Study Material — 30 PYQs (2018–2024) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
AFCAT Successive Profit & Loss is a frequently tested subtopic — 30 previous year questions from 2018–2024 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
A shopkeeper marks an item 40% above cost price. He then offers a discount of 20% on the marked price. If the cost price is ₹250, what is the selling price?
Exam Q 32024Previous Year Pattern
A merchant sells an item at a loss of 10%, and then buys it back and sells it again at a loss of 20%. If the original cost price was ₹1000, what is the net loss percentage?
Exam Q 42024Previous Year Pattern
A vendor buys oranges at ₹5 per dozen. He sells them at ₹0.50 per orange. What is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 52020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an article at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then gives a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he offers a further discount of 5% on the new selling price. What is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 62018Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys an article and sells it at a profit of 20%. If he had bought it at 10% less and sold it for ₹6 more, he would have gained 40%. Find the cost price of the article.
Exam Q 72024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹1200 and gives a discount of 10%. He then sells this discounted item at a further loss of 5% in a clearance sale. What is his overall loss or profit percentage from the marked price?
Exam Q 82024Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys goods at ₹2000 and sells them at a profit of 15%. He then buys the same goods again at the selling price and sells them at a loss of 10%. What is his net profit or loss percentage over both transactions?
Exam Q 92024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He makes a profit of 20% on the first sale, and then sells the item again at a profit of 25% on the new cost price. What is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 102024Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys goods at ₹80 per unit. He sells 60% of the stock at 25% profit and the remaining 40% at 10% loss. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 112024Previous Year Pattern
A person buys a laptop for ₹40,000. He sells it at a 20% profit. The buyer then sells it at a 15% loss. What is the final selling price?
Exam Q 122024Previous Year Pattern
A merchant sells an item at a loss of 15%. If he had sold it for ₹100 more, he would have made a profit of 5%. What is the cost price of the item?
Exam Q 132019Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He marks it up by 20% and then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he sells the remaining stock at a further discount of 5% on the already discounted price. What is his overall profit percentage on the item?
Exam Q 142024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks up goods by 50% above cost price. He gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. Later, due to a change in market conditions, he reduces the already-discounted price by another 25%. If the final selling price is ₹900, what was the original cost price?
Exam Q 152024Previous Year Pattern
A vendor buys oranges at ₹8 per dozen. He sells 60% of them at ₹1 per orange and the remaining at ₹0.75 per orange. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 162019Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an article at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers two successive discounts of 10% and 15% on the marked price. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 172020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an article at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers two successive discounts of 10% and 15% on the marked price. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 182024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys articles at ₹60 each. He marks them up by 80%. He gives a discount of 25% on the marked price for the first 100 units sold. For the next 50 units, he gives a discount of 10% on the marked price. What is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 192018Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he buys another identical item at the same cost price but sells it at a 20% profit. If he sells both items, what is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 202024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he sells the remaining stock at a further discount of 20% on the already discounted price. What is his overall profit percentage on the final sale?
Exam Q 212024Previous Year Pattern
A trader marks up goods by 50% above cost price. In the first month, he gives a 20% discount and sells 80% of the stock. In the second month, he reduces the marked price by 30% and sells the remaining 20% of stock. What is his overall profit percentage on the entire transaction?
Exam Q 222024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an article for ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then gives a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he sells the remaining stock at a further discount of 20% on the already discounted price. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 232024Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys goods at ₹60 per unit. He sells 60% of the stock at a profit of 25% and the remaining 40% at a loss of 10%. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 242024Previous Year Pattern
A trader marks goods at 80% above cost price. He gives a discount of 25% on the marked price. Later, he realizes he made an error and sells the remaining stock at a further 15% discount on the already-discounted price. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Exam Q 252024Previous Year Pattern
A retailer buys goods at ₹80 per unit. He marks them up by 60% and offers a discount of 12.5% on the marked price. Later, he decides to increase the marked price by 25% and offer a discount of 20% instead. What is the difference in his profit per unit between the two selling strategies?
