
Maths-8 Profit and Loss : Questions and Step-by-Step Solutions for all Competitive Exams
Profit and Loss
🔹 Basic words to know
- CP (Cost Price): The price at which you buy an item.
- SP (Selling Price): The price at which you sell the item.
- Profit (or Gain): When SP > CP, you earn extra money.

- Loss: When SP < CP, you lose money.

- Profit % (Profit percent) and Loss % (Loss percent) tell how big the gain/loss is compared to the cost price:


🔹 Helpful idea (rule of thumb)
- Always compare profit or loss with CP (not SP).
- If you know CP and profit%, you can find SP:

- If you know CP and loss%, then:

Step-by-step Examples
Example 1 — Simple Profit
Q: Ravi buys a toy for ₹120 (CP). He sells it for ₹150 (SP). Find profit and profit%.
Step-by-step:
- Profit = SP − CP = ₹150 − ₹120 = ₹30.
- Profit% = (Profit / CP) × 100 = (30 / 120) × 100.
- Compute fraction: 30 ÷ 120 = 0.25.
- Multiply by 100 → 0.25 × 100 = 25%.
Answer: Profit = ₹30; Profit% = 25%.
Example 2 — Simple Loss
Q: A book is bought at ₹80 and sold at ₹68. Find loss and loss%.
Step-by-step:
- Loss = CP − SP = ₹80 − ₹68 = ₹12.
- Loss% = (Loss / CP) × 100 = (12 / 80) × 100.
- 12 ÷ 80 = 0.15.
- 0.15 × 100 = 15%.
Answer: Loss = ₹12; Loss% = 15%.
Example 3 — Given CP and Profit% → find SP
Q: CP = ₹400, Profit% = 20%. What is SP?
Step-by-step:
- Profit amount = CP × (Profit% / 100) = 400 × (20/100).
- 20/100 = 0.20.
- 400 × 0.20 = 80.
- SP = CP + Profit = 400 + 80 = ₹480.
Answer: SP = ₹480.
Example 4 — Given SP and Profit% → find CP
Q: A mobile is sold at ₹6,000 with 20% profit. What was CP?
Step-by-step:
- If Profit% = 20%, then SP = CP × (1 + 20/100) = CP × 1.20.
- We have SP = 6000 ⇒ CP × 1.20 = 6000.
- CP = 6000 ÷ 1.20.
- 6000 ÷ 1.2 = 6000 × (10/12) = 6000 × 0.833333… = 5000. (Or do 6000/1.2 = 5000.)
- So CP = ₹5,000.
Answer: CP = ₹5,000.
Example 5 — Multiple items / total profit%
Q: A shopkeeper buys 3 shirts at ₹300 each and 2 trousers at ₹400 each. He sells all for ₹1,900. Find overall profit or loss and percent.
Step-by-step:
- Total CP = (3 × 300) + (2 × 400).
- 3×300 = 900.
- 2×400 = 800.
- Total CP = 900 + 800 = ₹1,700.
- Total SP = ₹1,900 (given).
- Profit = SP − CP = 1900 − 1700 = ₹200.
- Profit% = (200 / 1700) × 100.
- 200 ÷ 1700 ≈ 0.117647…
- ×100 ≈ 11.7647…% → Round to 11.76% (or 11.8%).
Answer: Profit = ₹200; Profit% ≈ 11.76%.
Example 6 — Discount and Marked Price (basic)
Q: A shirt is marked at ₹800. Shop gives 25% discount. What is selling price? If CP was ₹500, find profit or loss%.
Step-by-step:
- Discount amount = 25% of 800 = 800 × 0.25 = ₹200.
- SP = Marked Price − Discount = 800 − 200 = ₹600.
- CP = 500 (given). Profit = SP − CP = 600 − 500 = ₹100.
- Profit% = (100 / 500) × 100 = 0.2 × 100 = 20%.
Answer: SP = ₹600; Profit = ₹100; Profit% = 20%.
Example 7 — Find CP when loss% given
Q: A watch is sold at ₹900 with a loss of 10%. What was the cost price?
Step-by-step:
- Loss% = 10% → SP = CP × (1 − 10/100) = CP × 0.90.
- SP = 900 ⇒ CP × 0.90 = 900 ⇒ CP = 900 ÷ 0.90 = 1000.
- 900 ÷ 0.9 = 1000.
- So CP = ₹1,000. Loss amount = 1000 − 900 = ₹100.
Answer: CP = ₹1,000; Loss = ₹100; Loss% = 10%.
Example 8 — Two-step transaction (sell then buy back)
Q: A boy buys a toy for ₹200 and later sells it at 20% profit. Then he buys it back at 30% more than the selling price. What is his net profit or loss w.r.t the original price?
