Question

I need help with this problem.

As a salesperson at Trading Cards Unlimited, Justin receives a monthly base pay plus commission on all that he sells. If he sells $400 worth of merchandise in one month, he is paid $500. If he sells $700 of merchandise in one month, he is paid $575. Find Justin's salary when he sells $2,500 worth of merchandise. Help ASAP, pleeeeaaasee ?

Answer 1

@alyygirl can you help me please?

Answer 2

Let b = base pay
Let c = commission rate

Since you have two unknowns, you need two equations to solve for base pay and commission rate.

So the two equations are this:

b + 400c = 500
b + 700c = 575

Using the elimination technique multiply the first equation by a negative 1. So the two equations look like this:

-b - 400c = -500
b + 700c = 575

Adding the two equations and we this:

300c = 75
c= 75/300
c= .25

So commission rate is .25 or 25%

To find the base pay amount, substitute .25 into one of the equations. Which looks like this:

b + 700(.25) = 575
b+ 175 = 575
b= 575-175
b= 400

So the base pay is $400 a month.

Knowing the base pay and the commission rate we can now calculate how much is earned per month on sales of $2,500.

So we have this:

400 + (2,500)(.25) = 1,025

So the paycheck for that month will be $1,025