SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 1 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 12 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

A book publisher offers a novel to a bookstore at a 30% discount on the cover price. However, they charge an additional 5% on the discounted price for shipping. The bookstore sells the novel for ₹1620 more, earning a profit of 40%. What was the original cover price of the novel?

(a)₹5,510.20
(b)₹19,254.62
(c)₹18,181.82
(d)₹20,654.67

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Let the cover price be C and build the bookstore's cost.

After 30% off: 0.70C
Plus 5% shipping: 0.70C × 1.05 = 0.735C

The ₹1620 is the profit, 40% of that cost:
0.40 × 0.735C = 0.294C = 1620

C = 1620 ÷ 0.294 ≈ ₹5,510.20 → option (a)

Why the others are wrong

(b)
₹19,254.62 — ₹19,254.62 puts the bookstore's cost at about ₹14,152.15. Forty per cent of that is about ₹5,660.86 of profit, three and a half times the ₹1620 the question gives.
(c)
₹18,181.82 — ₹18,181.82 gives a cost of about ₹13,363.64 and a 40% profit of about ₹5,345.46. The profit must be ₹1620, so the cover price must be far lower.
(d)
₹20,654.67 — ₹20,654.67 gives a cost of about ₹15,181.18 and a 40% profit of about ₹6,072.47, about 3.75 times the stated ₹1620.

Concept

Successive percentage changes multiply. A 30% discount multiplies the price by 0.70, and a 5% charge on the discounted price multiplies it by 1.05. Together they give 0.735, a net cut of 26.5%, not 25%.

Profit percentage is taken on the buyer's cost, here the bookstore's 0.735C. A 40% profit is therefore 0.294C, and setting that equal to ₹1620 fixes C.

The phrase sells the novel for ₹1620 more does not say more than what. The key reads it as ₹1620 above the bookstore's cost, so ₹1620 is the profit.

Reading it as ₹1620 above the cover price gives 1.029C = C + 1620, so C ≈ ₹55,862, which is not among the options.

Key facts

A 30% discount followed by a 5% charge on the discounted price multiplies the price by 0.70 × 1.05 = 0.735.
A 40% profit means profit = 0.4 × cost.
Check: cost = 0.735 × 5,510.20 ≈ ₹4,050, and 40% of ₹4,050 is ₹1,620.

Study next

Successive discounts, such as 25% then 10% multiplying the price by 0.675Mark-up, discount and profit in one multiplier chainWorking back from a known profit amount to the original price

Common traps

Netting the changes as 30% − 5% = 25% off: 1620 ÷ 0.30 = ₹5,400, not an option.
Leaving out the shipping charge: 1620 ÷ 0.28 ≈ ₹5,785.71.
Stopping at 1620 ÷ 0.40 = ₹4,050, which is the bookstore's cost, not the cover price.

Multiplying successive percentage factors also decides 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Quant Q.14: an 80% mark-up and discounts of 25% and 10% give 1.8 × 0.75 × 0.9 = 1.215, so a ₹15,552 selling price means a ₹12,800 cost.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Discount — all 78 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.