UGC rates: how to build a rate card as a UGC creator

Most UGC creators start pricing the same way: someone asks "what are your rates?", you type a number into a DM, and you spend the evening wondering if it was too low. A UGC rate card ends that. It is a short list of the services you sell, what each one includes and what it costs, written before anyone asks.

This guide is for creators. It covers which items to put on a UGC rate card, what should move each price, how to present it to brands and how to handle a negotiation without undercutting yourself. There is a template table you can copy halfway down. It will not tell you what you "should" earn: nobody can do that honestly without knowing your work, your niche and your market.

What a UGC rate card is (and what it isn't)

A UGC rate card is a price list per service item. The base video is one line. An extra hook is another. Paid usage by the month is another. A brand reads it and builds its order from the lines it needs, the way you would order from a menu.

It is not a media kit. A media kit sells your audience: followers, reach, demographics. UGC is mostly content the brand publishes on its own channels or runs as ads, so the brand is paying for your craft and for the right to use the result. That is why a good rate card prices the video and the rights separately. If you bundle everything into one number, you either overcharge the brand that only wants organic posts or give away paid usage to the one that runs your video as an ad for a year.

The service items to price

You don't need twenty lines. Start with the items brands actually ask for, and add more once you see repeat requests.

Base UGC video

Your core product: one edited video, a set length (say up to 30 or 60 seconds), one script or concept, delivered in the format the brief asks for. Write down what is included: how many revision rounds, whether you add captions, music and on-screen text, and what usage comes with it by default. On ScoutBerry the default deal includes unlimited organic use on the brand's own channels and 2 revision rounds, and anything beyond that is added in the Deal Terms.

Extra hook

The same video with a different opening few seconds. Performance teams test hooks constantly, so this is one of the most requested add-ons. It costs you less work than a new video, so price it lower than the base, but never at zero: it is a new creative asset the brand will test in ads.

Alternative cut

A different edit of footage you already shot: a shorter 15-second version, a longer cut, a different call to action at the end, a square crop for a placement. Price per cut.

Raw footage

The unedited clips. Brands love raw footage because their editors can build new ads from it for months. That is exactly why it deserves its own line. Handing over raw files means handing over material for videos you will never be paid to edit.

Paid usage, per month

The right for the brand to run your video as an ad from its own accounts. Price it per month, so a three-month licence costs more than one month and a renewal is a new line, not a favour. Name the platforms it covers.

Whitelisting and Spark Ads, per month

Here the brand runs ads from your handle (on TikTok this is usually done with Spark Ads, on Meta through partnership ads). Your name and face appear as the advertiser's voice, in front of people who have never heard of you. Keep it as a separate line from paid usage and price it per month as well.

Exclusivity

A promise not to work with competitors in a category for a period. Exclusivity has a real cost for you: it closes doors. Price it by category and by month, and define the category precisely ("hair care", not "beauty").

Extra revision round

Your base price includes a set number of revisions within the agreed brief. A round beyond that, or a change that goes outside the brief, is a separate item.

Faster delivery

Many creators add a rush fee. On ScoutBerry a faster delivery is not a surcharge: it is a shorter delivery time you accept, or decline, in the Deal Terms. The practical point is the same either way. Decide in advance the shortest turnaround you can deliver well, and don't agree to anything shorter just because the brand is in a hurry. The default on ScoutBerry is delivery within 7 days.

What moves the price

Two creators with the same base video price can quote very different totals for the same brief. These are the levers.

• Usage rights. Organic posting on the brand's channels, paid ads from the brand's accounts and ads from your own handle are three different things. Each step up means the brand gets more value from the same video.
• Duration. One month of paid usage is not twelve. Perpetual or "full buyout" requests are a custom deal, and you should treat them as one. On ScoutBerry, creators keep copyright: the brand gets the licence written in the Deal Terms, and buying the copyright outright is a separate custom agreement.
• Territory. One country, the EU or worldwide. Wider reach for the brand, higher value of the licence.
• Exclusivity. How broad the category is and how long it lasts.
• Revisions. More rounds means more of your time. Set the number, then price anything beyond it.
• Production complexity. A talking-head review at home is not a multi-location shoot with props and outfit changes. Expenses are a separate matter: on ScoutBerry travel, props and shipping are paid by the brand at cost, so you never spend your own money on a brand's product.

