The floor below which an agency will not send a model out. It is counted per shooting day or per hour, separately from the rights to the images.
What the number in the contract is made of
Two different things. The fee for the work: so much for the shift. And the payment for usage, which depends on where, for how long and on what territory the pictures will run. Billboards nationwide for a year and a webshop for one season are the same day’s work and completely different money.
Confusing the two is the most expensive beginner’s mistake: the day is paid honestly and the rights leave for free, forever — «Usage Rights, Plainly: Portfolio, Editorial, Commercial».
Why one person has several rates
Because pricing follows the type of work, not the person. A test, a catalogue day, a show and an advertising campaign are four different rates, sometimes differing by a multiple. The same model can have a cheap shift and an expensive campaign in the same month.
What makes it rise
What you have already shot: publications, campaigns, shows. A rate grows with the evidence, not with the years — which is why editorial work that pays almost nothing raises the price of the commercial jobs that follow it.
The words that sit next to it
Half day — usually up to four hours, with the caveat that overrun is billed in full. Overtime — the hourly top-up after the shift. Travel day — a paid day of travel. Fitting fee — payment for a fitting. Each of them has to be said out loud before the shoot.
How to work your own rate out without an agency — «Pricing Yourself Without Guesswork».