Exam Q 262024Previous Year Pattern
A merchant sells an item at a 25% profit. He then buys the same item again at the selling price and sells it at a 20% loss. If the original cost price was ₹400, what is his net profit or loss percentage on the total transaction?
Exam Q 272024Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys goods at ₹100 per unit. He marks up the price by 50% and then offers two successive discounts of 20% and 10% on the marked price. If he sells 200 units, what is his total profit or loss?
Exam Q 282020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an article at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers two successive discounts of 10% and 15% on the marked price. Later, he realizes he made an error in calculating the second discount and actually gave a discount of 20% instead of 15% on the already-discounted price. What is the difference between the profit he thought he would make and the actual profit he made?
Exam Q 292024Previous Year Pattern
A merchant sells an article at ₹1,200 and incurs a loss of 20%. If he wants to make a profit of 25%, at what price should he sell the article?
Exam Q 302019Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers two successive discounts of 10% and 15% on the marked price. Later, he realizes he made an error in calculating the second discount and actually gave a discount of 20% instead of 15% on the already-discounted price. What is the difference between the profit he thought he would make and the actual profit he made?
Concept Notes
Successive Profit & Loss— Rules & Concept
💡
Core Concept
Read this first — the foundation of the topic
→Core Concept
When profits and losses are applied one after another, we cannot simply add or subtract the percentages. Each percentage change acts on the new value, not the original price
💡Key Rules
If successive changes of a% and b% occur, the net effect formula is: Net% = a + b + (ab)/100. Use positive values for profit and negative values for loss. For three successive changes a%, b%, c%, first find net effect of any two, then apply the third change.
🔢
Formula Block
Memorise — at least one formula appears in every paper
• Overall profit/loss = Net% of original cost price
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Exam Patterns
What examiners ask — read before attempting PYQs
Questions typically involve 2-3 successive transactions. Common scenarios include buying-selling chains, discount followed by profit, or multiple markups. SSC often asks for overall profit/loss percentage or final selling price.
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Shortcuts
Use these to save 30–60 seconds per question
For quick calculation, convert percentages to multipliers. 20% profit = 1.2, 10% loss = 0.9. Multiply all factors: 1.2 × 0.9 = 1.08 = 8% overall profit.
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Worked Example
Solve this step-by-step before moving on
1
Step 1
Identify the changes
First transaction: +20% (profit)
Second transaction: -10% (loss)
2
Step 2
Apply the formula
Net% = a + b + (ab)/100
Net% = 20 + (-10) + (20 × (-10))/100
Net% = 20 - 10 - 200/100
Net% = 10 - 2 = 8%
3
Step 3
Verify using multiplier method
Final value = 1000 × 1.20 × 0.90 = 1000 × 1.08 = 1080
Profit = 1080 - 1000 = 80
Profit% = 80/1000 × 100 = 8%
Answer: 8% overall profit
Alternate Method using SP calculation:
After first sale: 1000 × 120/100 = 1200
After second sale: 1200 × 90/100 = 1080
Net profit = 1080 - 1000 = 80
Profit% = 8%
Common Mistake: Students often add percentages directly (20% - 10% = 10%) ignoring the compounding effect. Always remember that each subsequent percentage works on the changed value, not the original price. The interaction term (ab)/100 is crucial and frequently overlooked.
