UPDATE: Stealth points awarded!

Timmer: 2 points for answering the original question
Elyse: 2 points for finding an error in the problem and answering correctly using that info
Victor: 1 point because he's single-handedly kept the stealth points program alive

Here's one for your enjoyment:

Bob the Sailor (a cousin of Bob the Builder, but without the little trademark thingy after his name) needed some rope. He went to Crafty McRippoff, the only boat supply shop in town.

"Hey, Crafty! I need me some rope. Argh!" he said as he entered the shop. "Sure, Bob. Why are you saying 'Argh'? Are you pretending to be a pirate or something?"

"Nope, just caught sight of your prices."

"Ah, that's expected. How much rope do you need?"

"About 20 feet."

"I've got a 100 foot spool, I'll break it for you for a quarter a foot."

"That's a ripoff!"

"Hence the name. You want the rope?"

"Yeah, go ahead and cut me 20 feet."

Now Bob knew that Crafty was dishonest as well as ... er ... crafty and he had heard that the shop-owner used an 11 inch ruler. Being a clever fellow he waited until McRippoff had cut '20 feet' off of the spool and then sprung a surprise on him.

"You know what?" Bob said. "Come to think of it I'm going to need more rope than that. I'll take the 80 feet left on the spool instead." [Editor's note: 'instead' added for clarity.]

"Argh!" said Crafty. His ripoff had just been countered! He couldn't say anything without admitting he was a cheat so he was forced to sell 80 feet plus of rope for the price of 80.

Bob paid him with a $100 bill. Crafty didn't have change for a bill that big so he went next store to the candle-maker and broke the bill there. (The candle-maker always kept large amounts of small bills on hand because he was a small time drug dealer. Hey, nobody said this was a great neighborhood.)

Bob took his change and his rope and left the shop, laughing all the way. He wasn't only laughing over having foiled Crafty's swindle. He was laughing at his own little bit of chicanery. You see, the 100 dollar bill he had paid with was a counterfeit.

The Question: How much did Crafty lose on this sale compared to what he would have made on a straight honest deal? (Don't worry about his cost of goods. For this exercise we'll pretend he got the rope at no cost.)

Posted by: Jim at 01:52 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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