Profit and Loss Questions for SSC Exam Preparation

To do well in the math part of the Staff Selection Commission exams, you need to be good at arithmetic.

The profit and loss questions for SSC are crucial. If you want to pass the CGL or CHSL tier, you need to understand how the cost price, selling price, and market price work together.

It will help you go from knowing the basics to solving problems like those on the exam.

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How to Define Profit and Loss for SSC?

In commerce and exams like SSC, we need to understand profit and loss. The process is about looking at the outcome of a transaction, which tells us whether we made or lost money on a deal.

Key Definitions

To truly grasp this topic, you must be comfortable with these four concepts:

• Cost Price (CP): The total cost to buy or make a product. This also includes things like the money you spend on transportation and repairs.

• Selling Price (SP): The final price at which a product is sold to a customer.

• Profit (Gain): This benefit occurs when the selling price is higher than the cost price. It is the extra money earned.

• Loss: This situation happens when the cost price is more than the selling price. Because the cost price is higher than the selling price, the business is at a deficit.

Basic Principles and Logic

The relationship between these figures is usually expressed in percentages. This is because percentages make it easy to compare types of transactions.

Calculating Profit/Loss:

Profit = SP − CP

Loss = CP − SP

• The Percentage Base: In almost every SSC profit and loss question, the percentage of profit or loss is calculated using the cost price as the base.

Profit % = (Profit / CP) × 100

Loss % = (Loss / CP) × 100

• The "No Profit, No Loss" State: This is the break-even point, where the selling price equals the cost price (SP = CP).

Check Out: SSC Previous year Papers

Previous Year Profit and Loss Questions for SSC CGL

Here are some SSC Profit and Loss Questions for practice:

Q1. By selling an item for Rs. 434, Ramesh makes a profit of 24%. What was the rate at which Ramesh purchased the pen?
(A) Rs. 350
(B) Rs. 360
(C) Rs. 340
(D) Rs. 375

Q2. A man sells a bicycle for ₹990 at a loss of 10%. At what price (in ₹) should he sell the bicycle to earn a profit of 24%?
(A) 1,640
(B) 1,664
(C) 1,364
(D) 1,380

Q3. The S.P of a washing machine is 1 1/3 of its C.P. Find the gain percent.
(A) 33%
(B) 33 1/3%
(C) 66 2/3%
(D) 66%

Q4. Mohan is selling a table at ₹2,832. If his profit is 18%, then what is the cost price of the table?
(A) Rs. 2,480
(B) Rs. 2,550
(C) Rs. 2,440
(D) Rs. 2,400

Q5. The percentage profit earned by selling a mobile for ₹12,000 is equal to the percentage loss incurred by selling the same mobile for ₹9,000. At what price should the mobile be sold to make 20% profit?
(A) ₹18,800
(B) ₹15,400
(C) ₹16,200
(D) ₹12,600

Q6. Cost price of 33 books is the same as the selling price of ‘x’ books. If the profit is 10%, then the value of ‘x’ is:
(A) 30
(B) 36
(C) 28
(D) 10

Q7. Salma buys an article and then sells it for ₹810. If she loses 10%, then at what price should she sell it to gain 4%?
(A) ₹900
(B) ₹936
(C) ₹864
(D) ₹729

Q8. X sells an article to Y at 12½% loss. Y sells it to Z at 9% profit. If Z pays ₹21,582 for it, then at what price (in ₹) was the article purchased by X?
(A) ₹22,500
(B) ₹23,275
(C) ₹21,000
(D) ₹19,800

Q9. If the cost price of 25 articles is equal to the selling price of 35 articles, find the profit/loss percentage.
(A) Loss = 28.57%
(B) Profit = 28.57%
(C) Profit = 18.93%
(D) Loss = 18.93%

Q10. The profit earned by selling an article for ₹832 is equal to the loss incurred when the article is sold for ₹448. What will be the selling price of the article if it is sold at a 10% loss?
(A) ₹576
(B) ₹540
(C) ₹625
(D) ₹640

Q11. Ayush sold a chair at a loss of 8%. Had he sold it for ₹168 more, then the gain would have been 16%. The cost price of the chair was:
(A) ₹468
(B) ₹900
(C) ₹750
(D) ₹660

Q12. A cloth piece was purchased for ₹600. At what price should it be sold to get a profit of 12.5% after a tailoring charge of ₹40 was paid for?
(A) ₹640
(B) ₹680
(C) ₹700
(D) ₹720

Q13. A grocer sells pulses at a profit of 13% and uses weights which are 24% less than the market weight. The percentage of profit (correct to 2 decimal places) earned by him will be:
(A) 45.56%
(B) 37.75%
(C) 48.68%
(D) 42.35%

Q14. A dishonest shopkeeper sells millet at ₹20 per kg which he has bought at ₹16 per kg and he is giving 800 gm instead of 1000 gm. Find his actual profit percentage.
(A) 52.12%
(B) 58.36%
(C) 54.25%
(D) 56.25%

