The shops here in Groningen are having their huge New Year's sales. It used to be that the stores only had sales twice a year – in January and July. While it is now common to have small sales throughout the year similar to our N. American customs, the January sales are still the biggest and most popular.

I wouldn’t be surprised that if they ever tried to phase out the big January sales that everyone would make such a fuss and they'd have to bring the tradition back. Everyone here knows that the big sales happen in January. People who don’t normally go downtown are out for the sales, combing the streets trying to find the best deals. It is quintissentially Dutch to search for a great bargain.

Of course I’ve been in the throes of it myself. You can’t keep a shopper like me away - I can smell a good deal a mile away! And I can attest that the stores really do mark their stuff way down this time of year. The deals are amazing (which is good, because a lot of things are normally on the pricey side). We actually went shopping for Brad – he even went willingly – because the mark-downs were so incredible. You know the deals must be good when Brad’s willing to part with his money.

Yesterday I went alone just to see if there was anything left. This is the last chance because they say this is the last week before they send their products back to the factory. There is no such thing as "Ross Dress for Less" or "Winners" here. This I find strange because it think the concept would really work in Europe.

Anyways, I found this cute black dress that was on clearance for 15 euros marked down from 50. It is kind of plain, but fits nicely and won’t wrinkle when I stuff it in my suitcase or ride my bike. However, it was missing a belt. I'd heard that it is very common for the Dutch to ask for further reduction if something is a bit damaged. And in N. America I’d have inquired about this without a second thought. But here I would be reluctant to haggle if that hadn’t been brought to my attention.

So I hemmed and hawed about it for a few minutes before I got up the courage to ask a sales person. Needless to say when I did finally ask, they immediately reduced it by 5 euro! Amazing. It was very simple. I'd never done that before. Of course now I’m searching the clearance racks for anything that has a loose button or sticky zipper hoping to convince them to give me a reduction. No such luck.

But my story doesn’t end there. Today I met my friend Suzanne for lunch and shopping. She hadn’t had a chance to look for the deals in the last week yet and I'm always ready for more shopping. I eagerly told her my story and we reveled in my good fortune. I even took her to the store where I found the dress hoping that she too would be able to find something she liked.

She wanted to see the dress, so I went to the rack and saw that there are couple of them left for me to show her. I grabbed the dress and happened to the glance at the price tag. Lo and behold all of those dresses have been reduced to 10 euro - belt or no belt! I was so deflated. Now I'm sure the sales lady gave me the deal because she knew they'd be reduced the very next day.

We laughed at my disappointment and moved on to another store. There goes my theory about the Dutch trying to haggle over the best deals. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I can still get a good deal at IKEA in the “As Is” section almost every time. Maybe this experience has saved me from something embarassing in the future. I guess I can be grateful for that!