Key Points to Remember
Successive changes cannot be added directly due to compounding effect
Formula for two changes: Net% = a + b + (ab)/100
Use positive values for profit, negative for loss in the formula
Multiplier method: Convert percentages to decimals and multiply
Each subsequent change acts on the new value, not original price
Interaction term (ab)/100 is often the key to correct answers
Three changes: Find net of first two, then apply third change
Final amount = Original × (100+a)/100 × (100+b)/100
Exam-Specific Tips
Net percentage formula for successive changes: a + b + (ab)/100
20% profit converts to multiplier 1.2, 25% loss converts to 0.75
For equal successive profits of x%, net effect is x + x + x²/100
Two successive discounts of 10% each give net discount of 19%
Successive changes of +50% and -20% result in +20% net change
Three successive profits of 10% each give net profit of 33.1%
Formula remains same whether dealing with CP, SP, or marked price
Practice MCQs
Successive Profit & Loss — Practice Questions
23graded MCQs · easy to hard · full solution & trap analysis · showing 20 of 23
A merchant sells goods at a loss of 10%, and the buyer sells them at a loss of 20%. If the original cost price was ₹1000, what is the final selling price?
Practice 2easy
A shopkeeper buys an item at ₹500. He sells it at a profit of 20%, and the buyer sells it further at a profit of 25%. What is the final selling price?
Practice 3easy
A shopkeeper buys an article for ₹1000 and sells it at a profit of 20%. He then uses the selling price to buy another article and sells it at a profit of 10%. What is his overall profit amount (in ₹)?
Practice 4easy
A merchant buys goods for ₹2000. He sells 40% of the goods at a profit of 30% and the remaining 60% at a loss of 10%. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Practice 5easy
A vendor buys apples at ₹10 per kg. He sells 60% of the apples at ₹15 per kg and the remaining 40% at ₹12 per kg. What is his overall profit percentage?
Practice 6easy
A trader sells an item at a loss of 15%. If he had sold it for ₹80 more, he would have made a profit of 5%. What is the cost price of the item?
Practice 7easy
A shopkeeper buys an article for ₹500. He marks it up by 20% and then gives a discount of 10% on the marked price. What is his profit percentage?
Practice 8easy
An item is sold at a loss of 15%, and the buyer sells it further at a loss of 10%. If the final selling price is ₹306, what was the original cost price?
Practice 9easy
A trader buys an article for ₹400 and sells it at a profit of 30%. The buyer then sells it at a profit of 50%. What is the overall profit percentage on the original cost price?
Practice 10medium
A trader buys goods for ₹2000 and marks them at 50% above cost price. He gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. Later, he offers an additional 10% discount on the already discounted price. What is his net profit percentage?
Practice 11medium
A vendor buys oranges at ₹40 per dozen and sells them at ₹5 per orange. He offers a buy-2-get-1-free scheme. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Practice 12medium
A person buys two items: Item A for ₹1200 at a 25% profit and Item B for ₹800 at a 20% loss. What is the overall profit or loss percentage on the total transaction?
Practice 13medium
A shopkeeper marks an article 50% above its cost price. He gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. Later, due to a change in policy, he reduces the selling price by another 10%. If the final selling price is ₹540, what was the original cost price?
Practice 14medium
A trader buys goods for ₹2000. He sells 60% of the goods at a profit of 15% and the remaining 40% at a loss of 10%. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Practice 15medium
A shopkeeper buys an article for ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he offers a further discount of 5% on the new selling price. What is his overall profit percentage?
Practice 16medium
A merchant sells an item at a loss of 20%. If he had sold it for ₹120 more, he would have made a profit of 10%. What is the cost price of the item?
Practice 17medium
A shopkeeper marks an article at ₹5000. He gives a 15% discount, and the customer pays with a coupon that gives an additional 8% discount on the discounted price. If the shopkeeper still makes a 20% profit, what was the cost price?
Practice 18medium
A shopkeeper buys an article for ₹500. He marks it up by 40% and then gives two successive discounts of 10% and 15%. What is his overall profit or loss percentage?
Practice 19hard
A shopkeeper buys an article at ₹500. He marks it up by 40%, then offers a discount of 10% on the marked price. Later, he realizes demand is high, so he increases the new selling price by 20%. What is his overall profit percentage?
Practice 20hard
A retailer marks goods at 60% above cost price. He offers a discount of 20% on the marked price. On the discounted price, he further offers a cashback of 10%. If a customer buys items with a total marked price of ₹5000, what is his net cost after all reductions?
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