Ridiculously hard math question!?

Question

Okay, so here's the problem. There's this guy (say James) who paid $15 to manufacture for a shoe. When he receives the pair of shoes, he has it marked to be sold at $21. So this customer (say Bob) comes with a counterfeit money of $50. Not knowing the the $50 is counterfeit James goes to his next door shop neighbor (say Mark) to get some change he James basically exchanges his counterfeit $50 for real $50. The James gives his customer Bob his change and the shoes. Later, the next day, Mark comes back to James to ask for a real $50 back when he (Mark) realized that the money was fake. How much money did James lose?

I think the answer is $94 but I also got a whole lot of other answers so I don't know. Please give your answer and an explanation.

Much thanks ^^

Answer 1

44 is right. The sale nets a profit of $6 and accepting the fake bill costs him $50 so the net is 50 - 6 = $44.

The exchange of the bill is a smokescreen. Someone gives you a fake bill, if its discovered and you have to make restitution then it costs you $50 regardless of what you did with the $50 (unless, of course you used it to make money which he did not in this story)

I'd hate you to get this wrong so let me follow the money for you - all answers except 44 are wrong.

He spends 15 dollars, then he receieves a useless 50 dollar bill from Bob, he's still down 15 since the bill is worthless. He then gets $50 from his friend in exchange for the bogus bill., he's up 35 (-15 + 50 = +35). He then gives 29 (50 - 21) in change to the crook so he's now up 6 dollars (+35 - 29 = 6). Then he has to return 50, so he's then down $44 (6 - 50 = -44)

Answer 2

Compare the scenarios of a fake $50 bill and a real $50 bill (and also no sale at all) concerning the total value of goods exchanged.

He would have paid $15 to manufacture the shoes regardless, so that's a wash.

Fake bill:
Gives $29 in real change, puts the real $21 from Mark in his till. Loses $50 more when Mark exchanges the counterfeit bill for real money. Also loses the $21 value of the shoes (he can no longer sell them) and receives nothing as revenue. Total of $79 lost (loses $58 in cash and $21 in goods).

Real bill:
Receives real $50 bill as revenue, gives $29 in real change and the pair of shoes valued at $21. Total of $0 lost (gains $21 in cash, loses $21 in goods).

No sale:
Receives nothing, gives nothing. Total of $0 lost (gains nothing from any sale of the shoes, but he still has them in his possession).

Either way, he would have lost the price of the shoes, but the difference between the scenarios of a real/fake bill in terms of cash flow (here I assume that SOMEBODY would have bought the shoes had Bob not entered the store, so I dismiss the no sale scenario) is a net loss of $79, which is what I would write down.

Another way to think of it this: suppose the shoes are stolen. He loses the $21 he could have sold them for. Suppose he must repay Mark. That's a loss of another $50. Suppose $29 are also stolen from the till, but the thief leaves the $21 you originally got from Mark. That's a total of $79.


It seems that for a question like this, you need to define your terms up front. Where do you want to start counting? How do you define money gained or lost? What are the options to consider (a real sale, a fake sale, or no sale)? I think as long as you explain your thought process, you should do fine on this assignment.

Answer 3

I believe the answer would be $50 + 15 for the manufacturing of the shoes. and since he had already given the customer the change when he goes to pay back the other store owner he is out another $29. so the total would be $94.
here's how the equation works out, numbers are all money he had going out of his business:
-15
-29
-50
=94
so the answer you had come up with would be correct.

Answer 4

James lost the $15 it cost him to manufacture the shoes.
He lost the $29 in change he gave the crook.
And he lost the $50 he had to repay Mark.

That's a total of $94 dollars.

In s sense, he also lost the $6 profit that he planned to make on the shoes. That was never cash, but represents his time, etc.

Answer 5

$50 (Mark) + $15 (manufacture) + 50-21=$29 (change).

$94 is correct.

Answer 6

Cost of shoes $15.00 fake bill $50.00 change for the bill $29.00 = $ 94.00 Pluss he had to give Mark back the $50.00 so James lost $144.00

Answer 7

either 15 dollars or 65 dollars dpending on if he paid the other shop keeper the fifty dollars becuase if he didnt then he would only be out the 15 dollars he spent to have the shoes made if he paid the other shop keeper he would be out the cost of manufacture and the fifty bucks

Answer 8

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Answer 9

He lost $44. I did it all in my head so I might be wrong but I am VERY good at math but I don't know, I would go with "He lost $44."