This is how the money side of modelling works in practice: day rates, usage rights, which is where most of the money gets lost, and how to hold your ground when a client pushes back. If you're still at the stage of getting your first pictures together, how to build a modelling portfolio comes first, and how to find modelling jobs covers getting booked.
Why nobody tells you the rates
There's no public rate card for modelling. The industry has no minimum wage and no union rate that applies to everyone, and very few people say what they charge. That secrecy suits clients and agencies far better than it suits models, and it's a big part of why so many models charge too little.
So here's a realistic picture of what rates look like for different kinds of work and at different stages of a career, which should be enough to stop you guessing.
What decides your rate
No two jobs are the same, and your rate should follow the details of each booking. These are the things that move it.
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Your experience and portfolio
A model with a strong, varied portfolio and a record of professional bookings can charge more than someone just starting out. Experience isn't only counted in years, though. Twenty varied, well-done shoots in two years is worth more to a client than five shoots in five. Early on, the quality and breadth of your portfolio is the main thing you have to price with.
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The type of work
Commercial work for a brand pays differently from editorial for a magazine. Runway pays differently from e-commerce, and fitness differently from parts modelling. Each niche has its own habits and its own budgets, so work out where your job sits before you apply one price to everything.
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The client's size and budget
A global brand running a major campaign has a completely different budget from a small local business that wants product shots for its website. Charge a multinational the same day rate you'd charge a start-up and you leave a lot of money on the table. Look the client up before you quote: how big they seem, the campaigns they've already run, the industry they're in.
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Usage rights
This is the most misunderstood part of modelling rates, and it gets its own section below. In short, the fee for your time on set is one thing. The fee for how the pictures are used afterwards is separate, and often bigger.
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How long the shoot is and what it involves
A two-hour shoot pays differently from a full eight-hour day, and a location job with a lot of travel differently from a studio round the corner. Overnight stays, early call times and long hair and make-up changes all add time and effort, and they belong in the rate. Never quote a flat day rate before you know everything the job involves.
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Exclusivity
Some clients, particularly in crowded industries like beauty, food and drink or cars, ask for exclusivity: you agree not to work for their competitors for a set period. That cuts into what you can earn, so it should always cost them a real premium on top of your usual rate. How much depends on how long the period is and how competitive the sector.
Usage rights, the part most models get wrong
Usage is where rates get complicated, and where the gap between what models charge and what they should charge tends to open up.
The idea itself is simple. You're paid for your time on set, and separately for how the pictures are used. A picture in one social media post is worth less than one in a national advertising campaign. Three months of use is worth less than three years, and one country less than the whole world.
What the usage fee should cover
When a client wants to use your pictures, the fee should take account of all of these:
- where they'll appear: social media, a website, print adverts, billboards, broadcast, packaging
- how long they'll be used for: three months, a year, for ever
- the territory: local, national, regional or global
- whether you'll be kept from working for competitors during that time
- whether it's licensed use or a buyout. Licensed use means the client pays for specific rights for a set period. A buyout means they buy every right outright, for ever, and it should always cost a lot more.
An example
Take the same half-day shoot for two different clients.
A small brand
They want content for their Instagram and will use the pictures on social media only, for six months. Your rate for the time on set might be £200. Six months of social use from a small brand adds perhaps £100 to £200 on top. Total: £300 to £400.
A large national brand
They want the pictures on social media, their website and in-store displays for twelve months. The shoot fee might be the same, but the usage fee could be £500 to £2,000 or more depending on the size of the brand. The pictures are doing far more selling for them, and your fee should show it.
You're paid once for your time on set, and again for everything the pictures go on to do.
The classic beginner's mistake is quoting a basic day rate and then letting the brand put the pictures on billboards around the world for two years without charging a penny more. What the client is buying is the selling power of your face as well as your time, so charge for both.
Get usage in writing
Always confirm usage in writing before the shoot. Spoken agreements about how pictures will be used are unenforceable, and they're often forgotten or remembered differently afterwards. A short email setting out the agreed usage protects both of you and leaves nothing to argue about. If the client later wants to go further, say a print campaign with pictures shot for social media, that's a new usage negotiation and a new payment.
Realistic rates at each stage
These are broad global benchmarks. Rates vary a lot with the market, the niche and the person, but they give you somewhere to start.
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New and emerging models, up to two years in
- TFP: no fee, pictures in exchange for portfolio content
- Entry-level paid work: £75 to £200 a shoot for local or small commercial clients
- Half day: £100 to £250
- Full day: £150 to £400
At this stage some unpaid or low-paid work is a fair investment in your portfolio and in the people you meet, as long as the pictures will really help your book. Never work for free for a client who is making money from the pictures.
