Each month, Jim receives a base salary plus a 10 percent commission on

Question

Each month, Jim receives a base salary plus a 10 percent commission on the price of each car he sells that month. If Jim sold 15 cars last month, what was the total amount of base salary and commissions that Jim received that month?

(1) Last month, Jim's base salary was $3,000. 
(2) Last month, Jim sold 3 cars whose prices totaled $60,000 and 5 cars whose prices totaled $120,000.

pushpitkc · Accepted Answer

From the question stem, 
Total Salary = Base Salary + Commission
Also given Commission = 10% of price(on the car he sells)

(1) Last month, Jim's base salary was $3,000. 
Since we have no idea about the commission part, we cant determine what his total salary for last month was.

(2) Last month, Jim sold 3 cars whose prices totaled $60,000 and 5 cars whose prices totaled $120,000
He sold 3 cars of price 20000$ each and 5 cars totaling 120000$. However, we do not know,
what he sold the remaining 7 cars for, Insufficient.

On combining the information presented in both the statement,
till we are able to know exactly what the other 7 cars sold for, 
we cannot calculate the total salary Jim took home. (Insufficient) (Option E)

ydmuley · Answer

Each month, Jim receives a base salary plus a 10 percent commission on the price of each car he sells that month. If Jim sold 15 cars last month, what was the total amount of base salary and commissions that Jim received that month?

Base Salary + 15 Cars * 10% Commission on Price for Each Car

(1) Last month, Jim's base salary was $3,000

This gives base salary, however, it does not give us any information on the price for each car.
 
Hence, Eq. (1) =====> NOT SUFFICIENT

(2) Last month, Jim sold 3 cars whose prices totaled $60,000 and 5 cars whose prices totaled $120,000

This statement has two problems:

1. It does not gives us any information about the base salary
2. It gives information on car prices for only 8 cars, we are not aware of the car prices for remaining - 15 - 8 = 7 cars

Hence, Eq. (2) =====> NOT SUFFICIENT

Now, lets combine the the equations (1) & (2)

1. We know the base salary = $3,000
2. We have information of car prices for  8 cars = $60,000 + $120,000 = $180,000

However, we are still not aware of the prices for remaining cars =  15 - 8 = 7 Cars

Note, we cannot assume the prices for these remaining cars. As the information is incomplete and we are unable to find the answer even after combining

Hence, the answer is E

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

To show Jim’s salary and commissions last month, we can create an equation in which n = his base salary and p = his total car sales:

Total salary = n + 0.1p

Total = n + 0.1p

Statement One Alone:

Last month, Jim's base salary was $3,000.

We have:

Total = 3,000 + 0.1p

Since we cannot determine his total car sales, statement one alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statement Two Alone:

Last month, Jim sold 3 cars whose prices totaled $60,000 and 5 cars whose prices totaled $120,000.

Since we are given information about only 8 of the 15 cars, we do not know the total sales of the remaining 7 cars, and thus we don’t know the value of p. Furthermore, we do not know the value of n. Thus, statement two alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statements One and Two Together:

Using the statements together, we still cannot determine the value of p, and thus we cannot determine his total salary last month.

Answer: E

LevanKhukhunashvili · Answer

The whole trick is that:
you shouldn't be mistaken and consider 8 cars as the whole number of cars Jim sold, as the stem says Jim has sold 15.
The second Statement gives information only about 8 cars and nothing about the rest 7 cars.

ZoltanBP · Answer

Let  B  be his base salary and let  S  be his sales value. The original question is about his total salary:  B+0.1S=?

1) We know that  B=$3,000 , but no information is given about his sales value. Thus, we can't get a unique value to answer the original question.  \implies   Insufficient

2) We know some parts of his sales value, but no information is given about his base salary. Thus, we can't get a unique value to answer the original question.  \implies   Insufficient

1&2) Although we know the base salary, we still don’t know his total sales value. From 2), we know only the following about his sales value:  S=$60,000+$120,000+unknown \ sales \ value \ of \ 7 \ other \ cars . Thus, we can't get a unique value to answer the original question.  \implies   Insufficient

Answer: E

MHIKER · Answer

1) NO information about selling price of car(s); Insufficient
2) Information for 3 total cars selling price and 5 cars selling price is given. But their individual selling price is not given. The given rate is for each car's selling price; insufficient.

For same reason as mentioned in option 2 the both option will not work.

So the answer is E.

GMATinsight · Answer

Answer: Option E

Video solution by  GMATinsight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhJiwYH9ynw

bumpbot · Answer

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Each month, Jim receives a base salary plus a 10 percent commission on

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