The biggest pricing mistake creators make is charging one flat fee. A brand deal is really two things: the content, and the right to use it. Price them separately, and give the usage an end date.
Typical usage rights pricing
Usage is usually priced as a percentage on top of your content fee. These are common starting points from 2026 UGC rate guides:
| Usage | Typical add-on |
|---|---|
| Organic only (brand reposts, no ads) | Often included, or a small fee |
| Paid ads: 30 days | +30% of the content fee |
| Paid ads: 90 days | +50% |
| Paid ads: 12 months | +100% (double) |
| Perpetual (forever) | +100% to 150%, or say no |
| Whitelisting / Spark Ads (ads from your account) | About +15% to 30% a month |
Exclusivity, raw footage, extra hooks and rush delivery have no standard rate. Set your own, and always give exclusivity a category and an end date.
A worked example
A UGC video at 250 and a TikTok at 400 make a content fee of 650. Add 90 days of paid usage (+50%: 325), two months of whitelisting at 20% a month (260), three months of skincare exclusivity at 15% a month (292.50), raw footage at 25% (162.50) and two extra hooks at 50 each (100). Total: 1,790, compared with the 650 a flat fee would have charged.
When usage rights end
Put the end date in the contract and in your tracker. When it arrives, the brand either stops running the content or pays to renew. A short, friendly email works: "The usage period for the video we made ended on [date]. If you'd like to keep running it, I can extend it for [period] for [price]. Otherwise, could you remove it from your ads?"
And get paid on time
In one industry report, 56% of creators said a brand had paid them late, and Net 60 or Net 90 terms are common. Ask for 30-day terms and 50% up front on bigger deals, and chase the day after the due date. In the UK, business clients who pay late can owe statutory interest of 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus fixed compensation of £40 to £100 per invoice.
FAQs
How much should I charge for usage rights?
A common starting point is +30% of your content fee for 30 days of paid ads, +50% for 90 days and +100% for 12 months. Whitelisting is often 15% to 30% a month.
Should I give a brand perpetual usage rights?
Only for a much higher fee (often +100% to 150%), because you'll never be able to charge for renewals.
What happens when usage rights expire?
The brand should stop using the content in ads, or pay you to renew. Track the end date so you can send the renewal quote in time.
Plan it in minutes
Prices usage and extras for you, counts down to when rights end, flags exclusivity clashes and chases late invoices. Editions for the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
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