Such an annoying belief. I was in a shop, this one time, admiring a pair of half-decent quality boots and, not seeing a price tag, asked the woman behind the counter how much they were. Without lifting her eyes from the magazine she was reading, she said in a tone of voice that suggested it could easily cut glass:

"If you have to ask how much they cost, you obviously can't afford them, can you?"

(sigh). Honestly. That'd be the last time I ever shop at Oxfam.