Learn how to bargain when you're shopping at a market
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 8 - Getting a Bargain in the Netherlands. Eric here. |
| Jacob: Hallo. I'm Jacob. |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to ask for a discount. The conversation takes place in a market. |
| Jacob: It's between Tina and a market salesman. |
| Eric: The speakers are both young and the market is a relaxed place, so they’ll be using informal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Tina: Hallo. Hoeveel kosten die jeans? |
| Marktkoopman: Dat staat er toch! 40 euro. Kun je niet lezen? |
| Tina: Maar dat is toch zeker een vraagprijs? |
| Marktkoopman: He, we zijn hier niet in Marrakech. 40 euro is 40 euro. |
| Tina: Bij die andere stal waren ze goedkoper. |
| Marktkoopman: OK, dan maak ik een deal met je: Voor jou 35 euro. |
| Tina: Dank je wel. |
| Marktkoopman: OK, maar ik verlies er wel op. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Tina: Hello there, how much for these jeans? |
| Market salesman: It says that! 40 euros. Can't you read? |
| Tina: But surely that's only an asking price. |
| Market salesman: Hey! We're not in Marrakech here. 40 euros is 40 euros. |
| Tina: At the other stall they were cheaper. |
| Market salesman: Okay, I'll make you a deal. For you, 35 euros. |
| Tina: Thank you. |
| Market salesman: Okay, but I'm robbing myself. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Jacob, is bargaining acceptable in the Netherlands? |
| Jacob: These days bargaining is only accepted at markets and in second-hand shops. In everyday retail shopping, you’re no longer able to lower the price. |
| Eric: But in some of the famous markets such as De Albert Cuyp in Amsterdam and De Zwarte Markt in Beverwijk, you can still enjoy haggling and sharp comments when someone is buying something. |
| Jacob: That’s true. The Albert Cuyp street market is really very old, and has been going for more than 100 years. You can enjoy the bargaining culture there while buying from famous stalls, numerous exotic shops, workshops, and handicraft businesses. |
| Eric: And don’t miss the cozy pubs and restaurants in the market. By the way, who is the Albert Cuyp in the market’s name? |
| Jacob: Albert Cuyp was a 17th century painter, and is famous for such pictures as “Landscape with cattle” and “A View of the Maas at Dordrecht.” |
| Eric: Make sure you check that market out when you’re in the Netherlands, listeners! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: marktkoopman [natural native speed] |
| Eric: market vendor |
| Jacob: marktkoopman[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: marktkoopman [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: hoeveel [natural native speed] |
| Eric: how much, how many |
| Jacob: hoeveel[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: hoeveel [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: kost [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to cost |
| Jacob: kost[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: kost [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: zeker [natural native speed] |
| Eric: certainly |
| Jacob: zeker[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: zeker [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: jeans [natural native speed] |
| Eric: jeans |
| Jacob: jeans[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: jeans [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: vraagprijs [natural native speed] |
| Eric: asking price |
| Jacob: vraagprijs[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vraagprijs [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: andere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: other |
| Jacob: andere[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: andere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: stal [natural native speed] |
| Eric: market booth |
| Jacob: stal[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: stal [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Jacob: maar [natural native speed] |
| Eric: but |
| Jacob: maar[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: maar [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Jacob: goedkoop [natural native speed] |
| Eric: cheap |
| Jacob: goedkoop[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: goedkoop [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jacob: vraagprijs |
| Eric: It means “asking price.” This sign generally means that you’re able to bargain at that shop. |
| Jacob: But note that you can find vraagprijs tags mostly at markets such as openlucht markt.. |
| Eric: “outdoor markets,” |
| Jacob: or overdekte markt |
| Eric: “indoor markets.” |
| Jacob: You’ll also find it at the occasional second hand shop, but other than that you won’t be able to ask for a lower price. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Jacob: Sure. Using the word vraagprijs, you can say.. Waarom zeggen ze 'vraagprijs' als je niet kunt afdingen? |
| Eric: ..which means “Why do they say 'asking price' if you can't haggle?” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Jacob: Maar dan verlies ik er wel op. |
| Eric: which means “OK, but then I'm robbing myself.” This is a very informal idiomatic expression that holds a lot of humor. When you try to get a price much lower than the asking price, he or she uses this expression, right? |
| Jacob: That’s right, because they won’t make any profit at that price, or at least that’s what they claim! Maar dan verlies ik er wel op. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Jacob: Sure. If you make a deal to buy something for 10 euro, the seller might say.. OK 10 euro, maar dan verlies ik er wel op. |
| Eric: .. which means “OK, 10 euros, but then I'm robbing myself.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to ask for a discount in Dutch. As we mentioned before, in Dutch shops the prices are fixed and there is no negotiating. Markets and secondhand shops are different though. And in business, of course, everything is about negotiating, but that doesn’t apply to the retail trade. You can start bargaining with the phrase…. |
| Jacob: Maar dat is toch zeker een vraagprijs? |
| Eric: which means “But surely that is just an asking price?” That’s what Tina said in our dialogue. The expression... |
| Jacob: dat is toch zeker |
| Eric: which means “surely that is” expresses that a person wants to start negotiating, and the possibility of bargaining seems obvious. |
| Jacob: Right. Dat is toch zeker is a phrase used to say that something is obvious. If the seller doesn't want to negotiate about the price, you will probably hear..He, we zijn hier niet in Marrakech. 40 euro is 40 euro. |
| Eric: which means “Hey, we’re not in Marrakech here, 40 euros is 40 euros.” Jacob, is this a common expression in Holland? |
| Jacob: Yes. In the sixties and seventies, many Moroccan people came to Holland and brought with them their tradition of always bargaining when wanting to buy something. The Dutch were not used to that and would react to it in different ways. |
| Eric: I see. So the expression “We’re not in Marrakech here” was one of them. It’s not meant to be discriminatory, it just became an expression, right? |
| Jacob: Correct. If the seller is ready to give you a discount, he will probably say...Voor jou 35 euro. |
| Eric: which means “For you, 35 euros.” |
| Jacob: You may have noticed that euro sometimes becomes euros and sometimes does not when used in the plural. Both are correct and can be used interchangeably. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jacob: Tot ziens! |
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