What is skambud? 

When a property is put up for sale in Denmark, it usually comes with an advertised udbudspris or kontantpris (asking price), the minimum price for which sellers are supposedly willing to accept offers.

In times gone by, you could often expect that the actual selling price would be higher than the asking price as buyers would push the price up in their attempts to outbid each other.

That is no longer the case, with the salgspris (selling price) is currently usually under the udbudspris, with the Danish housing market having cooled significantly after the rush to buy homes that was precipitated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s house prices in biggest jump for two years

This means that if you’re a buyer, you may even be able to haggle about the price and put in an offer lower than the asking price. That’s where the word skambud comes in.

It used to be seen as a little bit cheeky to offer to pay less than the asking price, so it’s perhaps no surprise that the compound word is made up of “shame” (skam) and “bid” (bud). It refers to an offer that’s so low it’s almost an insult. “For shame!” a seller might cry in response.

It also used to be pointless, as in nearly all cases you would quickly be outbid by other buyers.

Why do I need to know skambud?

These days, a skambud may not actually be too shameful.

In fact, many estate agents advise that if the asking price is just above what you’re able to pay, you may be able to successfully put in a lower offer, due to the slow housing market – although if you’re doing it in good faith it’s arguable whether it classifies as a skambud or not.

Its use isn’t just applicable on the property market, by the way. In any situation where you can make an offer on something that has been put up for sale – like the second-hand trade apps DBA, Trendsales and Reshopper – skambud are a common occurrence.

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The history of the word skam is debated, but it may be related to an old Germanic word that meant to cover something up which then grew to refer to the embarrassing thing you wish to cover up.

In verb form it becomes reflexive: at skamme sig (jeg skammer mig – I’m embarrassed/ashamed). There’s also the related at udskamme (nogen),  meaning to blame shame or condemn somebody over something.

This word has in recent years become closely associated with a culture of online shaming where internet users gang up on a target due to perceived poor behaviour or social transgressions: a “pile on”, as it’s sometimes referred to.

The word bud, other than of course meaning bid, also appears in words such as et postbud (a postal worker),  et budskab (a message), et tilbud (an offer), at byde nogen på noget (to offer something to someone) and de ti bud (the ten commandments).

Examples:

Synes du, jeg skal prøve med et skambud?

Do you think I should try an offer below the asking price?

Ingen vil købe vores hus – vi har ikke engang fået et skambud!

No one wants to buy our house – we haven’t even received an offer below the asking price!