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Intermediate models, two to five years in, with a solid portfolio
- Half day: £250 to £500
- Full day: £400 to £900
- Usage fees on top, depending on the scope
- E-commerce is often priced per image or per look, and £25 to £75 a look is a common range
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Established models, with an agency or a name in their niche
- Half day: £500 to £1,500 and up
- Full day: £1,000 to £3,000 and up
- Major commercial campaigns: day rates can go a lot higher, and usage fees multiply the total
- Runway varies widely, from low four figures for smaller shows to five figures for major fashion week shows
When TFP makes sense and when it doesn't
TFP (time for portfolio) has a proper place in a modelling career. It's also misused a lot by clients who want free work dressed up as a creative collaboration.
It makes sense when
- you need the pictures for your portfolio and the photographer's work is good
- you're trying a style or niche you haven't shot before
- the photographer has a strong following or industry contacts that could open doors
- the pictures are for portfolios only, and neither of you will sell them or use them commercially
It doesn't when
- the client is making money from the pictures
- your portfolio is already strong and you don't need the shots
- the photographer's work isn't up to the standard of your book
- you're asked to travel a long way or spend real money to get there
- the "exposure" on offer is vague. A large social media following is the only exposure worth thinking about, and even then, weigh it carefully.
On SaltBrite, photographers, make-up artists and stylists say on their profile whether they work paid only, paid or TFP, or depending on the job, so you know where you stand before you get in touch.
How to quote your rate
Plenty of models find quoting a rate uncomfortable, especially when they're new and not sure they're worth it. A few things help.
Know your number before the conversation starts
Decide your rates in advance so you're never working them out mid-negotiation. Know your half-day rate, your full-day rate and the minimum below which you won't take paid work. With those figures clear in your head you can say them calmly, without hesitating.
Ask about usage before you quote
Before you give any figure, ask how the pictures will be used. You need to know to quote properly, and asking shows you know what you're doing. A client who seems surprised by the question, or dodges it, probably plans to use the pictures commercially in ways they'd rather not pay for.
Say your rate, then stop talking
Give the figure clearly and let the silence sit. The urge to justify it, apologise for it or add conditions straight away is understandable, and it works against you. "My day rate for this kind of work is £X, plus usage depending on how the pictures will be used" is a complete, professional answer. Then let the client reply.
Be ready to walk away
Your rate only means something if you'll turn down work below it. A model who always comes down to whatever the client offers doesn't really have a rate, only an opening price for a discount. Know your minimum, say it clearly and be prepared to lose the bookings that won't meet it. The clients who respect your rate are nearly always better to work with than the ones who don't.
Agency commission
If you're with an agency, it takes a commission on your fees, usually between 15% and 25% depending on the agency and the kind of work. Either the rate you agree has to allow for commission coming out of it, or the agency adds its commission on top of your rate when it bills the client.
Find out which way your agency does it before you start working with them. Both are normal and both are legitimate, but they leave you with different amounts, and you need to know which one you're on when you think about what you'll earn. How to get signed by a modelling agency covers what else an agency does for its cut.
Keeping records and getting paid
A freelance model is running a small business, whether they think of it that way or not. That means a record of every booking: what was agreed, what you delivered, what you charged and whether it was paid.
- Confirm every booking and the agreed rate in writing before the shoot date.
- Send a simple invoice after every paid job, with a clear date for payment.
- Chase unpaid invoices promptly and politely. Payment terms of 14 to 30 days are standard.
- Keep a record of all your income for tax. Modelling income is taxable in virtually every country, whether it comes through an agency or straight from the client.
Questions people ask
How much should a new model charge?
As rough benchmarks for your first two years: £75 to £200 a shoot for local or small commercial clients, £100 to £250 for a half day and £150 to £400 for a full day. Usage fees go on top when the pictures are used commercially.
What are usage rights in modelling?
Usage is the fee for how the pictures are used, separate from the fee for your time on set. It depends on where they appear, for how long, in which territory, whether you're kept from working for competitors, and whether the client licenses them for a set period or buys every right outright.
Should I do TFP shoots?
When you need the pictures for your portfolio, the photographer's work is good and the pictures are for portfolios only. Don't do TFP when the client is making money from the pictures or your portfolio is already strong.
How much commission does a modelling agency take?
Usually between 15% and 25%, depending on the agency and the kind of work. Some take it out of your rate and others add it on top when they bill the client, so ask which way yours does it.
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