Setup time - charge? Or cost of doing business?

For on site commercial portraits where you travel with backdrop etc. where do you recoup the costs of that time and effort in the quote? Do you simply charge a half day/hourly rate that includes a value for your time, or do you incorporate a "setup surcharge"?

I would quote for my time on a hourly / daily rate and then look at licensing for the images that they take dependant on usage.

My travelling / setup time would be covered by my day rate unless it was excessive - say greater than 75 miles and then I'd itemise it seperately.

I never want to have a client think of me as an hourly worker, I am a creative freelancer. After gathering the information regarding the images, usage and term of use, I will build in the time required to produce the job. Quote them an hourly rate and they may interpret it as a work for hire situation.

Day and half-day rates generally include "free" setup & teardown time; hourly rates generally do not.

Travel is free up to 30 miles, after that I use the current IRS standard rate.

i think it would just be rolled into the quote. Set-up is your responsibility as its what you require to get the job done. But I would also define what set-up is. If its beyond unloading and building the scene within your control, then you add charges. This is of course all info you would have acquired before accepting the job.

If you're sufficiently established you should be charging enough to be recouping these fees without tacking them on, er, tackily. I would be working on a price per finished portrait that bears in mind their usage and your time.

Buchinger wrote in post #16667965
For on site commercial portraits where you travel with backdrop etc. where do you recoup the costs of that time and effort in the quote? Do you simply charge a half day/hourly rate that includes a value for your time, or do you incorporate a "setup surcharge"?

I ask what is expected of me, crunch the numbers internally, then spit out one fat price quote.