How to Price Your First Brand Deal (Without Underselling Yourself)
The first brand email lands in your inbox and the only question that matters is: what do I charge? Most creators guess low. This is the framework to stop guessing.
Start from a base rate, not a feeling
The industry's working rule of thumb is a base rate per 1,000 followers, adjusted by platform:
| Platform | Base per 1k followers | 50k example |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | ≈ $20 | ≈ $1,000 |
| Instagram Reels | ≈ $12 | ≈ $600 |
| YouTube (dedicated) | ≈ $25 | ≈ $1,250 |
That's your floor for a single dedicated post — before engagement, rights, or exclusivity enter the conversation. Run your own numbers in the brand deal rate calculator; it uses this exact formula and shows its work.
Engagement moves the price more than followers
A 20k account at 8% engagement is worth more to a brand than a 100k account at 1%. A simple way to express that in your quote: multiply your base by (your ER ÷ 4%), capped roughly between 0.6× and 1.8×.
Don't know your number? Use the engagement rate calculator first — brands will check it anyway.
Price the rights, not just the post
The video is the cheapest part. What brands actually buy:
- Usage rights / Spark Ads / whitelisting — they run your face as paid media: ×1.5–3
- Exclusivity (30–90 days) — you give up competitor deals: ×1.3–2
- Cross-posting to extra platforms: +30–50% per platform
- Rush delivery under 7 days: +25–50%
The single most expensive mistake first-timers make: handing over perpetual usage rights for free because the contract said "standard terms."
A reply template that anchors high
Thanks for reaching out — I'd love to hear more. For a dedicated TikTok video my rate starts at $X, which includes one round of revisions and 30 days of organic exclusivity. Usage rights, whitelisting, and additional platforms are quoted separately. What's the budget range on your side?
Three things this does: anchors your floor, names the extras as paid, and makes them reveal budget first.
Red flags worth walking away from
- "We'll pay in exposure" — exposure doesn't clear rent.
- Perpetual, irrevocable usage rights in the boilerplate.
- Payment "60–90 days after posting" with no contract.
- A brand that won't put deliverables in writing.
Keep the whole deal in one place
Brief, quote, revisions, invoice, payout date — first deals fall apart in the follow-up, not the negotiation. Opportunities in CreaMate keeps the entire pipeline in one inbox, drafts your quotes, and reminds you when the money is due.