Mileage for traveling question

GemGem · November 16, 2011

Hi!

I have a photo shoot coming up that is 96 miles from my location. Customer agrees to pay for extra mileage, but since it is my first time charging for mileage, I am not sure what the standard is. Should I charge round trip or one way? :dunno

Thanks!
GG

jpc · November 16, 2011

Charge at least $1 per mile - both ways.

Mark Dickinson · November 16, 2011

do the government .51 cents per mile. that is always helpful to justify it if you want to. otherwise if you want to get paid to travel (1.00 per mile is high) you usually do 1 mile per minute in a car, and thats like 180.00 for 4 hours of travel $45/hr to drive. Time is money yes, feel your client.

51 c per mile would be about 90.00.

jpc · November 16, 2011

So if the OP was to charge $200 for a 2-hr shoot, an additional 4 hours of driving would only be an extra $96 @ $0.51 per mile.

2 hrs = $200. 6 hrs = $296.00

Sorry, but I think that is far too little. What if another client asked the OP for a shoot the same day and it couldn't happen because of the drive time required for the first shoot? Now how much is that extra 4 hours worth?

moose135 · November 16, 2011

I have to agree with jpc on this one - $0.51 per mile may be a reasonable reimbursement for your mileage costs (gas, tolls, and all the other costs associated with operating your vehicle) but that doesn't reimburse you for the time spent traveling and from the shoot. While you might want to charge something less than your usual hourly rate, you should get something for your time. In fact, it might have been better to simply quote a "day rate" plus a mileage reimbursement.

FedererPhoto · November 16, 2011

51 cents per mile plus compensation for time spent.

deb22 · November 17, 2011

Hi, always bill gov't rate and hourly. If you charge more than gov't people will not understand the double increase even without hourly rate. It is very easy to explain .51 and a flat rate for time travel and very few will argue with this. make sure that your hourly travel rate is less than shooting rate as people are used to getting free estimates when people come to there residence.

GemGem · November 17, 2011

Thank you!!

I quoted her the .51 per mile.. for some strange reason, I forgot to include my traveling time in the quote

. she has not gotten back to me yet.. but I don't know how to tell her.. oh and..... I will have it all figured out for next time.

Thank you!
GG

GemGem · November 17, 2011

moose135 wrote: »

. In fact, it might have been better to simply quote a "day rate" plus a mileage reimbursement.

I agree!

Mark Dickinson · November 17, 2011

There's all kinds of places to make up your Money for time out. Not in trivial per hour of time nit pick n you will se her hire someone that's about 90 miles closer. People are this way make it up on print sales by modding that or however you upsell.

If price wasn't a problem for her or curiosity of how you should handle it and they said your hired no questions asked. You'd not be posting. And a quote wouldn't be needed.

Just feel them out and if they want to comp you up front then you'll know a good client.

GemGem · November 17, 2011

Mark Dickinson wrote: »

There's all kinds of places to make up your Money for time out. Not in trivial per hour of time nit pick n you will se her hire someone that's about 90 miles closer. People are this way make it up on print sales by modding that or however you upsell.

If price wasn't a problem for her or curiosity of how you should handle it and they said your hired no questions asked. You'd not be posting. And a quote wouldn't be needed.

Just feel them out and if they want to comp you up front then you'll know a good client.

She was going to come to me, but then she asked what it would take for me to travel to them as they want to take pictures in their great farm. So this is where this all came up. Even if it does not work out with this time, it was great exercise for the next time.

I love all the different points of views here.

SamirD · November 22, 2011

I usually try to quote a minimum shoot time, like 3hrs, so it covers things like this. For example, if a shoot is 1hr and it's 2hrs away one-way, the minimum is 5hrs. If they're good with that, I get that all up front and they're confirmed. Any additional time is due the day of the shoot, and I let them know that. It's worked out pretty well so far.

I don't try to keep track of mileage since that's just one more thing to keep track of.

GemGem · November 22, 2011

SamirD wrote: »

I usually try to quote a minimum shoot time, like 3hrs, so it covers things like this. For example, if a shoot is 1hr and it's 2hrs away one-way, the minimum is 5hrs. If they're good with that, I get that all up front and they're confirmed. Any additional time is due the day of the shoot, and I let them know that. It's worked out pretty well so far.

I don't try to keep track of mileage since that's just one more thing to keep track of.

My accountant wants me to keep track of mileage:(

I think I am going include the miles in the price in the package for 2012 instead of breaking it down.
She was "ok" to pay the miles and session fee, until she wanted to buy the cd of her images. After I gave her that price, she, as Mark D. Mentioned above, found someone 90 miles closer.

This was a good exercise nonetheless

SamirD · November 22, 2011

GemGem wrote: »

My accountant wants me to keep track of mileage:(

Why? If you're not charging it or trying to write off mileage for tax purposes, you don't need to. And if your accountant is trying to write off mileage on taxes, you need a complete log book for the vehicle. This is an area which auditors hit hard.

I looked at this point very seriously when we had a delivery vehicle in one of my businesses. While we would get a better tax benefit with mileage, we found that the hassle and record requirements to avoid issues in an audit were steep. Instead, we just wrote off the fuel and maintenance expenses. Much simpler.

GemGem wrote: »

I think I am going include the miles in the price in the package for 2012 instead of breaking it down.
She was "ok" to pay the miles and session fee, until she wanted to buy the cd of her images. After I gave her that price, she, as Mark D. Mentioned above, found someone 90 miles closer.

This was a good exercise nonetheless

If someone chose another photographer based on price alone, then they really weren't in love with your work. When someone wants you, they want you, and these are clients that are a joy to work with. Photographers are a bit of a commodity these days, but the work isn't. Either the art is what you want in the budget you want or it isn't. And that's okay. Every business has its different mix of expenses. You can't price yourself out of business--another lesson I've learned in business.

Like you said, good exercise.

GemGem · November 22, 2011

SamirD wrote: »

Why? If you're not charging it or trying to write off mileage for tax purposes, you don't need to. And if your accountant is trying to write off mileage on taxes, you need a complete log book for the vehicle. This is an area which auditors hit hard.

I looked at this point very seriously when we had a delivery vehicle in one of my businesses. While we would get a better tax benefit with mileage, we found that the hassle and record requirements to avoid issues in an audit were steep. Instead, we just wrote off the fuel and maintenance expenses. Much simpler.

I will mention this to my accountant; see what we can workout.

If someone chose another photographer based on price alone, then they really weren't in love with your work. When someone wants you, they want you, and these are clients that are a joy to work with. Photographers are a bit of a commodity these days, but the work isn't. Either the art is what you want in the budget you want or it isn't. And that's okay. Every business has its different mix of expenses. You can't price yourself out of business--another lesson I've learned in business.

I agree

Like you said, good exercise.

Totally!

Thank you

Mileage for traveling question

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