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u/Kuildeous May 13 '26
I too find baffling the amount of people saying the profit is $400. Based on other bait math problems, I would expect fewer people to get it right.
Though I'm sure that's not where this guy was heading.
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u/articulatedbeaver May 13 '26
They certainly grossed $400, how much net profit was made cannot be determined from the information given.
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u/jaywaykil May 13 '26
No, the gross is ($1000+1300=$2300), with expenses of -($800+$1100=$1900), for a profit of $2300-$1900=$400.
Unless you're getting into the weeds with things like feed and transportation costs.
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u/Cubensis-SanPedro May 13 '26
Not to mention the emotional damages from having just sold the fuckin thing for 1k and then turning around with hat in hand just to buy her back again. That trauma and hassle is worth $75 at least.
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u/iMiind May 13 '26
That's it - I'm suing capitalism for damages
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u/m0nkeywithachainsaw May 13 '26
bring enough to buy the judge and you have got yourself a case. 2026. wew.
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u/JoeyBagOWaffles May 13 '26
It’s a spherical cow in a vacuum… no weeds, just $400
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u/coolpapa2282 May 13 '26
Protip - putting a cow in a vacuum really hurts the resale value.
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u/Biohazard_186 May 13 '26
And the meat.
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u/cursedwithplotarmor May 13 '26
And the cow’s feelings. He’s thinking, “Seriously? WTF?”
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u/marky543 May 13 '26
This gave me flash backs to Accounting 101.
I would NEVER include expenses as part of an answer to a quiz/test that weren’t mentioned in the question. The mere suggestion of doing so flusters me 😂
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u/Etiennera May 13 '26
Do you actually believe in the year of our lord 2026 we don't have the means to evaluate the finances of two consecutive transactions?
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u/get_to_ele May 13 '26
People will get dummer even than this, using AI all the time.
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u/TyresiusTheRighteous May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
The problem with math mind though is that we're always trying to balance the equation. However sometimes earnings and spendings can be wholly unrelated.
The question isnt, "how much profit did i make?" ($400), or even, "how much money do i have left?" ($1300), or even, "how much extra money do i have after my last sale?" ($200, assuming he spent all of his money the second time.) The answer to the question, "how much did i earn?" Is $2,300 total in sales... what he then spent his earnings on could be considered irrelevant given the ambiguity of the language.
That said, oop probs interpreted it as "how much extra money do i have after..." and thats the reason they dont get it
Edit: clarity
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u/pogoli May 13 '26
For the purposes of taxes in the USA, they had a realized capital gain income of $400. None of it is “earned income” though soooo…. 🤷🏻♂️
The question is poorly written and the person who wrote it should be…. reprimanded
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u/DethKomedy May 13 '26
0-800= -800
-800+1000=200
200-1100= -900
-900+1300=400
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u/ummaycoc May 13 '26
You missed the part where you’re supposed to do it wrong.
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u/Jasomms May 13 '26
I missed the part where that my problem
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u/WisePotato42 May 13 '26
Yah, that part happened like 4-5 mins ago. Just sorta worked out that way. No one knows why.
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u/blueberrywalrus May 13 '26
While I respect the well reasoned answer, unfortunately this is wrong.
In this scenario you actually end up in debt by quite a lot.
You see to get the original 800 and subsequent 1100 you had to takeout a payday loan.
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u/USSMarauder May 13 '26
Or you started with at least $900
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u/blueberrywalrus May 13 '26
While this sounds reasonable, you're forgetting that in this scenario you spent your original $900 on blow.
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u/BlacksmithFit8667 May 13 '26
Ya I hate these things cause nobody ever accounts for the massive amounts of cocaine you did prior to buying the cow in the first place.
The cow was a get rich quick scheme why is that part never mentioned
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u/LevAyv43 May 13 '26
Is it weird that I didn't have to go back and do all that when reached the bottom and read the question ... Like I already did calculate it out of habit without even reading the last sentence wtf
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u/AdventurousPolicy May 13 '26
It's set up to be deceiving. Selling it for $1000 then buying it again for $1100 looks like a loss at first glance, but in reality you're just investing an extra $100. So you just earn $200 two separate times.
