How do I get a vlook-up to return a value with the correct formatting?

[sinasdf]

Lets say I have in column A, fruit names:

Apple
Banana
Orange

and in column B, I have price discounts for the corresponding fruit:
$0.20
5%
$1.00

If I were to do a look-up in column C, those prices end up being:
0.2
.05
1

Is there a way for me to keep the formatting? I can't format the entire column C, as my discount pricing can be both a percentage and a dollar value.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[sheetspread]

A simple fix is to change the $ to x and % to y with ctrl-h, then change back (if possible).

 

[sinasdf]

I get what you're saying, but unfortunately that would have to involve some additional steps - I'm hoping that there is a formula or a way to format the cell so that I do not have to do anything after each look-up

 

[sheetspread]

Vlookup and similar functions can only find cell contents, not formats. You could write something in VBA, but the method i suggested above is easier.

 

[sinasdf]

I see - thank you for the insight!