Question

A store has clearance items that have been marked down by 60% they having a sale, advertising an additional 30% off clearance items. What percent of the original price do you end up paying

Answer 1

The original price is 100% of the price. If the price is marked 60% off, then you pay 40% of the original price.

An item costs x dollars.

With the 60% off discount, it now costs 40% of x, or 0.4x.

Now you apply a 30% discount.

For the second discount, consider the price 0.4x to be the new original price. If the price is now discounted 30%, you will pay 70% of the new original price.

Start with 0.4x.

Now calculate 70% of 0.4x.

70% of 0.4x = 0.70 * 0.4x = 0.28x

After applying the 60% discount and the 30% discount, the item that originally cost x now costs 0.28x. 0.28x is the same as 28% of x. The amount you pay is 28% of the original price.

Answer: 28%