The short answer
If the edge of your product is hard and defined — a shoe, a bottle, a watch, a box — use a clipping path. If the edge is soft, fine or see-through — hair, fur, lace, mesh, smoke, glass — use masking. Many images need both.
What a clipping path actually is
A path is a vector outline drawn by hand with the pen tool. Because it is vector, it stays sharp at any size and can be re-edited later. It is fast, cheap and perfect for geometric products. What it cannot do is represent partial transparency — every pixel is either in or out.
Where masking earns its cost
Masking works on pixel opacity instead of a hard outline, so a strand of hair can be 40% visible against the new background. That is the only way a model shot or a chiffon dress looks natural after the background changes. It takes longer, which is why it costs more per image.
The combined approach
For a model wearing a jacket, we clip the jacket body and mask the hair, then merge the two. You pay the masking rate only on the part that needs it, which keeps a large shoot affordable without visible corners cut.
How to brief your editor
Say what the product is, whether the background will be white or a lifestyle scene, and whether the image will ever be printed large. Those three facts are enough for us to pick the right method without going back and forth.