someone could clarify this.

You're right. For DS questions it should be sufficient to be able to answer the question. It is not necessary to get the 'right' answer. And if we get different answers with each statement, why can't we choose B instead of A ??
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I got A.

this was the reason I omitted B - it just says that he sold it for X$, but we are not told that he managed to sell it as his proposed selling price ! for all we know, he could have altered his selling price and sold it CIO Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 464 Followers: 2 Kudos [?]: 34 [0], given: 0 [#permalink] 26 Jun 2007, 12:25 sumande wrote: AugiTh wrote: I too thought ít was 'D'. The given ans is 'A'. But then when I take the time and do the calculation, I do not get the same ans for statement1 and statement2. For a choice to be 'D', isnt it necessary that both the statements should give the same answer? I based my aproach to this problem with this assumption and I did not get the same ans. Hence I was a lil confused. It would be nice if someone could clarify this. You're right. For DS questions it should be sufficient to be able to answer the question. It is not necessary to get the 'right' answer. And if we get different answers with each statement, why can't we choose B instead of A ?? Let me clarify this point... it's one of my personal favorites with the GMAT. The answer is DEFINITELY A. On the GMAT, the DS statements WILL ALWAYS have the same answer. In fact, they do have the same answer in this case, too. If you do the math in statement 1, you will find that he did, in fact, sell it for$1953.

But you can't possibly know HOW he got to that price using number 2 alone. You can't know if he gave a discount, or not. That's why it's not enough information.

But, you say, who cares? Even without that info, I can still get AN answer.

Yes, but the question says specifically that he INITIALLY offered the bracelet for a certain profit percentage. If that's the case, we have no way of knowing what he ACTUALLY offered the bracelet for.

Now this is the real kicker. You should know that from the first statement. I'm not saying the answer to the question should be C. But I am saying you should see the entire data sufficiency question, statements included, as information. If, in statement 1, you are told that he reduced his price, it should prompt you to ask yourself in statement two, "Hey, I know he reduced his price before, and this must be the same price, because that's how the GMAT works, so what does that mean? Oh, I see the word "initially" in the stem. It all makes sense now - this isn't enough info".

Just my two cents.
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ian7777 wrote:
sumande wrote:
AugiTh wrote:
I too thought ít was 'D'. The given ans is 'A'.

But then when I take the time and do the calculation, I do not get the same ans for statement1 and statement2.

For a choice to be 'D', isnt it necessary that both the statements should give the same answer? I based my aproach to this problem with this assumption and I did not get the same ans. Hence I was a lil confused.
It would be nice if someone could clarify this.

You're right. For DS questions it should be sufficient to be able to answer the question. It is not necessary to get the 'right' answer. And if we get different answers with each statement, why can't we choose B instead of A ??

Let me clarify this point... it's one of my personal favorites with the GMAT.

The answer is DEFINITELY A. On the GMAT, the DS statements WILL ALWAYS have the same answer.

In fact, they do have the same answer in this case, too. If you do the math in statement 1, you will find that he did, in fact, sell it for $1953. But you can't possibly know HOW he got to that price using number 2 alone. You can't know if he gave a discount, or not. That's why it's not enough information. But, you say, who cares? Even without that info, I can still get AN answer. Yes, but the question says specifically that he INITIALLY offered the bracelet for a certain profit percentage. If that's the case, we have no way of knowing what he ACTUALLY offered the bracelet for. Now this is the real kicker. You should know that from the first statement. I'm not saying the answer to the question should be C. But I am saying you should see the entire data sufficiency question, statements included, as information. If, in statement 1, you are told that he reduced his price, it should prompt you to ask yourself in statement two, "Hey, I know he reduced his price before, and this must be the same price, because that's how the GMAT works, so what does that mean? Oh, I see the word "initially" in the stem. It all makes sense now - this isn't enough info". Just my two cents. thanks ian...that was quite elaborate worth more than 2 cents Senior Manager Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 348 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 15 [0], given: 0 [#permalink] 26 Jun 2007, 19:55 ian7777 wrote: sumande wrote: AugiTh wrote: I too thought ít was 'D'. The given ans is 'A'. But then when I take the time and do the calculation, I do not get the same ans for statement1 and statement2. For a choice to be 'D', isnt it necessary that both the statements should give the same answer? I based my aproach to this problem with this assumption and I did not get the same ans. Hence I was a lil confused. It would be nice if someone could clarify this. You're right. For DS questions it should be sufficient to be able to answer the question. It is not necessary to get the 'right' answer. And if we get different answers with each statement, why can't we choose B instead of A ?? Let me clarify this point... it's one of my personal favorites with the GMAT. The answer is DEFINITELY A. On the GMAT, the DS statements WILL ALWAYS have the same answer. In fact, they do have the same answer in this case, too. If you do the math in statement 1, you will find that he did, in fact, sell it for$1953.

But you can't possibly know HOW he got to that price using number 2 alone. You can't know if he gave a discount, or not. That's why it's not enough information.

But, you say, who cares? Even without that info, I can still get AN answer.

Yes, but the question says specifically that he INITIALLY offered the bracelet for a certain profit percentage. If that's the case, we have no way of knowing what he ACTUALLY offered the bracelet for.

Now this is the real kicker. You should know that from the first statement. I'm not saying the answer to the question should be C. But I am saying you should see the entire data sufficiency question, statements included, as information. If, in statement 1, you are told that he reduced his price, it should prompt you to ask yourself in statement two, "Hey, I know he reduced his price before, and this must be the same price, because that's how the GMAT works, so what does that mean? Oh, I see the word "initially" in the stem. It all makes sense now - this isn't enough info".

Just my two cents.

Thanks for the information...will try to remember all this...
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