No, you're not - and kudos for articulating that feeling of frustration so exactly. Without criticizing any particular company o industry, this sort of thing is rampant nowadays. It's just as bad, if not worse, in my business (independent film), to the point where I'm now surprised when someone makes me a good offer or accepts my price without significant haggling. As with coding, it's such a cool profession to be in - and intense pressure and challenge can make for such strong team bonds -  that it's almost <i>infra dig</i> to say you also need to make a decent living, or that you might want to spend money on something quite unrelated.<p>For a while I'd argue on the basis that being freelance is more expensive, equipment is expensive (substitute training courses or whatever), taxes and cost of living all force me to set a price X...but I realized that this kind of argument was putting me in an inferior position and giving the power to the buyer. So now I just say that I like really, <i>really</i> high quality hookers and blow, and that such luxuries don't come cheap. Although this is a joke, it serves two purposes: first, it reminds the recruiter/ producer/ publisher that you have concerns of their own, about which they know nothing and which they are not competent to evaluate; and second, it's aggressive enough to make the other person uncomfortable, by demonstrating your lack of shame about your own worth, which is a great negotiating tactic.<p>It doesn't have to be hookers and blow of course, that's just a funny cliche in my business. It could be solid-gold golf clubs or putting juice in your Ferrari or whatever. The point is that you're a busy person and you are the sole arbiter of how your time should be valued, and that for some kinds of things, the price is what it is. If you can't pay, then you don't get to play.