A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an

Question

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.

KarishmaB · Accepted Answer

The answer here will be (A). I understand the issue raised by people who say (D) is the answer and hopefully, GMAT will not let this ambiguity creep in but you must remember that given the question as it is, you must answer it as (A). 
Every DS question is a single question and not two independent questions based on two statements. This means that if you get the answer using one statement, you will get the same answer using the other statement too. e.g. You CANNOT have such a situation.
Question: What is x?
Statement 1: x = 3
Statement 2: x = 4
In this over simplified example, each statement gives you the answer but they give conflicting values of x. This is not a valid 
DS question.

For people who say answer is (D)
Statement 1 gives you that original cost is 1550
Statement 2 gives you that original cost is 1395
This cannot be correct.

Also note the wording of the question: "dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at..."
Considering statement 2 alone, we don't know the profit % after he finally sold it. All we know is that he initially offered it for sale at 40% mark up. Whether he was able to sell at this mark up or not, we do not know. Remember, it is a DS question - you cannot assume anything in it. Hence statement 2 alone is not sufficient.

Answer (A)

swatirpr · Answer

(1) After reducing  this asking price  by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a profit of $403.

lets original cost = 100x

and this asking price = 140x

final reduced price = (140x - 14x) = 126x

so profit = final reduced price - original cost
403=126x -100x

SUFFICIENT

(2) The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for $1,953.

We do not know what is the  final reduced price   so this statement is not sufficient.

I pick A.

brentbrent · Answer

I am going to agree with swatirpr, A is correct.

stmt1 - 'after reducing this asking price' specifies that the information given in the question should be used
stmt2 - only says sold for XXXX, it may not have been his INITIAL offer.

edit: Found another post with the same question.
ds-original-cost-79845.html
OA=A

samusa · Answer

Got it wrong because it is a WORD problem !!!!!!!

Need to pay more attention!!!! but how to make out the difference ???

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi samichange,

You've hinted at an issue that impacts a LOT of Test Takers, but you're focusing on the wrong aspect of the process. You didn't get this question wrong because it was slightly wordy - you got it wrong because you made a silly mistake.

The 'solution' to this type of issue is to take more/better notes and put more detail into your WORK. Can you upload a picture of the work that you did the first time you attempted this question? I'd like to see how you approached the problem. What type of notes did you take? Did you try to do math "in your head?"

If you're thinking about your overall pacing, you should know that 75 minutes IS enough time to take a shot at every Quant question, but it's NOT enough time to do work in your head, reread the prompt over and over, stare at the screen etc. Also, if your goal is to score at a high level, then little mistakes CANNOT be allowed to happen.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

AdlaT · Answer

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?

Selling price=Cost+(\frac{40}{100})*Cost

Statement (1): After reducing this asking price by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a profit of $403.

New selling price=Cost+(\frac{40}{100})*Cost-\frac{10}{100}*(Cost+(\frac{40}{100})*Cost)

New Selling Price=0.9*Cost+(\frac{36}{100})*Cost

profit=$403------> (\frac{36}{100})*Cost=403 ------>Cost=$1119.44

Statement 1): SUFFICIENT

Statement (2) :The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for $1,953.

1953=Cost+-(\frac{x}{100})*Cost

It could be profit or loss(we can not assume that dealer sold at initial offer which is 40% profit.)

Statement (2): NOT SUFFICIENT

Ans: A

Please correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks,
Adla

Prasannathawait · Answer

Nice question.
This says that proper reading is important. We cannot afford to misinterpret or misread any word.
Very tough for me. Got it wrong.

A_Nishith · Answer

Statement 1 is Sufficient. I Agree to it.
But, How Statement 2 is not Sufficient?
Cant it be =>   => Cost Price Original= 1395/-

bumpbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Data Sufficiency (DS) Questions

A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards