| Northern_MDX |
Question:
Peter bought a $25 item at Store A and paid by a $100 bill. Mary the owner didn't have the change for $75 so she went to Store B and gave them that $100 bill in exchange for $20 and $5 bills. She then gave Peter the item with $75 in change and Peter walked away.
10 minutes later the owner of Store B came over and claimed the $100 bill was a counterfeit. Mary took that bill back and gave Store B two $50 bills.
How much did Mary lose in total ?:rolleyes: |
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| Mr_MDX |
mary didn't loose anything......
but this marty guy is passing fake 50s :D |
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| cycler15 |
quote:
Originally posted by Northern_MDX
Question:
Peter bought a $25 item at Store A and paid by a $100 bill. Mary the owner didn't have the change for $75 so she went to Store B and gave them that $100 bill in exchange for $20 and $5 bills. She then gave Peter the item with $75 in change and Peter walked away.
10 minutes later the owner of Store B came over and claimed the $100 bill was a counterfeit. Mary took that bill back and gave Store B two $50 bills.
How much did Mary lose in total ?:rolleyes:
This is kinda a trick question.
Was the bill counterfeit and not counted? Store B "claims", but are we trusting him.
Are you counting the money from the sale? |
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| Northern_MDX |
Mr_MDX,
:D good try :D
quote:
Originally posted by cycler15
This is kinda a trick question.
Was the bill counterfeit and not counted? Store B "claims", but are we trusting him.
Are you counting the money from the sale?
For simplicity,
let's assume the $100 is indeed a counterfeit.
All the other bills are real. :4:
How much did Mary lose
from the transactions described ? |
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| Maik |
| Assuming the bill was in fact counterfeit and not passed along to another unsuspecting sucker, then Mary was out the $100 plus the cost of the $25 item. |
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| 04mdx4sq |
$100 bill in exchange for $20 and $5 bills?
This vague part of the riddle makes it open ended. There is no way to have a correct answer with out knowing how many $5 bills there were, right? |
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| ScoobyT |
quote:
Originally posted by Northern_MDX
Question:
Peter bought a $25 item at Store A and paid by a $100 bill. Mary the owner didn't have the change for $75 so she went to Store B and gave them that $100 bill in exchange for $20 and $5 bills. She then gave Peter the item with $75 in change and Peter walked away.
10 minutes later the owner of Store B came over and claimed the $100 bill was a counterfeit. Mary took that bill back and gave Store B two $50 bills.
How much did Mary lose in total ?:rolleyes:
$175 plus the$25 item.Right ? |
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| Northern_MDX |
quote:
Originally posted by 04mdx4sq
$100 bill in exchange for $20 and $5 bills?
This vague part of the riddle makes it open ended. There is no way to have a correct answer with out knowing how many $5 bills there were, right?
Let's say the $100 was exchanged for
three $20 and eight $5 bills. :) |
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| mdxx3 |
She lost $100 plus the true cost and burden of carrying the goods. Just pretend that $25 already includes the sales tax. It may only cost her, for example, $10.00 to purchase that item from her vendor plus $1 overhead to stock/display it (all the misc stuff rolled into this overhead cost). So, it's 100.00 + 10.00 + 1.00. Ok, I give up. I will now join the 70% who can't get it right!! Why does it always have to be so difficult??????:)
Ok, where are all the accountants on this forum?? Please tell!! |
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| cycler15 |
quote:
Originally posted by ScoobyT
$175 plus the$25 item.Right ?
I think ScoobyT is right.
She lost $100 from the sale. Then another $100 to pay Store B back. |
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| vlam |
I would break the transaction into two groups (credit and debit)
1. Amount $ she put out.
2. Amount of $ she got in.
She got:
$100 from Peter (counterfit)
$100 from Store B ($100 in change)
Total = +$200
She gave out:
$75 to Peter
$100 to Store B (2 $50 bill)
Total = -$175
Now since $100 of the $200 is a counterfit, her credit is $100
Here debit is still $175 making her lose $75
But her total lost is $75 and a $25 item
Total lost = $100 |
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| ScoobyT |
| Forget Peter. She gave away $100 in cash and goods to one person and $100 in cash to the other. |
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| Northern_MDX |
| So far the % of incorrect answers is > 70% ... we need to think harder ;) |
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| vlam |
Forget Peter. She gave away $100 in cash and goods to one person and $100 in cash to the other.
You are forgetting that she got $100 in change from StoreB. |
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| mdxx3 |
No, no, no... I change my mind on my answer earlier.
She will file a lost with her insurance company and get her money back. Then the she will also file a lost on her tax forms. Therefore she will not lose anything. Probably made some money along the way other than lots of work. She will go to jail too for claiming two losses.
Ok, still need help. Where are the acuramdx.org accountants??? |
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| Maik |
quote:
Originally posted by mdxx3
Ok, still need help. Where are the acuramdx.org accountants???
