Actually, it's one of the best ways to get what you want.
An example in ReBoot is that one female character's bust size (it's been so long that I can't remember her name. Enzo's older sister). In order to get what they want, they actually went with something double the size so they could negoatiate down to that "reasonable" size, where if they had started from that, they wouldn't have been able to get it.
I mean I get the principle in general; if you were trying to get funding for a program there's really no downside to asking for more than you actually need and then negotiating. But here if you got less resistance than expected and ended up at $13 or something you might end up doing the opposite of what you wanted to do (help workers), whereas $10 might have helped them a lot.
Whether it's the correct tactic or not, you have to remember that people, by and large, aren't that smart. ---
Congratulations to BKSheikah, winner of the BYIG Guru Contest