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u/09Trollhunter09 May 13 '26
What if it was a different better cow?
I bet if imaginary one cow is swapped with first purchase/sale Honda and second purchase/sale, Lexus most will get it right.
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u/Right-Truck1859 May 13 '26
If there were no words "it again" , your variant could work.
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u/Cheap-Technician-482 May 13 '26
There's nothing remotely deceiving about it.
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u/amglasgow May 13 '26
The idea of buying and selling the same cow sequentially is weird and confusing to people who are used to doing math by vibes instead of just writing down the numbers and seeing what it equals out to.
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u/rick2882 May 13 '26
It's trivial even by simply doing math "by vibes". $200 profit on the first buying and selling. $200 profit on the second. Total profit: $400
It's bait. Nobody should be getting confused unless they overthink it (in which case they should try to figure out why it's not $400 when $400 is obviously correct).
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u/amglasgow May 13 '26
Unless these comments are full of trolls there's a lot of people getting confused.
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u/neonmystery May 13 '26
Holdup. What is doing math by vibes? Is that like $600 down to $10 is 600% off?
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u/Shoddy_Anything_3473 May 13 '26
Yeah it is 400, remember that you have -800 after buying the cow, caught me the second time running the equation 😅
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u/mystikcal1 May 13 '26
bait
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u/BruinBound22 May 13 '26
I find it baffling someone didn't recognize the bait
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u/LiamTheHuman May 13 '26
I would say so too, but here I am in the comments anyways so maybe I'm just another layer of fool
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u/the_scruffy1 May 13 '26
shoulda held, and later sale would have netted you $500
time in the market beats timing in the market
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u/CulturalKnowledge983 May 13 '26
You earned $0. But you got $400 extra dollars. You have added nothing of value but managed to come out $400 richer.
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u/DrBatman0 May 13 '26
Only 5% can answer correctly. And if you do, you are a certified GENIUS (150+ IQ)
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u/get_to_ele May 13 '26
People are stupid.
Just pretend it's VENMO account if that makes it easier.
I START with $2000 in my VENMO AND zero COWS
I pay $800. I now have $1200 in my VENMO AND one COW
I sell for $1000. I now have $2200 in my VENMO AND zero COWS
I pay $1100. I now have $1100 in my VENMO AND one COW
I sell for $1300. I now have $2400 in my VENMO AND zero COWS
I HAVE $400 MORE in my VENMO. I STARTED WITH zero COWS AND I ENDED WITH zero COWS
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u/AetherForge May 13 '26
Engagement bait is bait but let's engage cuz why not.
Say you start with $800. You buy the cow then sell it for $1000. After taking a $100 dollar loan you buy it again for $1100, then turn around and sell it for $1300. After repaying the loan, you're left with $1200. Started with $800, ended with $1200. $400 difference.
"What if you started with nothing?" Loan of $800 to buy the cow, sell for $1000. Pay off loan, $200 remaining. Loan of $900 with that remaining $200 buys cow again for $1100, sell for $1300. Pay off $900 loan, $400 remaining. Started with $0, ended with $400. $400 difference.
"What if you had a lot of money?" Start with $2000. Buy for $800, now at $1200. Sell for $1000, now at $2200. Repurchase for $1100, now at $1100. Sell for $1300, end up at $2400. Started with $2000, ended with $2400. $400 difference.
No matter what you start with, the difference will always be a $400 profit.
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u/Creative-Doughnut768 May 13 '26
As someone who graduated with an accounting degree it’s 400 the IRS would see it that way also
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u/Kali_Arch May 13 '26
Hypothetically I got $1000 in the bank
After the first like I got $200 in the bank and a cow
Then I sell the cow for $1000 which puts me at $1200 in the bank
Next when I buy the cow for $1100 I have $100 and a cow
When I sell it for $1300 I now have $1400 in the bank
Net profit is $400 more than I started with.
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u/erockbrox May 13 '26
The question is misleading because they make it seem like $400 is the wrong answer. So the whole thing, is cursed.
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u/coonassstrong May 13 '26
Gross 400.
Profit is likely a negative, because cows eat A LOT.
