Negotiating pay

Have any of you ever negotiated pay when applying for a new job? I know quite a lot of people are told there is a range based on your years of experience etc, but I've also been told that the range is a myth and used to keep pay down. Has anyone ever negotiated their pay and gotten a higher rate than they were offered? I did it once...i was offered the same rate I was currently getting but I negotiated and was offered $3 more an hour. I just wondered how far someone has taken it.

I've negotiated myself off the scale once, but I wasn't a new hire. I just told them plainly that I wanted to be one of the employees off the pay scale. It was about $5, if I remember correctly.

So you negotiated for something off their scale and still got the job? That's awesome. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Did they fight you and how hard did you fight back?

I was not a new hire, I'd been there a year. My manager did "argue" back and forth with me for quite a while before ultimately giving in.