Posted on 24 July 2008 by joost
Zegeltjes bij?
The Dutch and money–it is an irresistible combination. Even fake money is loved by Nederlanders. Even fake money you have to pay for yourself, is loved by Nederlanders. The most popular and widely used kind of fake money from a Nederlander’s own pocket is called zegeltjes or (food) coupons. Saving them is a national sport.
Sure, lots of stores (mostly supermarkets) in other countries have coupons. But the amount of coupons in .nl is just way out there. For starters, every supermarket has ‘em. Some supermarkets offer a choice between coupons for purchase (koopzegeltjes) that have interest, and freebie zegeltjes. The freebie zegeltjes give you a discount on a next purchase. Then you have summer zegeltjes, EK zegeltjes, winterzegeltjes and who-knows-what zegeltjes.
Often you can combine these zegeltjes to end up at a lower (i.e. better) price.
Other times you collect zegeltjes and trade them in for products (i.e. cheap shit) or discount for something unrelated (e.g. amusement park).
Beware though for the special kinds of zegeltjes: they are ofen valid for a limited time, you need at least one zegeltjesboekje (coupon booklet) and you have to paste the coupons in the boekje a certain way. Case in point are Albert Heijn‘s zomerzegeltjes, that give you €5 discount but only for a completed booklet. Miss one zegeltje and the thing is worthless. One day over? Same.
Whatever happens, always accept the zegeltjes at the cash register. You might not want them, but the person coming after you does. Give your zegeltjes to him/her and say “alsjeblieft”.
But not only supermarkets offer zegeltjes, oh no. Gas stations, pharmacies, hairdressers, well just about any kind of retail environment really. But it does not end there. Many products have zegeltjes, such as Douwe Egbert’s coffee. The zegeltjes are printed on the package, you cut them out and put them in a jar. Every five years you have enough zegeltjes to cash in! Bring the jar to the Douwe Egberts store and cash them for ….. a nifty Douwe Egberts jar to collect zegeltjes! How brilliant!