What third-party market data says

Price benchmarks for UGC are thin, mostly American and often published by platforms with something to sell. Use them as context, not as your price. The most transparent dataset we found comes from Collabstr, an influencer and UGC marketplace where most collaborations are in the United States:

• Collabstr's 2026 Influencer Marketing Report, based on its 2025 marketplace data (21,000 collaborations), puts the average posted price for UGC at $180 and the average amount brands actually paid for UGC at $154 (the figure in its cost-by-platform table; the same report puts the average UGC campaign at $197). About 66% of the collaborations it analysed were in the United States.
• Collabstr's 2025 report (data from 2024) found that collaborations that included content usage rights averaged $307, against $221 without them, about 39% more. That figure covers influencer collaborations in general, not UGC only.

Two takeaways for your rate card. First, these are averages on one marketplace, in dollars, weighted towards the US and towards small-budget jobs (Collabstr says nearly 80% of its collaborations cost under $300), so they say little about what a native Italian, Spanish or UK creator should quote for a European brand. Second, the usage-rights gap is the useful part: brands do pay more when they get more rights, which is the case for pricing rights as their own lines. ScoutBerry does not publish price benchmarks for creators, and we are not going to invent one here.

A UGC rate card template you can copy

Fill in your own prices. On ScoutBerry each item is priced in whole euros between €10 and €5,000, and each one is either a Firm Rate or Open to Offers.

The Firm Rate / Open to Offers column in the example is a suggestion, not a rule. A common pattern is to keep production items firm (you know how long they take) and leave rights open, because their value depends on how the brand will use the video.

From rate card to quote: an example

Say a brief asks for 1 base video, 2 extra hooks and 3 months of paid usage on Meta. Your quote is the sum of those lines: base video + 2 × extra hook + 3 × paid usage per month. If the brand comes back with a lower budget, drop a hook or a month of usage. Keep your base price where it is.

How to present your rate card

• Keep it to one page or one screen. Item, what's included, price.
• Show your work next to it. A rate card without examples is just a list of numbers. Link two or three videos that match the services you price.
• Write the defaults in plain words: revision rounds, delivery time, what usage the base price covers.
• Use one currency. If you work with European brands, euro avoids conversions on both sides.
• Date it, and review it every few months or after a run of jobs that took longer than you priced.

Negotiation basics

On ScoutBerry, brands work in one of two pricing modes. With Creator Rate, they book from your rate card: a Firm Rate is booked as it is, and on items you marked Open to Offers they can send a private offer, which you accept, decline or answer with a counteroffer. With Campaign Rate, the brand sets one amount for the whole brief, extras included, and you accept it or decline it as it is. Either way you keep 100% of the agreed compensation (taxes and payment-provider charges aside): the ScoutBerry Service Fee is paid by the brand on top.

A few habits help in any negotiation:

• Negotiate scope, not just price. If a budget is lower than your total, remove items (fewer hooks, one month of paid usage instead of three) rather than discounting the same work.
• Put every right in writing: platforms, months, territory, exclusivity. A right that is not written into the deal should not be assumed.
• Don't answer an offer on the spot. Check the whole package, including deadline and usage, then reply.
• Know your walk-away point before the conversation starts.

Mistakes to avoid

• One flat price for everything, with rights included "for free".
• Raw footage thrown in as a bonus.
• Paid usage with no end date.
• Exclusivity on a vague category like "beauty" or "tech".
• Unlimited revisions.
• Copying a number from a social media post with no idea of the creator's market, niche or rights.
• Paying for the brand's product, props or travel yourself.

Taxes and invoicing: talk to your accountant

How you invoice, which VAT applies and what you set aside for tax depend on your country and your situation, and the rules for freelancers in Italy, Spain and the UK are different. This article is not tax advice. Before you fix your prices, ask an accountant (a commercialista in Italy, a gestor or asesor fiscal in Spain) what share of each fee you will actually keep.

Put your rate card to work

On ScoutBerry you build your rate card in your creator profile, item by item, and brands on Creator Rate Pods book from it. Payment works the same way on every deal: the brand pays when the terms are agreed, before you start, and your compensation reaches your wallet once the work is approved. There is no follower minimum, and Creator Free costs nothing. You can read the details on the creator page and see how extras and rights are priced on the pricing page.

Join ScoutBerry as a creator and set up your rate card

Market figures: Collabstr, 2026 Influencer Marketing Report (2025 data) and 2025 Influencer Marketing Report (2024 data), read on 22 October 2026. ScoutBerry terms as published on scoutberry.io on 22 October 2026.