Negotiated a signing bonus instead of base because the band was capped, and it worked

Recruiter was upfront that the base was maxed for the level, no room to move, which normally would've ended it there. Asked about a signing bonus instead since that's apparently a separate budget line in a lot of orgs. Got an extra chunk on top as a one time bonus, not huge but more than the zero I expected. Didn't know to ask about this on my last two offers and just took whatever base number came back.