I already gave the answer. At the end of the day, she is holding a phony $100 bill and is out the cost of the $25 item. Period. |
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| wing2299 |
| I would say $75 + $50 x 2 + the item worth $25 = $200. |
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| Northern_MDX |
| Only one person answered correctly so far. :cool: |
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| vlam |
I already gave the answer. At the end of the day, she is holding a phony $100 bill and is out the cost of the $25 item. Period.
She may be holding a phony $100 but don't think of the bill in term of the amount. Let's assume she cut the bill up and throw it in the trash. What did she lose? The $75 in change that was given to Peter along with a $25 item. |
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| socalJD |
I sorta agree with Vlam . . .
Mary lost $75 in cash, and the total cost of the item she sold for $25.
Think of it in terms of what Peter and store B now have after the transaction = Mary's total loss.
Peter started with 0 (counterfeit $100 is worth 0) and walks away with $75 cash + item valued at $25. Store B is even, nothing lost or gained. Thus Mary must be out the $75 cash and the value of the item she 'sold' for $25 . . . |
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| Emerald01 |
She lost $75 (by giving the damn thief change) + the cost of the item (he took) + the profit she would have made if she sold the item. Forget about everything with store B.
The cost of the item =X.
The profit she would have made =Y.
X+Y=$25.
$75 + $25 +$100.
Therefore I agree with Vlam and Socal |
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| dj-mdx2 |
| Mary lost $75 + the cost of the item. If the latter was $25 (including loss of profit), then $100 total, as posted by emerald. |
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| Maik |
I think I need to change my answer. Mary lost twice on the same bill. First she gave peter $75 and the cost of the $25 item, then she gave The other store another $100.
Total out of pocket is $175 plus cost of $25 item. |
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| mdxx3 |
quote:
Originally posted by Maik
I think I need to change my answer. Mary lost twice on the same bill. First she gave peter $75 and the cost of the $25 item, then she gave The other store another $100.
Total out of pocket is $175 plus cost of $25 item.
But the other store gave her $100 earlier. So I think this part will make it even (it's like a 10 minute loan and kinda negligible).
Must be the $75 that the bad boy walked away plus the cost of this $25 thing making it somewhere between $75 and $100 (this is the long answer, but the simplified answer should be $100, right?) |
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| Northern_MDX |
I struggled with this question myself and it's great to see some good analyses
here.
I guess the answer is
$75 + $25 item.
Someone may argue the "True" cost is
$75 + cost of $25 item (<$25)
but then we can also think in terms of
"opportunity cost" that Mary could
have received for the item from another customer, then the loss in that sense is
$75 + $25 = $100. |
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| m2pc |
Lost a total of $175 + Item (Retail @ $25) So assuming the Item she lost is like losing $25 total lost = $200.
OK, then comes my conspiracy theory.
All the money she gave including what she paid back was counterfeit so she lost no money there. The item she sold to the customer would have cost her $200 dollars to dispose of in an environmentally safe manner - so she saved/made $200 dollars! Wow, she's good :D |
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| dipersp |
Lost money on the rent, shelf space for the item sold, since she lost money on it. Time spent with the customer, running to the other store, etc. Heat or AC each time the door opened. Lost sleep.
There's a LOT of money lost here! |
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| HARDROCK |
quote:
Originally posted by wing2299
I would say $75 + $50 x 2 + the item worth $25 = $200.
I agree |
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| laborlitigator |
| My guess was $100 also. |
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| texrb |
| Lost $175 + cost of item she sold for $25. |
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| JMT2004 |
Mary GAVE (give) Peter $75 in change (like mom used to) along with item ….giving (charitable, GAVE) the item to him… thus the lost is null for this part of the transaction.
Settling the counterfeit bill issue can be addressed separately, resulting in a $100 loss.
And so lets read into it a bit further… Peter bought one and was given one (great 2fer deal) :2:
OK, so reading into the riddle is not the solution…
-100 – 75 – 25 (or profit made from that sale) :confused:
~ $200, final answer
Northern, where are the multiple guesses?
Is Paul the owner of store B? :27: |
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| weichung |
$100 total.
Mary only lost $100 to store B.
She has $25 in her pocket to cancel out the loss of merchandise.
The $75 Mary got from stor B never belongs to her anyway. |
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| Northern_MDX |
quote:
Originally posted by JMT2004
Mary GAVE (give) Peter $75 in change (like mom used to) along with item ….giving (charitable, GAVE) the item to him… thus the lost is null for this part of the transaction.
Settling the counterfeit bill issue can be addressed separately, resulting in a $100 loss.
And so lets read into it a bit further… Peter bought one and was given one (great 2fer deal) :2:
OK, so reading into the riddle is not the solution…
-100 – 75 – 25 (or profit made from that sale) :confused:
~ $200, final answer
Northern, where are the multiple guesses?
Is Paul the owner of store B? :27:
JMT2004, you did keep my head spinning for a while... :D
I think the answer is $75 + $25 item
= $100, like many members suggested here.
