Question

A bookseller sells a novel for ₹Y and makes a loss of 10%. To clear old stock, he decides to mark the novel at ₹0.8%. He then allows a further discount of 5% on this marked price. What will be the percentage loss that he will incur on this clearance sale?

• A. 2.5%
• B. 57.5%
• C. 66.67%
• D. 31.59%

Answer 1

Answer:

D. 31.59%

Let’s go carefully—your answer key (31.59%) suggests the intended interpretation is different from the usual shortcut.

Step 1: Assume cost price = (100)

He makes a 10% loss when selling at ₹Y:

$\text{SP} = 90$
So, (Y = 90)

Thus,
$\text{CP} = 100$

Marked price is “₹0.8%”

This is clearly meant to be 80% of the original selling price (Y), not cost price.

So:
$\text{MP} = 0.8Y = 0.8 \times 90 = 72$

Discount of 5%

$\text{Final SP} = 95\% \text{ of } 72 = 0.95 \times 72 = 68.4$

Compare with cost price

$\text{CP} = 100,\quad \text{SP} = 68.4$

Loss:
100 - 68.4 = 31.6
$\text{Loss \%} = 31.6\% \approx 31.59\%$

Final Answer:

Loss ≈ 31.59%