Sues monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent com

Question

Sue’s monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of $2,000. If Sue’s monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August?

(1) Sue’s monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and $3,580 in August.
(2) Sue’s monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August.

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abhinav0270 · Answer

When the question say that the July and August salary is same, so the sales would also be same? Please comment

ankitgoswami · Answer

As per the question,

Earning = Salary + 4% of (Sales - 2000)

So Salary for both the months is the same but not earnings. Since Earnings are not same hence sales were different.

Archit3110 · Answer

Sue salary = Monthly earnings + 4/100 * ( x-2000)
let monthly earnings be a and ( x-2000) be S1 for July and ( x-2000) S2 for August
our target is to determine S1-S2 
#1Sue’s monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and $3,580 in August.

3620 = a +1/25 * S1--(1)
3580=a+1/25*S2---(2)
subtract 1 from 2
we get
40 = 1/25 * ( S1-S2)
1000 = S1-S2; sufficient 
or it can be that no sales in august were made so S2 is 0 ; so S1-S2 cannot be determined ; insufficient

#2
 Sue’s monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August.
value of a ; but total earnings monthly not know ; insufficient
from 1 &2
we know value of a and earnings so s1-s2 can be determined
OPTION C

Bunuel  ; please check OA ; it should be A not C

GMATinsight · Answer

abhinav0270

Please read question stemcarefully

monthly earnings consist of  a monthly salary  and  a 4 percent commission

then question stem further says

Sue’s  monthly salary was the same in July as in August

i.e. Fixed salary is same for the two months however Earning may differ due to different sale and thus different commission earned.

So the solution is as mentioned below:

Question: Sales of July - Sales of August = ?

Statement 1 : Sue’s monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and $3,580 in August

Case 1: Assuming that the sale made in both July and august was > $2000

Earning = Salary + 4-percent-of- Sales

i.e.  Earning_{July} - Earning_{August} = (Salary + (4/100)* Sales_{July}) - (Salary + (4/100)* Sales_{August})

i.e.  Earning_{July} - Earning_{August} = (4/100)* Sales_{July} - (4/100)* Sales_{August}

3620 - 3580 = (4/100)*

40 = (1/25)*

1000 =

Case 2: But 3580 could be the salary itself assuming that there was no sales made in August above $2000

NOT SUFFICIENT

STatement 2 : Sue’s monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August

NOT SUFFICIENT

Combining the statements

Now we know that salary was 3500 i.e. Earning 3580 in August definitely included sales above $2000 hence Case 2 of statement 1 applies

SUFFICIENT

Answer: Option C

Bunuel · Answer

The correct answer is C. There is a trick there. What if the salary is 3,580, for (1)?

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Isn't its written that commission is paid over sales more than 2000? 
But if 3500 is salary and 80 is 4% commission. Then the sales is 2000 Top.
Shouldn't the answer be E?

Posted from my mobile device

GMATinsight · Answer

I have changed my solution though it seems unlikely that a sale guy will get salary of $3580 for making a sale below $2000

Harshjha001 · Answer

for people having difficulty in understanding why ans is C .

Suppose the sales in aug was 1$ or 1999$ , in each case the commission will be 0 for the month of Aug but the difference in sales figures of July and Aug will vary accordingly . Hence we cant assume the salary to be 3580$ or sales greater than 2000$ for the month of Aug.

Kimberly77 · Answer

Great explanation  GMATinsight . I'm a bit confused as why you keep stating 3580 in Case 2 and in combining 1+2 as question is asking how much greater were her sales in July than in August? Did July earning not matter here or did I miss something? Thanks

RMTGV · Answer

Hi  Bunuel ,

Could you please explain how is ans the question C and not A, coz the 1st statement clearly shows a difference of $1000 between 2 months

Thanks🙌

kryinkrumble · Answer

Hi  Bunuel ! I just attempted this question on GMAT Focus Mock 5 today and the OA given is A (My answer is C btw)

Bunuel · Answer

Is this a GMAT Focus question? Can you please post a screenshot of it? Thank you!

kryinkrumble · Answer

Yup it is a mock question! The screenshot is attached below.

Bunuel · Answer

Thank you very much! Re-posted it here for fresh discussion: https://gmatclub.com/forum/sue-s-monthl ... 21548.html This topic is archived.

bumpbot · Answer

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Sues monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent com

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