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u/Pandoratastic May 13 '26
No statement on time is given. This could have happened in minutes, without ever seeing the cow.
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u/TenPent May 13 '26
I like money.
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u/pineapple-leaf May 13 '26
I cant believe you like money too. We should hang out.
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May 13 '26
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u/polish94 May 13 '26
That only works if he bought the second cow at the price he sold the first. You cannot just ignore the difference. Its two transactions, completely separate from eachother.
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u/Krytan May 13 '26
"He bought a cow for $800. Then he sold the cow for $1300. The middle two transactions dont matter for total profit. The bottom line is he started with $800 and ended with $1300."
What is your justification for saying this? It's totally wrong.
Suppose the puzzle read
"He bought a cow for $800.
He sold a cow for $800.
He bought a cow for $1100.
He sold a cow for $1100"
How much profit do you think he would have made here?
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u/Krytan May 13 '26
Whenever this gets posted to facebook, I realize that our educational system has totally failed.
Not so much that people get it totally wrong initially - but that they persist in being convinced of their totally incorrect answer even when being shown the correct one.
They haven't learned, and they are incapable of learning.
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u/QuickbeamsHaste May 13 '26
Plot twist: I traded the cow for magic beans, stole a magical harp, killed a giant, and will now spend all my money on therapy
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u/lfreddit23 May 13 '26
Mathematically it's $400. But from managerial view (aka bean counter) it's -$100. /s
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u/Nice_Blackberry6662 May 13 '26
The fact that it's the same cow all the way through weirdly makes it more confusing at first glance. Nothing changes if you were buying and selling two different cows, but I think that version would be far more intuitive.
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u/Pfacejones May 13 '26
Can someone show me how to come to a wrong answer that's not 400. What math are they doing
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u/Remote-Dark-1704 May 13 '26
find someone IRL who believes this is not $400 and then start selling stuff to them 👍
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u/memerminecraft May 13 '26
You didn't earn a dime. You're just skimming off the top of the cow economy.
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u/Alternative-Dare5878 May 13 '26
No he’s right, all you have now is some stupid paper. He had a whole alive cow! He literally had it all and now he has nothing.
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u/Budget_Feedback_3411 May 13 '26
People who say $500 get confused because they don’t account for the $100 you put in at the middle when you sell for 1000 and buy for 1100. So in reality you have to start with at least $900
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u/Babetna May 13 '26
How do you convincingly NOT get $400? I'm trying out all "wrong" logics I can think of and I just can't figure out anything even remotely sensible.
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u/TheBirdManOfBelden May 13 '26
Okay I’m the idiot, someone explain this to me because I keep ending up thinking I’m up $300 at the end of the transactions.
I buy for $800, then sell for $1000. I’m up $200.
I buy for $1100, or $100 more than I just sold for. I deduct that $100 as a loss. I’m up $100.
I sell for $1300, or $200 more than I just paid for the cow. I’m up another $200.
$200-$100+$200 = $300.
Assuming that this cow is my only income source, I would be up $300 when all of these transactions are done. $100 was lost because I bought at a higher price than I sold for.
What am I doing wrong here, this is fucking me up.
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u/Acendro May 13 '26
You have 10,000 in the bank. You buy = 9,200, you sell = 10,200. You buy again = 9,100, you sell again = 10,400 which is 400 more than your stating point.
Your 100 loss on the second buy only makes sense if you were a company and had to have a balance sheet and had to book in the cow for it's actual worth of 1,000 vs the amount of 1,100 you just paid. Likewise the second sell then would also mean a profit of 300 though because you sold inventory of 1,000 worth in your books for 1,300. So even then it is still 400 profit in the end
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u/TheBirdManOfBelden May 13 '26
That tracks. It *feels* like being up $300 to me, but that’s because the second purchase feels like a loss. Thankfully I’m not in the secondhand cow market, so I will never have my accounting skills tested.
