Retail clothing stores should hold “one-day-only” sales to clear merch

Question

Retail clothing stores should hold “one-day-only” sales to clear merchandise that has been returned because it is defective in some way. The stores should sell this merchandise for up to 70 percent less than the original retail price. Stores will find these sales to be an effective way of getting rid of defective merchandise as long as they inform customers that the discounted merchandise is nonreturnable.

The author assumes which of the following about the “one-day-only” sale merchandise in predicting the effectiveness of these sales?

A) The defects in the merchandise are not so significant that customers will be unwilling to pay even the sale price.

B) The rate of returns when merchandise is new makes these “one-day-only” sales key to a store’s profitability.

C) Too few shoppers purchase merchandise at full retail price.

D) If these sales become popular, stores will have to have them more often.

E) The majority of the “one-day-only” sale merchandise will be purchased by shoppers who would otherwise not shop at those stores.

TaN1213 · Accepted Answer

1. The stores should sell this merchandise for up to 70 percent less than the original retail price
2. (Assumption - Bridge the gap)
3. Stores will find these sales to be an effective way of getting rid of defective merchandise

Why would stores think that their plan would succeed? only if the sale goes successfully.
How will the sale go successfully? only if customers buy the defective products ignoring the defects. 
Why would they ignore the defects? Only if "The defects in the merchandise are not so significant that customers will be unwilling to pay even the sale price."

--A--

tejasa07 · Answer

A. If I negate it, the argument weakens.

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Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A

The author concludes that sales of greatly discounted merchandise would be effective at clearing out defective merchandise, citing as evidence the fact that the merchandise would be non-returnable (final sale). But the sales will only be effective at getting rid of defective merchandise if customers are actually willing to purchase the merchandise; thus, the author must be assuming that nothing will prevent people from actually buying the defective clothing during these one-day sales. (A) states this assumption clearly. As long as the defects aren't so bad that people won't buy the clothing even at a large discount, the sales can be effective.

(B) incorrectly shifts from what the argument discusses (the effectiveness of these sales) to the profitability of the store in general, which is irrelevant to the argument. (C), (D), and (E) are outside the scope of the argument. We aren't given any information about how merchandise sells when it is not on sale, so (C) is incorrect. While it might be true that
stores will need to hold these sales more frequently if they become popular, that isn't relevant to the argument that the sales will be effective in clearing out defective merchandise, making (D) incorrect. Finally, we don't know anything about the shoppers going to the sale, so (E) is incorrect.

kkfashion · Answer

I think that depends. The product to be sold is a vital factor. If you sell normal types of clothing like shirts, that may be correct, but not so true when it comes to  nude stockings  that are not stereotyped.

orbitronic · Answer

The logic of correct answer is very strange for me. Literally "defects are NOT so significant...that customers do NOT want to pay SALE PRICE". Let's reverse this answer to highlight paradox: "if defects are SO HUGE than customers want to PAY SALE PRICE". That sounds odd to me.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Retail clothing stores should hold “one-day-only” sales to clear merch

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