In negotiation there is a threshold where you insult the other party. For someone you don't want to deal with this may be OK, but in general I think it's more considerate to say no than to play games with numbers.
In OP's case, if he had offered the spreadsheet guy some insane amount he probably never would have gotten any business. The more reasonable colleague would have seen the amount and scoffed, forming a poor opinion of OP's business.
In OP's case, if he had offered the spreadsheet guy some insane amount he probably never would have gotten any business. The more reasonable colleague would have seen the amount and scoffed, forming a poor opinion of OP's business.