What the numbers do not tell you
Clipper guards come in fixed lengths. A cut that goes zero, one, two, three up the side has four bands of length with three visible steps between them, and no amount of confidence at the counter changes that.
A fade is what happens when somebody removes those steps by hand: open lever work, clipper-over-comb, and a lot of checking in the mirror from three angles. That is where the extra ten minutes goes, and it is the entire difference in price between this and a classic cut.
You can see which one you got at about day nine. A hand-blended fade grows out soft and keeps its shape for three weeks. A guard-stepped one grows out as three visible lines and looks untidy by the second weekend.
Which height
Low fade starts just above the ear and keeps weight through the sides. It suits most heads, reads conservative, and is what to ask for if you work somewhere that notices haircuts.
Mid fade starts at the temple. The standard modern answer and the one most men mean when they say fade without qualifying it.
Bald or skin fade goes to nothing at the bottom. Sharpest, highest maintenance, and honest about it: at two weeks it is a different haircut, and at three it is not really a fade any more.
The taper
Not a fade. A taper is the neckline and the sideburn only, cleaned and graduated, with the length on the sides left alone. It is what a lot of men actually want when they ask for a fade, and it is included in the classic cut at no extra charge.