John buys 500 newspapers. Each newspaper sells for $2. He sells 80% of them. He buys them all for 75% less than the price at which he sells them. How much profit does he make?
Thoughts? Step-by-step reasoning:
He sells 500 * .8 = 400 newspapers. He sells them for 400 * 2 = $800. He gets a discount of 2 * .75 = $1.5 on the newspapers. So he buys them for 2 - 1.5 = $.5. So he spent 500 * .5 = $250 buying them. That means he made a profit of 800 - 250 = $550.
Thus, the answer is 550.