A cell phone company charges a shipping fee of 7% of the purchase cost, p. If the total cost of shipping is calculated to be $30.25, what is the purchase price before shipping was added?
Let x be the purchase price.
The shipping fee is 7/100 * x = 0.07x.
The total cost is x + 0.07x = 1.07x.
So 1.07x = 30.25.
Hence, the purchase price is x = 30.25 / 1.07 = $<<30.25/1.07=28.27>>28.27. Answer: \boxed{28.27}.