Why do we always say that something was a (clearance) bargain?

I always say that I never do it, but suddenly I did. Wednesday morning I walked into the hair salon and threw my sunglasses on the table. I received a nice compliment about the sunglasses in question. Which made me happy, because: new. And suddenly I heard myself say it. ‘From Le Specs. Not expensive at all.’ I gasped in shock, that I immediately exclaimed how silly it actually was to say that. And that brings me to the question of why we do that.

Why do we in the Netherlands have such a need to attach a price tag to everything? When you give a compliment about something, you sometimes barely avoid having the receipt shoved under your nose. Euros, place of purchase, and whether or not it’s on sale are almost always shared without exception. When was the last time you heard it was a little H&M piece? While a simple ‘thank you’ would suffice. At the moment the other person wants to buy it too, you can always elaborate on these side issues.

A plausible explanation is that it has to do with our national character. In the Netherlands, we thrive on the do-but-normal-then-you're-crazy-enough principle. Which is of course nothing wrong with, but you can't just get rid of it. This Calvinistic tendency ensures that you may have nice things, but it’s an unwritten rule that we don’t show off with them. Do you get a compliment? Then our first impulse is to downsize it, causing us to spit out all kinds of brands and amounts.

We are not stingy in the Netherlands, by the way, but we are frugal. We seem to be sitting on a gigantic pile of savings together. And what is more frugal than buying a pair of sunglasses that looks five times more expensive for a very good price? Research shows that almost half of the Dutch wait for a purchase until there’s a discount to be had. Not just because it has to be, but because, exactly: that frugality.

So if someone shouts that something was not expensive at all, then you now also know that it comes from the fact that we especially do not want to brag. Although I advocate that we just say thank you and then swallow our tongue. With your ‘it was not expensive at all.’.

PS: If you are still curious about those too cute sunglasses from Le Specs that were not that expensive at all? You can shop it here.