Study Material — 18 PYQs (2020–2020) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
SSC MTS Basic Profit & Loss is a frequently tested subtopic — 18 previous year questions from 2020–2020 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
If the cost price of 8 articles is equal to the selling price of 10 articles, what is the loss percentage?
Exam Q 42020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper marks an item at ₹500. He gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. If his cost price is ₹350, what is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 52020Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys 5 kg of sugar for ₹250. He sells 2 kg at ₹60 per kg and the remaining at ₹45 per kg. What is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 62020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys a pen for ₹12 and sells it for ₹15. What is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 72020Previous Year Pattern
A trader sells a watch for ₹1,200 at a loss of 20%. What was the cost price of the watch?
Exam Q 82020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys a shirt for ₹400 and sells it for ₹520. What is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 92020Previous Year Pattern
A vendor purchases apples at ₹60 per dozen and sells them at ₹75 per dozen. If he sells 8 dozen apples, what is his total profit?
Exam Q 102020Previous Year Pattern
A book is marked at ₹500. A shopkeeper gives a discount of 15% on the marked price and still makes a profit of 25%. What is the cost price of the book?
Exam Q 112020Previous Year Pattern
A merchant buys two items: Item A for ₹800 and Item B for ₹1,200. He sells Item A at a profit of 30% and Item B at a loss of 10%. What is his overall profit or loss?
Exam Q 122020Previous Year Pattern
A retailer marks up goods by 60% above the cost price. He then offers a discount of 25% on the marked price. What is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 132020Previous Year Pattern
A vendor buys 200 kg of rice at ₹40 per kg. He sells 60% of it at ₹50 per kg and the rest at ₹45 per kg. What is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 142020Previous Year Pattern
A merchant marks his goods 40% above cost price. He gives a discount of 20% on the marked price. If he earns a profit of ₹480 on an article, what is the cost price of that article?
Exam Q 152020Previous Year Pattern
A trader buys two types of goods. Type A costs ₹80 per unit and Type B costs ₹120 per unit. He buys 150 units of Type A and 100 units of Type B. He sells Type A at 25% profit and Type B at 20% profit. What is his total profit?
Exam Q 162020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper buys 120 articles at ₹45 per article. He sells 80% of them at ₹60 per article and the remaining at ₹50 per article. What is his overall profit percentage?
Exam Q 172020Previous Year Pattern
A retailer buys notebooks at ₹12 per dozen. He sells them at ₹1.50 per notebook. If he sells 480 notebooks, what is his profit percentage?
Exam Q 182020Previous Year Pattern
A shopkeeper sells an article at ₹1,200 and incurs a loss of 20%. To earn a profit of 10%, at what price should he have sold the article?
Concept Notes
Basic Profit & Loss— Rules & Concept
💡
Core Concept
Read this first — the foundation of the topic
→Core Concept
When you buy something for Rs. 100 and sell it for Rs. 120, you make Rs. 20 profit. If you sell it for Rs. 80, you face Rs. 20 loss. This simple idea forms the basis of all profit-loss calculations
💡Key Terms
Cost Price (CP) = Price at which goods are purchased. Selling Price (SP) = Price at which goods are sold. Profit = SP - CP (when SP > CP). Loss = CP - SP (when CP > SP)
20% profit on one item, 20% loss on another = Overall loss of 4%
✏️Worked Example 1
1
Identify CP = Rs. 800, SP = Rs. 920
2
Calculate Profit = SP - CP = 920 - 800 = Rs. 120
3
Apply formula Profit% = (Profit/CP) × 100 = (120/800) × 100 = 15%
Answer: 15% profit
Shortcut #2: Quick CP calculation when SP and profit% known. Use: CP = SP/(1 + Profit%/100). For 25% profit, divide SP by 1.25. For 20% loss, divide SP by 0.8
✏️Worked Example 2
1
SP = Rs. 1440, Loss% = 20%
2
Use shortcut CP = SP/(1 - Loss%/100) = SP/0.8
3
CP = 1440/0.8 = Rs. 1800
Verification: 20% of 1800 = 360, so SP = 1800 - 360 = 1440
→Answer
Rs. 1800
Shortcut #3: For successive transactions, multiply factors. 10% profit followed by 20% loss = 1.1 × 0.8 = 0.88, meaning 12% overall loss
→Most Common Trap
Students calculate percentage on Selling Price instead of Cost Price
💡Remember
Profit% and Loss% are ALWAYS calculated on Cost Price, never on Selling Price. This mistake costs at least 1-2 marks in every exam.
Another frequent error involves sign confusion. When CP > SP, it's a loss situation. When SP > CP, it's profit.
Always check this relationship before applying formulas
📋Exam Strategy
Start with identifying what's given and what's asked. Write down CP, SP clearly. Apply the basic formula first, then use shortcuts for speed. Double-check by working backwards - if you found CP, calculate SP using the given profit% to verify your answer.
Key Points to Remember
Profit occurs when Selling Price > Cost Price, Loss occurs when Cost Price > Selling Price
Profit% and Loss% are always calculated on Cost Price, never on Selling Price
Quick formula: SP = CP × (100 ± gain%)/100 where + for profit, - for loss
Shortcut: When profit% equals loss% in two transactions, overall result is always loss