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Question

A dishonest dealer marks up his goods by 50% and then gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. Apart from this, he uses a faulty balance which reads 1kg for 900 gm. What is his net profit percentage (rounded off to the nearest integer)?

This question was previously asked in
SSC CGL 2022 Tier-II (Paper 2 JSO) Previous Year Paper (04-Mar-2023)
The correct answer is

33

Calculating Net Profit Percentage for a Dishonest Dealer

This problem involves calculating the net profit percentage of a dishonest dealer who uses two methods to increase profit: manipulating the price and using a faulty weighing balance.

Let's break down the process to find the net profit percentage.

Understanding the Profit Sources

The dealer makes profit from two sources:

  1. Pricing Strategy: Marking up the price and then giving a discount.
  2. Faulty Balance: Giving less quantity than what is paid for.

Effect of Pricing Strategy

Let's assume the dealer's Cost Price (CP) for a certain quantity (say, 1 kg or 1000 gm) is $C$.

  • The dealer marks up the goods by 50%. So, the Marked Price (MP) is 50% more than the CP.

    MP = $\text{CP} \times \left(1 + \frac{50}{100}\right) = C \times \left(1 + 0.5\right) = 1.5C$

  • The dealer then gives a discount of 20% on the Marked Price. So, the Selling Price (SP) based on the marked price is 20% less than the MP.

    SP = $\text{MP} \times \left(1 - \frac{20}{100}\right) = 1.5C \times \left(1 - 0.2\right) = 1.5C \times 0.80 = 1.2C$

So, based on the price manipulation alone, the dealer would charge $1.2C$ for goods that cost him $C$. This represents a 20% profit on the cost price if the quantity sold was exactly what was paid for.

Effect of Faulty Balance

The dealer uses a faulty balance which reads 1 kg (1000 gm) for 900 gm. This means when a customer pays for 1000 gm, they only receive 900 gm of the product.

This is where the second part of the profit comes from. The dealer's cost is for the quantity actually given (900 gm), but the revenue received is based on the quantity charged (1000 gm) at the marked-up and discounted price.

Combining Both Effects for Net Profit

Let's consider a transaction where a customer pays for 1 kg (1000 gm) of goods.

  • The price the customer pays for 1000 gm is the Selling Price calculated earlier, which is $1.2C$, where $C$ is the dealer's cost for 1000 gm. This is the dealer's Revenue for this transaction.
  • However, using the faulty balance, the dealer only gives the customer 900 gm of the product.
  • What is the dealer's actual cost for this 900 gm? If the cost of 1000 gm is $C$, then the cost of 1 gm is $\frac{C}{1000}$.
  • The cost of 900 gm is $\frac{C}{1000} \times 900 = 0.9 \times C = 0.9C$. This is the dealer's actual Cost for the goods sold in this transaction.

So, for a transaction where the dealer receives $1.2C$, his actual cost for the goods he gave away is $0.9C$.

The net profit for this transaction is:

Net Profit = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold

Net Profit = $1.2C - 0.9C = 0.3C$

Calculating Net Profit Percentage

The net profit percentage is calculated on the actual cost of the goods sold.

Net Profit Percentage = $\left(\frac{\text{Net Profit}}{\text{Actual Cost of Goods Sold}}\right) \times 100\%$

Net Profit Percentage = $\left(\frac{0.3C}{0.9C}\right) \times 100\%$

Net Profit Percentage = $\left(\frac{0.3}{0.9}\right) \times 100\%$

Net Profit Percentage = $\left(\frac{3}{9}\right) \times 100\% = \left(\frac{1}{3}\right) \times 100\%$

Net Profit Percentage = $33.333...\%$

Rounding Off

The question asks for the net profit percentage rounded off to the nearest integer.

$33.333...\%$ rounded to the nearest integer is 33%.

Thus, the dealer's net profit percentage is 33%.

