So the base price is 100:
Bartering 4 will give 40% and there fore 40 reduction
But the 40 won't be deducted before the upprizing, but after:
100 x 2,5 = 250 - 40 = 210 (fits my numbers aswell)
What people and even me would expect:
100 - 40 = 60 * 2,5 = 150
So the Larian way of maths seems very odd, or said differently: The description of Bartering is totally off and won't be understood from anyone correctly.