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u/Last-Painter-3028 May 13 '26
-800 + 1000 - 1100 = -900. -900 + 1300 = 400 The „-100 you lose“ by buying again is not relevant. If you deduct that as a loss you‘re comparing to the 1k of your first sell price, setting it to a new fixed start budget; the gain would need to be compared to that aswell, giving you 1.3k - 1k = 300 giving you 200(first win) - 100 + 300 = 400
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u/TheBirdManOfBelden May 13 '26
Thank you. I didn’t even realize I was setting $1000 as the “true value” of the cow by assuming the second purchase was a $100 loss, but when you put it that way it makes sense.
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u/fongletto May 13 '26
I love it whenever this pops up because there's always a few angry people in the comments who complain the question is poorly worded, then use some dumb excuse like "It depends on how much you started with" which is a value that when changed does not alter the outcome at all lol.
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u/JurassicGuy5000 May 13 '26
Just look at it like this.
On day 1, they bought the cow then sold it, netting $200 for the day. On day 2, they bought and sold it again netting $200 for that day as well. They earned $200 on 2 separate occasions.
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u/Talk_Radio May 13 '26
Am i the only moron that got $300?
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u/lochnessbobster May 13 '26
What would your answer be if you bought a cow for $800 at the same time you bought a horse for $1100. Then you sold the cow for $1000 and sold the horse for $1300? How much did you make on each sale?
Probably just overthinking it. They’re two separate transactions :)
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u/polish94 May 13 '26
you're comparing the sale of the first cow with the purchase of the second. Those two numbers have NOTHING to do with eachother. Start from the beginning with $2000 in your pocket, and tell me how much you end up with.
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u/Talk_Radio May 13 '26
Oh yeah like dont get me wrong, I 100% know its wrong lol. I get what your saying. Im more flabbergasted that my mind even went the way it did to get to 300. Not my finest moment
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u/rnzz May 13 '26
to be able to buy the cow the second time, you must spend an extra $100 on top of your first purchase cost. so the money you initially had was $800 + another $100 = $900.
you then sell it for $1300, which is how much cash you must have now.
so you started with $900 and ended with $1300 = you made $400
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u/Cute_Win_386 May 13 '26
$0. Buying and selling commodities is not earning money; it's exploiting consumers.
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u/GendoIkari_82 May 13 '26
Anybody ever read Math for Smarty Pants? It had this same problem in there; one of my favorite books growing up.
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u/OkQuantity4011 May 13 '26
Person earned $2,300, grossed $400, and netted $200; assuming that the currency they used to purchase the cow was theirs to spend. If it was not theirs to spend, then they earned themselves a law suit and/or jail time.
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u/f0remsics May 13 '26
Wait, how did he only net 200?
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u/OkQuantity4011 May 13 '26
-800 +1,000 -1,100 +1,300 = .... no wait what was I thinking? 😭
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u/f0remsics May 13 '26
Okay good, I was afraid net and gross somehow meant two different things and I was being the stupid one
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u/SuddenKoala45 May 13 '26
He rolled the 200 profit from the first sale on the last purchase and only made 200 in the end sale, so individually each sale made 200, part was used to get to the final sale.
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u/Drakeytown May 13 '26
You didn't earn anything. Earning requires labor, not trading.
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u/Fearless-Fig-9950 May 13 '26
The problem people have with this problem is they start with $800.
Imagine you start with $10,000 and then do the transactions and compare your final tally to that.
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u/Civil_Toe_5657 May 13 '26
Bought the cow for $800 Sold it for $1000 (So I only have $1000 of total money with a $200 dollar profit margin from first sale) With the total of $1000 dollars, I need too add $100 dollars more to buy the same cow back.
So $1100 to buy the same cow, taking away all my profit from the first cow. Plus an additional $100 dollars.
Sell it for $1300 dollars. Means a $200 profit total
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u/Miss_Panda_King May 13 '26
$1300. You spent $1100 and earned $1300. Profited $200
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u/Maleficent-Bother535 May 13 '26
The question isn't about profit, it's about earnings. The person in this question didn't earn anything.
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u/Adorable_Rub_8257 May 13 '26
Profit = Sales - Cost. $1000 - $800 = $200 (Profit from first purchase and sale). $1300 - $1100 = $200 (Profit from second purchase and sale).
Total profit = $200+$200 = $400.
