You read in the chapter about the dangers of pricing products too low. It seems so obviously wrong, but do companies really price their products so low that they won't make any money? After all, companies are in business to make money, and if they don't, they're probably not in business for very long. Let's take a deeper look at the effects of pricing products too low or creating too deep discounts during sale periods.31

1. The average markup for a produce department is 28 percent on selling price. When sold at 28 percent markup on selling price, bananas usually account for 25 percent of department sales and 25 percent of department markup. This week, because bananas were on special sale at the retailer's cost, the department sold twice as many pounds of bananas as usual. However, they were sold at zero markup. If all other things remain the same, what is the average markup on selling price for the entire produce department this week?