A publisher marks up a textbook by 70%, and a bookstore further marks up the textbook by 25%. What percentage of the original cost do you pay?

Answer 1

Hi Angelita,

Let's say x = original cost of the textbook

First, the publisher marks up (meaning: increases) the price by 70%; that means you add 70% of the cost to the original cost: x + 70% (x) = x + 0.7x = 1.7x or 170% of x

Next, the bookstore takes the publisher's cost and marks it up by 25%. You want to be careful here: starting from the publisher's cost, you don't add 25% of x, but 25% of the publisher's price to it: 1.7x + 25% (1.7x) = 1.7x + 0.25(1.7x) = 1.7x + 0.425x = 2.125x or 212.5% of x (remember x = original cost of textbook)

In the end - you pay 212.5% of the original cost of the textbook (more than double the original cost!)