5. Store I offers a pair of shoes Karen wants for 25% off their regular price of $12.00. Store J sells the same pair of shoes for $10, before a $2.00 mail-in rebate. Where should Karen purchase her shoes? Explain your reasoning. (Be sure to consider the cost of postage, as well as the time and effort required to mail in the rebate request in your response.)

To determine where Karen should purchase her shoes, we need to compare the final price she would pay at each store.

In Store I, the shoes are 25% off their regular price of $12.00. So, Karen would pay 75% of $12.00, which is (0.75)(12) = $9.00.

In Store J, the shoes are sold for $10 before a $2.00 mail-in rebate. This means that Karen would initially pay $10, but she would get $2.00 back after mailing in the rebate request. Therefore, her final cost would be $10 - $2.00 = $8.00.

Considering the cost of postage, as well as the time and effort required to mail in the rebate request, it seems that Karen should purchase her shoes from Store I. The price at Store I is only $1.00 more than Store J's final price, but Store I does not require Karen to go through the hassle of mailing in a rebate request. This means that Karen can save time and effort by simply purchasing the shoes at Store I instead of dealing with the rebate process.