A retailer bought a shirt at wholesale and marked it up 80%

For me the typical solution is like below:

Wholesale price = x.
Initial price = $45.
Mark up = 80%.

1.8x=45 --> x=25.

In order to achieve a 100% markup a retail price should be 2*25=$50, so $5 more.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Bunnel. I'm going to need a little more help here !
You said initial price was 45$. Then markup was 80% hence final price would be 45+((80/100)*45) . This would lead to 81.
100% markup from 45 should mean 90. hence 90-81= 9.
This was my initial approach. When i couldnt find 9 in the options, then i went on to do 1.8x=45
But i still dont get why the language of the question doesnt mean that the initial price was actually 45.
Per your equation , 1.8x=45 , it seems that 45 was the final price after the markup .

The point is that $45 is already a retail price (initial price), so a price after 80% mark up on wholesale price.

Please check here: a-retailer-bought-a-shirt-at-wholesale-and-marked-it-up-130759.html#p1074292

Hi All,

The first sentence in this prompt clearly states the 'order' of events:

1) A retailer bought a shirt at wholesale (let's say X dollars)
2) Marked it up 80%.....1.8X dollars
3) To its initial price of $45

From this, we have an algebra equation:

1.8X = 45

From here, the math can be done in a couple of different ways....

You COULD solve for X then redo the entire calculation to figure out what the increase would need to be for the price to be marked up 100%

OR.....

You COULD set up a ratio....

Since we need a 100% mark-up, we're looking for the value of 2X. This means that we want to increase 1.8X by 0.2X....

1.8X/0.2X = 45/Y where Y is the amount that the price of the item would need to be MARKED-UP to make the markup 100%

1.8X/.2X = 45/Y
9/1 = 45/Y
9Y = 45
Y = 5

Final Answer:

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

We can let x = the increased price and create the following proportion:

1.8/45 = 2/x

1.8x = 90

x = 90/1.8 = 50

Thus, the item needs to be marked up by 5 more dollars.

Answer: E

Solution

Given

• A retailer marked up the price of a shirt by 80% to 45.

To find

• By how many more dollars does he need to increase the price to achieve a 100% mark-up

Approach and Working out

• Price after 80% markup= 45

o So, 1.8* Cost price = 45
o Cost price = 45/1.8 = 450/18 = 50/2=25
• So, the price after 100% mark up = 50

Hence, the price of the shirt if increased by $5 will give 100% mark up.

Thus, option E is the correct answer.

Correct Answer: Option E

An alternate approach is to PLUG IN THE ANSWERS, which represent the dollars needed to increase the markup to 100%.

100% markup = 2 TIMES the wholesale price = probably EVEN
Implication:
When the correct answer is added to $45, the result is probably EVEN.

Since the wholesale price is initially marked up by 80% = 4/5, the wholesale price is almost certain to be a MULTIPLE OF 5.

Only E will yield an even multiple of 5 when added to 45.
Test E.
When the correct answer is plugged in, adding 80% to the wholesale price must yield an initial selling price of $45.

E: 5
New price = 45+5 = 50
Since the new price is twice the wholesale price, the wholesale price = 25.
Adding an 80% markup to the $25 wholesale price, we get:
\(25 + \frac{4}{5}*25 = 25+20 = 45\)
Success!

why 80% is equal to 1.8

Hi Gaurisadhwani1,

In math terms, 80% is equal to 0.8

In this prompt, we are told that the price of a shirt is 'marked UP' 80% to a price of $45. This means that there was an initial price (we can refer to that as 'X'), which was then raised by 80%....

Initial price = X
Raised price = X + .8X = 1.8X

Since this result is equal to $45, we have the equation:

1.8X = 45

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

The wording of this question is really poor from Manhattan