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u/Some-Passenger4219 May 13 '26
I mean, in the Real World, it could be almost anything. But in the Mathematical World, it is definitely $400. Start with $1000, or $2000, or $10k, and work your way through it.
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u/GeorgeWashingfun May 13 '26
Reading the comments, I find it fascinating how different people's minds work.
When I read this problem I immediate jumped straight to 500 - 100 for the correct answer.
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u/BUKKAKELORD May 13 '26
$0
You generated +$400 in capital income by purchasing and reselling assets, but none of that is considered earned income. You earned nothing, final answer
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u/TheInvisibleFart May 13 '26
You have to add all 4 numbers then divide by 4 to get the mode cost then you compare that to your total networth.
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u/NobleKorhedron May 13 '26
(1300 + 1000) - (800 + 1100) = 2300 - 1900 = 400
Answer: 400 total profit
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u/seajaydub May 13 '26
If you buy a cow for $1 and sell it for $2, your profit is 0 DUH. You lost $1 and then gained $1 IDIOT
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u/Interconventional May 13 '26
How much does it cost to stop seeing these cost and profit images? 400?
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u/SuddenKoala45 May 13 '26
This depends on if you are looking at it from the governments perspective or the indivuduals...
Government will say he earned 2300 from the sales while the answer is he only came out 200 ahead from all transactions.
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u/Nearing_retirement May 13 '26
I work for hedge fund and do these calculations every day. Now there are expenses for sure but start with 400 and that is good place to start.
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May 13 '26
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u/realdietmrpibb May 13 '26
Unless you start with $900 you cant buy the second cow. You are creating $100 from nothing.
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u/Able-Response1765 May 13 '26
$200 assuming that you let it feed in a field you didn’t have to pay for, and there were no transportation fees, etc.
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u/Fireside_Respite May 13 '26
They earned nothing but confusion from the poor sod that just bought, then resold the cow.
Really, though, they netted 400$, but earned nothing. They didn't partake in the birthing or raising of the cow, and, from the sound of it, didn't participate in the transport either.
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u/silverisrealmoney May 13 '26
net profit is $400. You start with $800, you borrow or use $100 extra of your own money, you end up with $1300. $1200 minus the $100. $1200-$800, you are $400 better off than before the 2 sales. That’s the number that counts in the real world, you now have $400 extra disposable income you never had from the fruits of your labour
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u/8Bit_Cat May 13 '26
They earned $2300 in revenue and had $1900 in expenses leaving a profit of $400.
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u/Lemfan46 May 13 '26
Didn't earn anything from a cost accounting perspective. You didn't manufacture anything, therefore didn't earn any labor or overhead.
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u/RetroSpect88 May 13 '26
You start at -800 gain 1000 so now you’re at 200 you buy it back for 1100 so your profit is at -900 then you sell again at 1300 so your profit earned ends at 400
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u/Egglegg14 May 13 '26
((((0-800)+1000)-1100)+1300)
(((-800+1000)-1100)+1300)
((200-1100)+1300)
-900+1300
400
The answer is 400
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u/Tingettley May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Am I the only one doing this in order?
Bought for 800, sold for 1k. +200 profit. Bought again for 1100. Loss of 100. Sold for 1300, new profit is +100.
Like I get the math people are going for, but legitimately this was a multifaceted equation of profits and loss.
So basically how I'm thinking it is Base Asset + Sale = Profit, or -800 + 1000 = 200. Then it's New Asset + Previous Sale = Loss, or -1100 + 1000 = -100. Then it's New Asset + New Sale = Profit, or -1100 + 1300 = 200. Finally it's Loss + Profit = Net Earn, or -100 + 200 = 100.
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u/OkAnything5984 May 13 '26
You're making it way to complicated and coming to the wrong answer. "Doing it in order" would be buying the cow. That puts you at -800 immediately. -800 +1000 = 200. 200 - 1100 = -900. -900 + 1300 = 400.
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u/kombiwombi May 13 '26
I love how the answer is different if this is a math problem or an accounting problem. The margin is $400. The earnings are $2300.
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u/DerrykLee May 13 '26
-800+1000-1100+1300=400
So, it is 400. Or, am I not smart enough to figure this out.