Revision Table: Dishonest Dealer Profit Calculation

Factor Effect on Price/Quantity Calculation Impact
Mark-up 50% Increases theoretical selling price based on marked price MP = CP * 1.5
Discount 20% Decreases theoretical selling price from marked price SP (based on MP) = MP * 0.8
Faulty Balance (900gm for 1kg) Actual quantity given is less than charged quantity Customer pays for 1000gm, gets 900gm. Cost is for 900gm.
Combined Effect Dealer receives price for 1000gm at calculated SP (1.2*CP of 1000gm), but incurs cost of 900gm (0.9*CP of 1000gm). Net Profit = SP (for 1000gm) - CP (for 900gm)
Net Profit % = (Net Profit / CP for 900gm) * 100

Additional Information: Profit and Loss with Faulty Weights

Problems involving faulty weights or measures are common in profit and loss calculations. The key is to understand the actual quantity of goods the dealer is buying (at cost price) and the actual quantity of goods they are selling (for the selling price received from the customer).

A faulty balance that reads 'X' for 'Y' (where Y < X) means the dealer is selling Y quantity while charging for X quantity. This effectively increases the selling price per unit quantity, or decreases the cost price for the quantity they charge for.

When combined with price changes (mark-up, discount), you calculate the final price charged for the quantity the customer thinks they are getting, and compare it to the cost price of the quantity the dealer actually gives.

The net profit percentage is always calculated on the actual cost incurred by the dealer for the goods that are transferred to the customer.

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Similar Questions

  1. A shopkeeper sells an item at a profit of 15% and uses a weight which is 20% less. Find his actual profit percentage.

  2. A grocer claims that he is selling sugar at Rs. 48/kg, which costs him Rs. 50/kg, but he is giving 900 g instead of 1000 g. What will be the approximate percentage profit?

  3. A dishonest merchant sells goods at a 12.5% loss on the cost price, but uses 28 g weight instead of 36 g. What is his percentage profit or loss?

  4. A trader has a weighing balance that shows 1300 g for a kg. He further marks up his cost price by 15%. The net profit percentage is :

  5. A dishonest shopkeeper sells mangoes at Rs. 30/kg bought at Rs. 20/kg and he is giving 800 g instead of 1 kg. The shopkeeper's actual profit percentage is:

  6. R’s weighing machine shows 400 gm when the actual weight is 350 gm. The cost price of almonds is ₹880 per kg and packets of 200 gm are made using the faulty machine. What should be the selling price (in ₹) of each packet to get a profit of 25%?

  7. A dishonest dealer sells articles at 15% loss on cost price but uses the weight of 20 g instead of 25 g. What is his profit or loss percentage?

  8. A dishonest trader says to customers that he sells his goods at a cost price, but he uses a false weight and gains 12.5% as profit. How many grams does he use to weigh 1 kg?

  9. Ramesh claims that he is selling onions at Rs. 36 per kg, which costs him Rs. 40 per kg, but he gives 800 grams instead of 1 kg. Find Ramesh's percentage gain or loss.

  10. A shopkeeper advertises for selling cloth at 7% loss. However, by using a false scale of length 1 metre he actually gains 24%. What will be the actual length he uses instead of 1 metre ?


Important Questions from Dishonest Dealings

  1. A merchant claims that he sells his goods at CP. But uses a weight of 900 g for the 1 kg weight. find his gain %

  2. A shopkeeper cheats to the extent of 9% while buying and selling fruits, by using tampered weights. His total gain in percentage is:

    A. 18.25

    B. 18.81

    C. 19.78

    D. 18.5

  3. What is the faulty weight used by a dishonest shopkeeper instead of the original weight of 1 kg to get a profit of 25%?

  4. A dishonest financier claims to be lending money at simple interest, but he includes the interest every four months for calculating the principal. If he is charging an interest of 3%, the effective rate of interest becomes:

  5. A dishonest shopkeeper claims to sell rice at the cost price of ₹95 per kg, but the weight he uses has 1 kg written on it, while it actually weighs 950 g. The profit he thus earns on selling rice having an actual weight of 95 kg rice is:

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