Q15. A person purchased 40 items at some price. He sold some items at a profit of 30% by selling them at a price equal to the cost price of 26 items. The remaining items are sold at 18% profit. The total profit percentage is:
(A) 27%
(B) 28%
(C) 24%
(D) 25%

Q16. A person bought two goods for ₹19,500. He sold one at a loss of 20% and the other at a profit of 15%. If the selling price of each good is the same, find the cost price of the goods sold at profit.
(A) ₹11,475
(B) ₹9,750
(C) ₹11,500
(D) ₹8,000

Q17. Aditya sells two wristwatches from his personal collection for ₹12,600 each. On the first watch, he gains 26% and on the second, he loses 10%. Find the overall gain or loss percentage.
(A) Gain of 16%
(B) Gain of 5%
(C) Loss of 5%
(D) Gain of 12%

Q18. If by selling 12 textbooks, a seller earns profit equal to the selling price of 4 textbooks, what is his percentage profit?
(A) 25%
(B) 50%
(C) 16 2/3%
(D) 30%

Q19. A fruit vendor recovers the cost of 95 oranges by selling 80 oranges. What is his profit percentage?
(A) 18.75%
(B) 20.75%
(C) 21.25%
(D) 24.25%

Q20. The cost price of 240 articles is the same as the selling price of X articles. If the profit is 20% find the value of X

 (A) 200
(B) 210
(C) 180
(D) 240

For More SSC Maths related question, Check SSC Mathematics Chapterwise & Topicwise PYQs

Advanced Profit and Loss Questions for SSC CGL

You need to practice profit and loss questions for SSC to do well in the exam. They can be challenging because they have steps and use different math ideas. Here are some practice questions for profit and loss.

Advanced Multi-Stage Transactions

These questions simulate the "Chain of Sale" frequently seen in profit and loss questions CGL Tier 2.

• The Chain of Loss/Gain: A sells an article to B at a 20% profit. B sells it to C at a 10% loss. If C pays 21,582 rupees, what was the original cost for A?

Logic: Let A's CP = 100, B's CP = 120, C's CP = 120 − 10% of 120 = 108

Calculation:  If 108 units = 21,582, then 1 unit = 199.83

A's CP (100 units) = 19,983 rupees

• Successive Changes in CP and SP:

• A person sells an article at a 12% profit. If he had bought it for 12% less and sold it for 9 rupees less, he would have gained 27%.

Shortcut:

Let the initial CP = 100x

New CP = 88x

New SP = 112x − 9

Set the equation:  88x × 1.27 = 112x − 9

Mixed Arithmetic & Ratio Questions

When we look at profit and loss SSC questions, the people who make them often combine ratios with percentages to make the questions a little tougher.

• Equal Profit and Loss Amounts: The combined price of two shirts is 650 rupees. One is sold at a 7% gain and the other at a 6% loss. If there is no overall profit or loss, find the individual cost prices.

Shortcut: 7% of CP₁ = 6% of CP₂  Therefore, CP₁ / CP₂ = 6 / 7. Divide 650 in the ratio 6 : 7 → 300 rupees and 350 rupees

• Quantity-Based Profit: If the selling price of 40% of the goods is equal to the cost price of all the goods, what is the profit percentage?

Logic: 0.4 × SP = CP ⟶ SP / CP = 1 / 0.4 = 2. This represents a profit of 150%.

The "Net Change" Scenarios

You have to calculate the outcome after adjustments to get the answer right for profit and loss questions for SSC CHSL.

• Markup and Successive Discounts: An item is marked 60% above CP. Two successive discounts of 20% and 10% are offered.

Flow: 100 (CP) → 160 (MP), 160 − 20% (32) = 128,  128 − 10% (12.8) = 115.2 (Final SP)

Net Profit = 15.2%

• Inventory Loss: A shopkeeper makes a 10% profit on his goods but loses 20% of his stock to theft.

Calculation:

Assume 100 items at 1 rupee each → CP = 100. After 20% loss, remaining items = 80

Selling price per item = 1.10 rupees

Total SP = 80 × 1.10 = 88 rupees

Net Result: Loss = 12%

​Read More: SSC Maths Syllabus and Important Topics

Profit and Loss Questions for SSC Exam FAQs

Q1: How can I solve profit and loss questions in the SSC CHSL faster?

Utilise the ratio method. Converting percentages to fractions. To make calculations easier, use a base of 100 for the cost price. This way, you can quickly apply shortcuts for discounts. It also helps with problems involving dealers.

Q2: Are the profit and loss SSC previous year questions enough for preparation?

While practice tests are excellent for understanding the exam format, you should also try them out. This helps you get used to the types of questions and manage your time better. Practice tests are a good place to start.

Q3: Is the difficulty level of profit and loss questions for SSC CGL different from CHSL?

CGL questions, Tier 2 ones in particular, can be more complicated, with multiple steps and complex data. On the other hand, CHSL questions are straightforward. The concept is the same for both CHSL and CGL.

Q4: What is the relationship between discount and profit in the SSC profit and loss questions?

The relationship is usually based on the marked price. A simple formula used is CP / MP = (100 - Discount) / (100 + Profit). This helps you calculate one value if you know the others.