A salesperson is paid a fixed monthly salary of $2,000 and a commissio

Question

A salesperson is paid a fixed monthly salary of $2,000 and a commission equal to 15 percent of the amount of total sales that month over $10,000. What was the total amount paid to the salesperson last month?

(1) The total amount the salesperson was paid last month is equal to 17.5 percent of the amount of total sales last month.

(2) The salesperson’s total sales last month was $20,000.

unraveled · Answer

A salesperson is paid a fixed monthly salary of $2,000 and a commission equal to 15 percent of the amount of total sales that month over $10,000. What was the total amount paid to the salesperson last month?

(1) The total amount the salesperson was paid last month is equal to 17.5 percent of the amount of total sales last month.
17.5% of 20,000 or 17.5% of 40,000 or 17.5% of 50,000.

INSUFFICIENT.

(2) The salesperson’s total sales last month was $20,000.
15% of 18,000(20,000-2,000) + 2,000

SUFFICIENT.

Answer B.

sujoykrdatta · Answer

Reading the stem, we see that there are 2 possibilities: 
A. Sales below $10000: Salary = $2000
B. Sales above $10000: Salary = $2000 + 0.15(S - 10000), where S is the sales

Statement 1: Amount paid = 0.175S 
Solving: 
A) 0.175S = 2000 => S = $11428, i.e. greater than $10000 => violates the assumption that S < $10000 (incorrect)
B) 0.175S = $2000 + 0.15(S - 10000) => 0.025S = 500 => S = $20000 => satisfies the assumption that S > $10000 (correct)
Thus, S = $20000
Amount paid = 0.175 * 20000 - Sufficient

Statement 2: This is obviously sufficient

Answer D

A salesperson is paid a fixed monthly salary of $2,000 and a commissio

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GMAT Data Sufficiency (DS) Questions

A salesperson is paid a fixed monthly salary of $2,000 and a commissio

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