{"id":"fpa-markdown-units-to-match-margin-lines","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"verification","level":"intermediate","title":"Show how many units a markdown must sell to match margin dollars","free":false,"task":"You're helping a merchandising manager think about a markdown. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting \"Sale price:\", \"Margin before:\", \"Margin after:\", \"Units to match:\" and \"Read:\". The markdown is a percent off the original price. Units to match is how many units at the sale price earn the same total margin dollars as 100 units at the original price. Sale price is the original price times (1 - markdown); margin percent is margin per unit divided by that price. Margin dollars only: ignore demand lift, advertising and carrying costs. Show the math. The Read line states the multiple of 100 units, as a fact only. Under 90 words.","materialLabel":"Source material (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"MARKDOWN ANALYSIS - Winter jacket\n\nOriginal price: $50\nUnit cost: $30\nProposed markdown: 30% off the original price\nUnits sold at original price in the comparison: 100\n\nNotes:\n- The merchandising manager believes \"a 30% markdown needs about 30% more units to break even.\"\n- The warehouse has 600 jackets in stock, which is more than any quantity discussed here.\n\nThe manager will take this to the Nov 16 pricing meeting and wants to know how much more volume the markdown needs to earn the same margin dollars.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":90}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the five lines","patterns":["sale price","margin before","margin after","units to match","read"]},{"label":"Gives the formula","patterns":["margin dollars","100 x","margin per unit"]},{"label":"Asks for the multiple","patterns":["multiple","times"]},{"label":"Asks for the math","patterns":["show the math","math"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","under \\d+"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Trusting the 30 percent rule","why":"The AI says 30% more units is enough.","fix":"Say: \"Compute units from margin dollars, not from the markdown percent.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Skipping the margin per unit","why":"The AI divides prices instead of margins.","fix":"Add: \"Units = total margin dollars before / margin per unit after.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Adding opinions","why":"The AI says whether the markdown is wise.","fix":"Add: \"Read: the multiple, as a fact only.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong line labels","why":"The AI writes a paragraph instead of five labeled lines.","fix":"Add: \"Five lines with these exact labels in order.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Markdown extras","why":"The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits.","fix":"Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each part short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"A markdown cuts margin per unit by much more than the percent suggests. Compute from margin dollars.","rubricLabels":["The five lines start Sale price:, Margin before:, Margin after:, Units to match: and Read: in that order; Sale price shows $50 x (1 - 0.30) = $35 and Margin before shows $50 - $30 = $20 (40%)","Margin after shows $35 - $30 = $5 (about 14%) and Units to match shows (100 x $20) / $5 = 400","Read states 400 units is 4 times the original 100, as a fact, and the 30% more units belief is not used as the answer"]}