Discount and Markup Practice Questions with Answers

Free, timed SHSAT practice sets on discount & markup— every question includes a full worked explanation, and there's no account required.

How to solve discount and markup problems

A discount takes a percent off a price. A markup adds a percent on. Do each one as a single multiplication.

Sale price = original × (1 − discount). 28% off 120 dollars: $120 \times 0.72 = 86.40$ dollars.
Selling price = cost × (1 + markup). A 40% markup on 30 dollars: $30 \times 1.40 = 42$ dollars.
Original price from a sale price: divide. After 35% off, the sale price is 65% of the original, so original = sale price $\div 0.65$.

Traps:

Reporting only the discount or markup amount (33.60 dollars in the first example) instead of the final price.
Adding when you should subtract, or the reverse.
Working backward by adding the percent of the sale price. The discount was a percent of the original price, so you must divide.

Worked examples

Example 1.

A guitar regularly costs $\$110.00$ and is on sale for 45% off. What is the sale price?

A.
$65.00
B.
$159.50
C.
$60.50
D.
$49.50

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Answer:

Sale price $= \$110.00 \times (1 - 45/100) = \$60.50$. (Reporting only the 45% discount instead of the sale price gives $49.50. Adding the 45% instead of subtracting it gives $159.50. Subtracting $\$45$ instead of 45% gives $65.00.) The sale price is $60.50.

Example 2.

A store buys a backpack at a wholesale cost of $\$25.00$ and marks it up by 65%. What is the selling price?

A.
$8.75
B.
$90.00
C.
$41.25
D.
$16.25

Show answer and explanation

Answer:

Selling price $= \$25.00 \times (1 + 65/100) = \$41.25$. (Reporting only the 65% markup instead of the selling price gives $16.25. Subtracting the 65% instead of adding it gives $8.75. Adding $\$65$ instead of 65% gives $90.00.) The selling price is $41.25.

Example 3.

A winter coat is on sale for $\$25.84$ after a 66% discount. What was the original price?

A.
$76.00
B.
$8.79
C.
$42.89
D.
$39.15

Show answer and explanation

Answer:

If $\$25.84$ is what's left after a 66% discount, it is 34% of the original: original $= \$25.84 \div (34/100) = \$76.00$. (Adding 66% of the sale price back ($\$25.84 \times 1.66$) gives about $42.89. Dividing by 66% instead of 34% ($\$25.84 \div 0.66$) gives about $39.15. Taking 66% off the sale price again ($\$25.84 \times 0.34$) gives about $8.79.) The original price was $76.00.

Discount & markup drills

How to solve discount and markup problems

Worked examples