John sells the sale price of 6 bicycles at 144 bicycles There was a loss. Its percentage loss is

The question text is garbled, so the first job is to reconstruct the intended data. The only reading that gives a clean loss is that John sells 144 bicycles for the price at which 150 bicycles cost him. The 6 in the question is the shortfall: 150 - 144 = 6.

Correct option (A, 4%): Loss is taken on cost price, so Loss % = (Loss / CP) x 100 = (6 / 150) x 100 = 4%. Each bicycle costs him 1 unit, the 150 bicycles cost 150, and he gets back 144.

Wrong options:

• B (6%): This takes the 6 units of loss as a percentage of 100, not of the cost of 150. It is the most common slip.
• C (8%) and D (10%): These would need a different cost base or a different shortfall. Neither follows from 144 and 150.

The core concept is percentage profit and loss on cost price. Mains and interview questions often ask you to justify the base used, and the base here is always cost price unless stated otherwise.

Trap: Dividing the loss by the sale price (6/144 = 4.17%) and then rounding carelessly, or ignoring the cost base and treating 6 as a percentage of 100.