SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 1 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 4 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.

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A vendor purchases 7 shirts at the marked price of 6 shirts. If he sells each shirt after giving a 4% discount on its marked price, what is his profit percentage?

(a)10%
(b)11%
(c)12%
(d)13%

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Take the marked price of one shirt as ₹100.

Cost of 7 shirts = marked price of 6 = 6 × 100 = ₹600
Selling price of one shirt after 4% off = 100 − 4 = ₹96
Selling price of 7 shirts = 7 × 96 = ₹672

Profit = 672 − 600 = ₹72
Profit % = 72 ⁄ 600 × 100 = 12% → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
10% — 10% would be ₹60 profit on the ₹600 outlay, so the 7 shirts would sell for ₹660, about ₹94.29 each. That is a discount near 5.7%, not 4%.
(b)
11% — 11% would need the 7 shirts to fetch ₹666, about ₹95.14 each. At a 4% discount each shirt sells for ₹96, and 7 × 96 = ₹672.
(d)
13% — Adding the percentages, 16.67 − 4 = 12.67 ≈ 13%, drops the cross term. Successive change is 16.67 − 4 − (16.67 × 4 ⁄ 100) = 12, a 12% profit.

Concept

Buying n items for the price of m is a hidden cut in cost: the vendor pays for 6 shirts and gets 7. Selling at full marked price would give a gain of 1⁄6 ≈ 16.67%, measured on the 6 paid for.

The 4% discount then trims the selling price. Two successive changes combine by multiplying: (7⁄6) × 0.96 = 1.12, a 12% profit.

Taking the marked price as ₹100 turns every step into whole numbers.

Profit is measured on what the vendor paid, ₹600 for the 7 shirts, not on their marked value of ₹700.

Key facts

Buying n items for the price of m makes the cost of each item m⁄n of its marked price, here 6⁄7.
Successive changes of a% and b% combine to a + b + ab⁄100.
Profit % is always taken on cost price.

Study next

Buy-n-get-m-free offers from the seller's sideSuccessive discounts and the a + b + ab⁄100 ruleMarked price, discount and profit in one chain

Common traps

Measuring the free shirt against all 7 (1⁄7 ≈ 14.29%) instead of the 6 paid for (1⁄6 ≈ 16.67%).
Adding +16.67% and −4% to get 12.67%. The discount also shrinks the gain, which brings the exact figure to 12%.

The same set-up with other numbers is 18 Sep 2025, 12:30, Quant Q.4: 5 novels bought at the marked price of 4 and sold at 5% off give 475 ⁄ 400 − 1 = 18.75% profit.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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