Yes I do charge for cutouts . . . but I try to be reasonable because I realize that no one has "bee removal" in their budget.
It can be a LOT of work, depending on the circumstances, sometimes a couple of hours and other times a full day or more. I charge a "service call" fee that includes the trip charge, the set up and first hours worth work. Then an hourly fee for every hour after the first hour. I am typically not super rigid and will normally round down to the nearest hour. I also give senior citizen discounts and have other considerations, based on an individual basis.
Like John, I also enjoy the challenge and I really enjoy seeing all the different configurations of comb structures and such. I'm just now going into my second season, so I'm kind of like a kid in a candy store to some degree. I take my good camera and get lots of high end pics to document what I find. Most are inside some sort of cavity, but I've done a few removals that were open air and really interesting to see. Check out the pics section of my website or facebook (links below) to see some of these, some are really amazing. (to me anyway)
So to answer your question, "why cut-outs?" For me, it's a way to learn more about bees as well as save a few colonies that would likely get poisoned, if me (or someone like me) is not available. However, a cut-out is not always the best option and sometimes not even a option at all. Many times a trap-out is best and even though it takes longer, it is less invasive and many times less expensive.
I've only done about a half a dozen trap-outs so far, but they have all been successful - THANKS to Iddee and his very informative posts and support.