Sales job commission

Question

You are considering a sales job that pays a base salary of $200 per week plus a 5% commission on whatever you sell. If you will be selling items that average $500 per sale, how many of those do you have to sell if your goal is to make $1000 per week?

Answer 1

Let's make x = number of items sold

the average commission off each item is: 0.05*500 = 25 $

 

 

200 + 25x = 1000

25x = 1000 - 200

25x = 800

x = 800/25

x = 32

Answer 2

n = number of items you must sell at $500 each in a week

 

The commission is

 

0.05($500n) = ($25)n

 

Add the weekly salary to this and set the total equal to $1000, and then solve for n.

 

$200 + ($25)n = $1000

 

200 + 25n = 1000

 

n = (1000 - 200) / 25 = 32

 

You must sell 32 items each week at $500 per item.