The postal service of St. Vincent, an island in the West Indies, obtains a significant portion of its revenues from sales of special souvenir sheets to stamp collectors. The postal service purchases the souvenir sheets from a supplier for $0.80 each. St. Vincent has been selling the souvenir sheets for $8.00 each and ordinarily sells about 80,000 units. To test the market, the postal service recently priced a new souvenir sheet at $7.00 and sales increased to 93,600 units.
Required:
1. What total contribution margin did the postal service earn when it sold 80,000 sheets at a price of $8.00 each?
2. By what percentage did the St. Vincent post office decrease its selling price? By what percentage did unit sales increase? (Round your answers to one-tenth of a percent.)
3. What total contribution margin did the postal service earn when it sold 93,600 sheets at a price of $7.00 each?
4. What was the postal service's increase (decrease) in total contribution margin going from the higher price of $8.00 to the lower price of $7.00?
5. How many sheets would the postal service have to sell at the lower price of $7.00 to equal the total contribution margin earned at the higher price of $8.00? (Round your answer up to the nearest whole number.)
6. What percentage increase in the number of sheets sold at $7.00 must be achieved to equal the total contribution margin earned at the higher price of $8.00? (Round your answer up to the nearest one-tenth of a percent.)
7. A financial manager at the postal service has suggested that a more accurate comparison of the two pricing alternatives ($8.00 vs. $7.00) should include an allocation of the postal service's common fixed costs. A portion of the common fixed costs would be allocated to each alternative using total sales dollars as the cost allocation base. He contends that this approach would help ensure that the postal service's common fixed costs are covered by the prices that it charges customers. Do you agree?