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Pricing - Demand Function

BBecky7y ago
Hi John, I have come across a question in the Kaplan exam kit which has confused me a bit The question is: The following price and demand combinations have been given: P1 = 400, Q1 = 5,000 P2 = 320, Q2 = 5,500 The variable cost is a constant $80 per unit and fixed costs are $600,000 pa. What is the demand function? I worked out what B was which was correct, but when it came to A I got it wrong. I thought A was - current selling price (400) + b (0.04) x curr. demand (5000) However they have substituted the P1 & Q1 figures right into the demand function to work out A. I can do that ok if that is the way to do it. I just want to understand when i am supposed to do that and why my way of working A didn't work? . Hope that makes sense.
John MoffatJohn MoffatTutor7y ago#1
It doesn't matter which way you calculate A. However what you have done is wrong because you have 0.04 appearing for some reason. B = 80/500 = 0.16 Therefore A = 400 + (0.16 x 5,000) = 1,200. Have you watched my free lectures on pricing?
BBecky7y ago#2
Hi John, Yep i've watched the lecture (they are great by the way). The answers say that B is 0.04 which is what I got and that A is 600 and therefore P = 600 - 0.04 Q I wasn't able to get A as 600
John MoffatJohn MoffatTutor7y ago#3
In that case you must have copied out the question wrongly, because on what you originally typed b is certainly not 0.04 (it is 0.16) and a is certainly not 600 (it is 1,200). (You can see that it is wrong yourself, if A was 600 and B was 0.04, then when demand is 5,500 the price would be 600 - (0.04 x 5,500) = 380, which is not the price that you typed out in your first post!).
BBecky7y ago#4
Yes i have mistyped the figure for P2 it should be £380, which now agrees to B as 0.04. Do you know where I went wrong with A? Thanks for your help.
John MoffatJohn MoffatTutor7y ago#5
Well maybe there is a fault on your calculator, because you wrote that you had got: A = 400 + (0.04 x 5,000) That is correct and is equal to 600 !!
BBecky7y ago#6
Your right thanks for your help.
John MoffatJohn MoffatTutor7y ago#7
You are welcome :-)
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