re: Best Way to Counter Offer

In my experince, most companies have a range they are willing to pay for a particular position. They will almost always offer the low end of the range. If I were you, i would ask for 65K (based on your example) and like the other poster said above, provide reasons why you deserve that.

They will probably not give you what you want, but they may split the difference. If they say no then you haven't lost anything. Remember, an extra 4k up front on a 58k job is nearly 7%. Where else are you going to get a 7% raise for doing no work?!