A shopkeeper bought 50 notebooks for ₹1,000. He sold all the notebooks for…
2026
A shopkeeper bought 50 notebooks for ₹1,000. He sold all the notebooks for ₹1,250. What is his percentage profit?
Answer: C. 25% — Concept: Profit percentage is always measured on the cost price — the money actually invested — and never on the selling price. For any single transaction,…
- A.
22.5%
- B.
30%
- C.
25%
- D.
20%
Attempted by 132 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: Profit percentage is always measured on the cost price — the money actually invested — and never on the selling price. For any single transaction, Profit = Selling Price − Cost Price, and Profit % = (Profit ÷ Cost Price) × 100.
Application: apply that definition to this purchase and sale.
Cost price of the whole lot: CP = ₹1,000, the amount paid for the 50 notebooks together.
Selling price of the whole lot: SP = ₹1,250, the amount received for the same 50 notebooks.
Profit = SP − CP = ₹1,250 − ₹1,000 = ₹250.
Profit % = (₹250 ÷ ₹1,000) × 100 = 0.25 × 100 = 25%.
Cross-check and contrast:
Reverse check: increasing ₹1,000 by 25% gives 1,000 × 1.25 = ₹1,250, which is exactly the selling price, so the percentage is consistent.
Per-notebook check: each notebook costs 1,000 ÷ 50 = ₹20 and sells for 1,250 ÷ 50 = ₹25, a gain of ₹5 on a ₹20 cost, and (5 ÷ 20) × 100 = 25% again. The count 50 cancels out, so it is not needed to answer.
Common slip: dividing the ₹250 gain by the selling price, 250 ÷ 1,250 = 20%, measures the gain against SP. That is margin on sales, not profit percentage, which is defined on CP.