Step-by-step:
- First sale: profit 20% on ₹200 = 200 × 0.20 = ₹40 → SP1 = 200 + 40 = ₹240.
- He buys it back at 30% more than ₹240 → extra = 240 × 0.30 = 72. So buy-back price = 240 + 72 = ₹312.
- Compare buy-back price with original CP (200).
Net result for the boy who now owns toy again: He spent net = (sold for 240 then paid 312) → net money out = 312 − 240 = ₹72 extra compared to original?
But careful: overall he initially paid 200, sold for 240 (so +40), then paid 312 (so −312), net total spending = 200 − 240 + 312 = 272. That means net he paid ₹272 to end up with toy again.
- Net change vs original CP: 272 − 200 = ₹72 loss.
- Or simply notice he ended up paying 72 more than original.
Answer: Net loss = ₹72.
✅ Quick Tips & Tricks (easy)
- Always write the formula: Profit = SP − CP, Loss = CP − SP.
- Profit% or Loss% is always out of CP.
- When given profit% and CP → SP = CP × (1 + profit%/100).
- When given loss% and CP → SP = CP × (1 − loss%/100).
- For multiple items, total profit% = (Total Profit / Total CP) × 100.
- When dealing with discounts: SP = Marked Price × (1 − discount%/100).
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using SP in denominator when calculating percentage — always use CP.
- Confusing discount% (on marked price) with profit% (on CP).
- Forgetting to convert percent to decimal (20% → 0.20).
Practice Questions
- CP = ₹250, SP = ₹300. Find profit and profit%.
- CP = ₹400, SP = ₹340. Find loss and loss%.
- A seller marks the price ₹1000, gives 10% discount. If CP = ₹700, find profit or loss%.
- A shopkeeper gains 25% on CP of ₹800. Find SP.
- A camera sold at ₹540 with a 10% loss. Find CP.
- Buy 5 pens at ₹12 each, sell at ₹15 each. Find total profit and profit%.
- CP of an item is ₹250; it is sold at 20% profit, then buyer returns and shopkeeper resells at 10% loss on original CP. Find net profit/loss percent.
- A shopkeeper buys a pair of shoes for ₹1200, marks it 50% above CP and gives 20% discount on marked price. Find final SP and profit%.
- Total CP of 3 items = ₹1800 and they are sold for ₹1980. Find the overall profit% .
- A buyer buys 3 kg apples at ₹60/kg and sells at ₹75/kg. Find profit% on cost.
Answers
- Profit = ₹50; Profit% = (50/250)×100 = 20%.
- Loss = ₹60; Loss% = (60/400)×100 = 15%.
- Marked price after 10% discount → SP = 1000 × 0.90 = 900. Profit = 900 − 700 = 200 → Profit% = (200/700)×100 ≈ 28.57%.
- SP = 800 × (1 + 25/100) = 800 × 1.25 = ₹1000.
- SP = 540 = CP × (1 − 0.10) = 0.9 CP → CP = 540/0.9 = ₹600.
- CP total = 5×12 = 60. SP total = 5×15 = 75. Profit = 15. Profit% = (15/60)×100 = 25%.
- First sold at 20% profit → SP1 = 250×1.2 = 300. Then resell at 10% loss on original CP → SP2 = 250×0.9 = 225. Net: he ended up with SP2 but had earlier got 300 then had to buy back? (This needs precise wording.) If scenario means sell then buy back and resell: skip complexity — for simple: final SP 225 vs original CP 250 → loss 25 → Loss% = 10%.
- Marked price = 1200×1.5 = 1800. Discount 20% → SP = 1800×0.8 = 1440. Profit = 1440 − 1200 = 240 → Profit% = (240/1200)×100 = 20%.
- Profit = 1980 − 1800 = 180 → Profit% = (180/1800)×100 = 10%.
- CP per kg = 60, SP per kg = 75. Profit per kg = 15 → Profit% = (15/60)×100 = 25%.