Profit and loss

In its simplest sense, profit is the money made after expenses. If the expenses are more than the money received then it's considered a loss.

A profit is a positive number and a loss is a negative number.

John buys items from a car boot sale. He then sells the items on an internet auction site.

The table shows some information about the items that John has bought and sold in a week.

Fill in the missing gaps and work out the total profit or loss for the five items.

Board game: The difference between the bought and sold prices is £3.00. As the item was sold for more than it was bought, it represents £3.00 profit.
Toy car: The item was bought for £1.00 and had a £1.20 profit when it was sold. This means the item was sold for more than it was bought. So \(\pounds 1.00 + \pounds 1.20 = \pounds 2.20\).
Jigsaw: The item was sold for £12.00 and this was a £5.00 loss. This means the item was sold for less than it was bought. So \(\pounds 12.00 + \pounds 5.00 = \pounds 17.00\).
DVD: The difference between the bought and sold prices is £1.50. As the item was sold for less than it was bought it represents £1.50 loss.

By considering the profit and loss of the 5 items as positive and negative numbers, the items represent: \(+2.5 +3 +1.2 -5 -1.5 = +0.2\)

So overall it's a profit of £0.20 or 20 p.

Financial mathematics - OCRProfit and loss