Settling the counterfeit bill is just to trick people, which results in no loss for Mary, and (Paul ??:confused: ). |
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| HARDROCK |
quote:
Originally posted by Northern_MDX
I think the answer is $75 + $25 item
= $100, like many members suggested here.
You THINK the answer is $100! After being tormented by this riddle the past couple of days, I need to KNOW what the "correct" answer is! :confused: :2: |
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| quintin |
She Lost $100.00, for buying back the fake $100 bill.
She then lost $75.00 for the change given to the customer and the $25 item also given to the customer.
So she lost $175.00 in real money and her cost of the item. |
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| BWSmith201 |
I think it's $125. She lost the $100, because she's stuck with a fake bill which was returned from Store B, as well as the cost of the item. Store B didn't lose anything, and the customer got away with a $25 item for free.
I think. But then, I majored in Religious Studies...;)
EDIT: OK, here's my line of thinking. She took in what she thought was $100, and switched it with Store B. So, for the moment she's up 100 and store B is down 100, because of the fake bill. The item has not yet been transferred to the customer.
She gives him 75 in change, and the item, so she now has 25 bucks in real money, what was left from what Store B gave her (the total from them less the change from the item), and no product. For now, she's even. (25 bucks cash for a $25 item out of her stock.)
Store B comes back, and wants 100 bucks, because he was out that much while holding the fake Benjamin.
Mary gives them the $25 she has from the sale, PLUS another 75 bucks to make up for the change she gave out to the customer. That puts us at her being out $100 cash, and Store B's owner happy but probably never going to help Mary out again ;) .
BUT, she got nothing for the cost of the item, now, because the money she got for it has gone back to Store B.
So, I figure she's out $100 cash and $25 even for the item, making the total $125 in actual value for the transaction.
OK, now that I have it all written out, I think I get it... SOMEONE has to tell us for sure soon, though, it's gonna drive me nuts!!! |
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| Northern_MDX |
quote:
Originally posted by HARDROCK
After being tormented by this riddle the past couple of days, I need to KNOW what the "correct" answer is! :confused: :2:
:2party: The answer is that
Mary lost $75 cash and the $25 item. :hmmm: |
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| vlam |
Settling the counterfeit bill is just to trick people, which results in no loss for Mary, and (Paul ?? ).
I believe that's exactly what everyone is so confused on. Someone had mentioned it before but for those who doesn't agree that she lost $100 total. Let me ask you this. Do you agree that Store B did not lose any money? They gave out $100 in change in the beginning and then got 2 $50 back. If you agree that they lost nothing, you can can eliminate Store B in the total lost equation.
With Store B elminate, let's go back to the beginning with only Peter and Mary in the formula.
Let's pretend that the item is worth $100. Peter would have paid with a $100 bill and walk away without any change for the item. Mary would later find that she is out of $100 because that's the value of the item. Her total lost is not $200 just because the $100 bill is a counterfit. That bill will be confiscated by the FBI and she is now short $100 when she count up the money in the register at the end of the day. Forget about the item because as far as her register is concern, the item is sold and no longer in inventory. With regard to the item, she has no lost in her inventory.
If that is the only item she sold that day, her register would have a total sale of $100 but she has no money from the registry. This is her total lost. $100! |
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| ScoobyT |
| This is officially the dumbest riddle that Ive ever read. Why not include the time she had to spend closing the store,thus losing revenue, possibility that Paul didn t shoplift something and the FBI not knocking something worth $46.99 while conducting the counterfeit money investigation. |
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| tl_mdx |
Mary lost $100.
Basically Mary gave away $75 in cash and $25 in kind to the buyer for a piece of worthless paper.
The guy who made the change didn't lose anything. The conversion of $100 to smaller bills and then the exchange back for two $50 bills is a red-herring transaction.
<Mary could lose more, if she tries passing the $100 bill a few more times - Uncle Sam may get interested.> |
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| mdxx3 |
No. Mary made a $1.80 profit!! That bad boy is a walk-in customer and she had to collect sales tax. After going thru all this, I don't think she's giving this to the Board of Equalization - therefore it's a profit!!! We don't care how much she lost earlier, but a profit is a profit!!!!!!! :D :D :D (add more smileys here in case people think this is true)
(I like this thread.) |
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| BWSmith201 |
quote:
Originally posted by vlam
If that is the only item she sold that day, her register would have a total sale of $100 but she has no money from the registry. This is her total lost. $100!
Touché. |
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| Maik |
quote:
Originally posted by BWSmith201
Touché.
Problem with that theory is that her register has $125 in it, not $100!
I agree with Northern_MDX, total loss is $75 in cash and the amount she paid for the $25 item. To include her profit on the $25 item would not be correct.
As between store A & B, they are even and store B lost nothing. Mary has a $100 counterfeit bill for which she gave up $75 in cash and a $25 item that presumably cost her less than $25. |
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