At first glance, this looks like one of those problems that makes your head spin for no reason. You buy a cow, sell it, buy it again, sell it again… and suddenly everyone in the comments is arguing. Some say the profit is obvious. Others swear the math doesn’t add up. But once you slow it down, the answer becomes surprisingly simple.
Here’s what actually happened in the first deal. You bought the cow for $800. Then you sold it for $1000. That means you made a profit of $200 on that first transaction. Nothing tricky there — buy low, sell higher, profit.
Now comes the second round. You bought the same cow again, this time for $1100. Then you sold it again for $1300. That second transaction also gives you a profit of $200. Once again, buy for less than you sell and pocket the difference.
This is where people get confused. They start combining numbers across different moments instead of looking at each deal on its own. The extra $100 you paid the second time feels like a loss — but it isn’t. It’s just the cost of entering a new transaction, not a penalty that erases the first profit.
When you add the profits together, the picture becomes clear. First deal: +$200. Second deal: +$200. Total profit: $400. That’s it. No hidden trick, no missing money, no secret loss hiding in the numbers.
The reason this puzzle goes viral every time is because our brains hate resetting. We instinctively try to track the cow instead of tracking the transactions. Once you focus only on what you gained each time you sold, the confusion disappears instantly.
So yes — the math is mathing. The answer is $400.
