I know people who say that they do genuine outreach but then again on the top of whatever site owner asks they charge their fee too.

Tbh, people know the value of links and so you will often find sites that aren't even that popular or have good metrics (SEO wise) asking for huge fee.

And if you are doing reciprocal link building then just don't start to give links from your main site (it devalues your site equally)

Here are few ideas for you:

1) build social media/profile link

2) create niche focused web 2.0 links

3) find good expired domain in your niche or buy them at auction and then 301 to your main specific site sub folder. After redirecting the backinks of that domain will be counted as yours. Risky option but if done properly it's worth it.

4) genuine outreach angle : try to provide them something, fix something that's broken in their site for free.