Buy three, get one free — Profit & Loss Aptitude Question
Buy three, get one free: A shop offers 'buy 3, get 1 free'. What is the effective discount percent? Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Profit & Loss
- Section: Quantitative Aptitude
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 60 seconds
Question
A shop offers 'buy 3, get 1 free'. What is the effective discount percent?
Options
- 20%
- 25%
- 30%
- 33⅓%
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. 25%
Worked solution
- The customer receives 4 articles and pays for 3.
- Saving = the price of 1 article out of 4 articles' worth.
- Discount = 1/4 = 25%.
Answer: 25%.
The idea
The discount base is what is received, not what is paid. Dividing the free item by the three paid for gives 33⅓%, which is the trap offered here.
Shortcut. The price per article falls from P to 3P/4 (three payments spread over four articles) — a quarter off, 25%.
Common trap. 33⅓% — dividing the one free article by the three paid for instead of by the four taken home.