It is not just in photography that you find gatekeepers. All industries have that to some extent. Those photographers who are getting the paid gigs have a track record that, as you are discovering, took time, effort, sacrifice, etc. They are reluctant to “give” away their secret sauce to their competition. I teach photography, my students are not my immediate competition, so I can share and advise. You are literally asking what you need to know so you can put them out of business. Does that seem fair to them? I hope you keep at it, but I don’t see much of a chance they will change. They are not being mean, they are protecting their livelihood.

You said you were hired. If so you should have a contract to provide specific services, with a specific cost, or fee structure. It sounds like you have not been hired yet, as you say you don’t want to over charge or lowball. If they are wanting 12 images you have to determine how much post processing those will require, and your processing skill and speed. If it is some good quality JPEGS, with minimal retouching then double your hours from the event for a total of 4 hours. Again, your rates are described in the contract when they hired you. If they haven’t actually hired you and you don’t have a written contract I would caution you to not take the assignment.

I don’t offer my clients RAW files, and I don’t know any pro shooters who do. If you had it in the contract that might be your only chance. Good luck.

Get it in writing. Period. Never trust that your instructions will be carried out, even if you text, or email them. Also make sure the meta data on your images is up to date with all your contact information. Never release an image with the words, “use them however you want”. Hard way to learn a valuable lesson. Trust no one.