New rate after a loss — Profit & Loss Aptitude Question
New rate after a loss: By selling mangoes at ₹12 per kg, a seller loses 20%. At what rate per kg must he sell to… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Profit & Loss
- Section: Quantitative Aptitude
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 60 seconds
Question
By selling mangoes at ₹12 per kg, a seller loses 20%. At what rate per kg must he sell to make a 20% profit?
Options
- ₹15
- ₹16
- ₹18
- ₹20
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: C. ₹18
Worked solution
- CP = 12 ÷ 0.80 = ₹15 per kg.
- For a 20% profit, SP = 15 × 1.20 = ₹18 per kg.
Answer: ₹18.
The idea
Always route through the cost price: recover it from the first sale, then apply the new margin. Adding 40% to ₹12 directly gives ₹16.80 and is wrong.
Shortcut. Scale the price by the ratio of the multipliers: 12 × 1.20/0.80 = 12 × 3/2 = ₹18.
Common trap. "₹15" — stopping at the cost price recovered from the loss (12 ÷ 0.8) and forgetting to add the 20% profit.