Alan King tells the following joke:
A Gentile goes into a clothing store and says:
"This is a very fine jacket. How much is it?"
The salesman says: "Five hundred dollars."
The Gentile says, "OK, I'll take it."

No "handlin"--bargaining. No asking "Vee-fel cost es?" (How much does it cost?") and then following the answer with "Tzu feel" (Too much.)

In Jerry Stiller's book, "Married To Laughter," Jerry relates the story of his mother taking him to Orchard Street to purchase a Bar Mitzvah suit. His mother's bargaining skills "were honed to razor sharpness." The wool, top-of-the-line material (not to be confused with rayon or some synthetic) had an asking price of $13.00. His mother told him, "Don't say you like it because he's going to want more money if he knows you like it." After "handlin," the suit cost $6.50.

And the late Sam Levenson ("In One Era & Out the Other") wrote, "Our mamas did not hesitate to bargain. Questioning a price was standard procedure...Fair Trade meant that you never paid the asking price. All deals were negotiable...Making a good deal called for every known technique and stratagem of logic and pseudo logic, deduction, induction, seduction, abduction, thesis, hypothesis, and antithesis. People like Mama, however, who could not risk spending an extra penny, questioned everything...When I was about to be graduated from elementary school, Mama took me to the pushcart to buy me a tie. The tie man asked fifty cents, and, to my utter astonishment, Mama paid it--no counteroffer, no debate, no dissent, just fifty cents paid politely in cash, without comment, and 'Thank you' yet, to close the deal..." (Mama never liked the man and was getting even. Tonight he would kill himself because he didn't ask for a dollar!)

Martin Marcus ("The Power of Yiddish Thinking") wrote about a friend of his who was sent off to his uncle's clothing store. He was expecting a special consideration on the price of the suit of clothing. There were no prices market--only a code. The young man cracked the code and determined the actual cost and the minimum acceptable profit. He selected a suit and calculated that it should cost $30. He presented it to his relative.
"For you," said the uncle, "fifty dollars."
"But uncle," said the young upstart, "I happen to know that you sell the same suit to your ordinary customers for only forty dollars. How can you ask fifty dollars from your own flesh and blood?"
"Nu," said the uncle, wise as the hills in the ways of Yiddish Thinking, "so if I can't make a living off my own flesh and blood, who can I make it off?"

Molly Katz ("Jewish as a Second Language") defines "rock" as the absolutely lowest possible price a seller will accept and a "steal" as below rock.

H. Jackson Brown said, "When paying cash, ask for a discount."

I've always felt that "handlin" was something negative and that use of this term by non-Jews reinforced a negative image of Jews and Judaism. Via e-mail, I decided to interview numerous prominent Jews to determine their thoughts on "handlin."

Chaim I. Waxman wrote, "It's interesting that you see 'handlin' as something negative and wonder 'why Jews are always accused of' it. Actually, I would imagine that it is viewed as a positive skill among those who are involved in business. I think that that is probably very Western. I can well imagine that those in the marketplace and especially in non-Western cultures, would view those who DON'T 'handel' as suckers. Jews have been involved in trading and business for centuries, if not millennia and, therefore, developed the skills of 'handlin'; but they certainly have no monopoly on it.

Does that reinforce a negative stereotype of Jews in Western countries? Probably. But I suspect that it only reinforces; I doubt that it serves as a basis for a negative image of Jews among those who don't have one to begin with. Thus, I suspect that it was someone who had a negative image of Jews who created the expression, 'jewed him down,' which is, essentially, another version of 'handlin.'"

Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz said, "Handlin" is NOT a derogatory term. Goyim pay retail bcs (sic) they don't have a Yiddisha Kop. Itz (sic) in praise of the bright Yiddisha Kop that the term "handlin" came into being. When it comes 2 mitzvahs, however, (like buying tefillin or mezuzahs) we have the tradition that the Famous Kabalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Holy Lion of Tziat) Never Handeld. He always paid the asking price."

Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro wrote, "It is said that only a goy pays retail. There is nothing wrong with being a "handler." As long as the person you are handlin' with agrees. Did you ever hear of a 'bargain hunter? That's handlin' for a good price - to bargain and try and get the best deal. Today, goyim learned how to do it also."

Rabbi Barry H. Block said, "My feeling is that the entire idea of Jews as cheap, as constantly looking for a bargain, or forever asking for a better deal, is an anti-Semitic stereotype, nothing more, nothing less."

Helen@yourjewishfairygodmother.com wrote, "I know the concept is most often used pejoratively, the phrase 'Jewing someone down' being the most vulgar I recall from my youth. I for one do not want to pay more if I can pay less...Yes, I think the concept of bargaining down ("handlin') is meant as a derogatory stereotype of Jews. It plays into the cheap Jew, the money-sucking, money-lending Jews. That said, I think it was played upon and played up by generations of bright Jewish comics, who made a living and a reputation selling the stereotype all the way to the bank.

So while others may be belittling, there's also a sense of pride about getting a good deal that is cultivated among many people I know, Jews and goyim. I personally see it as a direct contradiction to the WASPish (see the stereotypes) I can afford to pay X for something (where X is an intentionally big and impressive number) so I have more worth and clout than you bargaining peoples. Paying less is good among my people. Why else shop at Costco?"

Ken Blady asked ME, "Why does handlin' reinforce a negative stereotype? Why are you so concerned about what others think of you? Where in the Torah is it written that Jews are not allowed to haggle over the prices? What's wrong with haggling over prices? Only Jews who want to 'pass' for Episcopalians or Methodists are taken up with the image of the 'haggling Jew.' The rest of us have no problem with ah bissel haggling. It's good for you. In fact, some of us (speaking about myself) live to haggle. Give me haggling or give me death."

Arnold Fine (columnist for The Jewish Press) wrote, "The word 'handlin' simply means 'dealing with.' If I wanted to buy a suit and the man said the suit was $100, I would start 'handling' as anyone would do when they purchase an expensive tem. It is not a derogatory term. As a matter of fact, the biggest 'handlers' were the wealthy non-Jews who purchased real estate back in the 1800s and early 1900s. Old Man Kennedy was probably the best 'handler' when he was selling and buying illegal whiskey years ago. During Prohibition Old Man Kennedy was running illegal liquor from Canada to the U. S. He had to 'handle' with the mobsters who operated the speakeasies that were all over the city."

Herb Cohen ("Negotiate This, By Caring But Not T-h-a-t Much") wrote, "The stereotype that Jews are 'handlers' comes from ignorance. In reality, widespread negotiating is prevalent in virtually every culture throughout the world--with the exception of the United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavia, Australia and the United States.

Actually, negotiating is very much in the tradition of America (e.g. the days of the Yankee Trader) but after World War II we had a virtual monopoly of products and services. Thus, with demand much greater than supply, we could get what we wanted without bargaining. Also, Americans follow a herd mentality in accepting forms of legitimacy (printed signs, typed documents, etc.) so we got used to paying retail.

Does this accusation, reinforce a negative stereotype? Only with those who believe that Jews all know each other, control world banking, the media and make matzohs from the blood of gentile children."

And, finally, Rabbi Robert A. Alper (http://www.bobalper.com) wrote, "I don't think 'handlin' is nearly as derogatory as 'Jew him down,' which also isn't necessarily derogatory, particularly as times have changed and the world becomes smaller. Arabs are actually insulted if you don't bargain ('handle') with them. It's a social courtesy of a sort.

In 1971, as I drove to my student congregation in West Virginia, I used to stop at a brass 'shop,' actually a man's home and front yard, in rural Kentucky. Eventually, I ordered a queen size brass bed. The owner knew who I was, where I was going, etc. and when I asked where he got the old beds he reconditioned, he said he goes up into the mountains, finds the beds, and 'Jews down the prices.' I was startled, but realized there was absolutely no malice here.

I almost have a sense that 'handlin' (only Jews really know that word) and 'Jew them down' are said with more admiration and less contempt than in the past, when in America buying retail was the norm."