How to price UGC: a method that works without rate tables

Price UGC in lines, not as one number. Start with a base fee for making the content, then add usage, whitelisting, exclusivity, raw files and rush as separate priced lines. Write your prices down as a personal rate card, and check every new quote against what you charged before.

You will not find a rate table here. Search results are full of "typical rates" that nobody can source, and a number someone else made up is not a price you can defend. A method is. This guide gives you one.

Why one number is the wrong answer

When a brand asks "what's your rate?" and you answer with one figure, you have priced everything at once: the shoot, the edit, how long the brand can use it, where, and whether it can run ads from your account. Then the brand adds paid usage and exclusivity, and your one figure has to stretch to cover them.

Pricing in lines fixes that. Each line pays for one thing. When the brand asks for more, you add a line. When it asks for a lower price, you remove a line instead of cutting your fee for the same work.

Step 1: set your base fee for the work

The base fee pays for making the content and nothing else. It covers:

• Reading the brief and writing a script or outline
• Shooting, including setup, takes and reshoots on your side
• Editing to the agreed length and format
• One or two rounds of revisions, if you include them
• A short organic usage term, if you choose to include one

To find your number, start from time. Track how long one video really takes you, start to finish, including the email back-and-forth. Decide what an hour of your working time needs to earn to cover your costs, your taxes and a living. Multiply. That gives you a floor: the price below which a job costs you money.

Your base fee can sit above the floor. Experience, a niche you know well, strong past results and fast turnaround all earn a higher number. The floor just tells you where "no" starts.

Step 2: price everything else as its own line

These are the lines that change from deal to deal. Each gets its own price on your quote and on your invoice.

1. Paid usage. The brand runs your video as an ad. Price it by term and channels. Longer and broader costs more. Our guide to UGC usage rights explains each kind.
2. Whitelisting. The brand runs ads from your account, under your name. It borrows your identity, not just your video, so it is priced separately from paid usage, with its own term.
3. Exclusivity. You agree not to work with competitors for a time. Price it by how wide the category is and how long it runs. A narrow category for a few weeks is a small line. A whole industry for a year is a large one.
4. Raw files. Unedited footage lets the brand cut many more ads from one shoot. That is extra value, so it is an extra line.
5. Extra variations. More hooks, more calls to action, extra aspect ratios or a voiceover version. Each is more work and more ads for the brand.
6. Rush. Delivery faster than your normal turnaround means moving other work. Charge for it, and say what "rush" means in days.
7. Extra revision rounds. Beyond what the base fee includes, each round is billed.

A quote built this way reads like a menu. The brand can see what each part costs, and you can see what you are giving away if a line disappears.

Step 3: build your personal rate card

A rate card is your price list, written down once and used every time. It does not need to be public. It does need to exist, because a price you make up on each call is a price that drifts.

Your rate card should have:

• Your base fee per video, and what it includes
• A price for each extra line above, with the unit (per video, per month, per hook)
• Your standard usage terms, so "paid usage, 3 months" always means the same thing
• Your normal turnaround, so "rush" has a definition
• Your payment terms, including any deposit

Review it every few months, and whenever you notice you keep saying yes too easily.

Step 4: review your own past deals

Your best pricing data is your own history. Every deal you have done tells you what a brand accepted, what you gave away, and how long the work really took.

Every few months, look back and ask:

• Which deals took far longer than you priced for? Your base fee is too low for that kind of work.
• Which brands said yes instantly? You may have been under your value.
• Where did you include usage or raw files for free? That is a line you should have charged.
• Which deals paid late, or needed endless revisions? Factor that into the next quote for the same brand.

This only works if each deal records what you charged for each part, not just the total. When usage, whitelisting and the base fee sit together in one figure, you cannot tell later which part was underpriced. Our guide on tracking brand deal payments covers what to record.

How to answer "what's your rate?"

You do not have to give a number in the first message. A price without a brief is a guess.

Ask for what you need to quote properly:

"Thanks for reaching out. Happy to put a quote together. Could you share the brief, how many videos you need, where you plan to use them and for how long, and your timeline?"

If they push for a number first, give your base fee as a starting point and say what it covers:

"My base rate is [your base fee] per video, which includes the script, shoot, edit, two rounds of revisions and organic use. Paid usage, whitelisting and raw files are priced separately depending on the term."

Then send the full quote as lines once you have the brief.

If the brand comes back lower, do not cut the base fee for the same work. Remove or shrink a line instead: a shorter usage term, no raw files, fewer variations, a longer turnaround. You keep your rate and the brand gets a smaller package.

When to walk away

Some deals cost more than they pay. It is fine to say no when:

• The offer is below your floor, and the brand will not change the scope
• The brand wants perpetual usage, whitelisting or broad exclusivity and will not pay for it
• The brief keeps growing but the fee does not
• There are no payment terms, or the brand will not put anything in writing
• Past invoices from the same brand are still unpaid

A polite no keeps the door open: "Thanks for thinking of me. That budget doesn't cover what's in the brief, but I'd love to work together on a smaller package if that helps." Then quote the smaller package. Before you sign anything, run it through our brand deal contract checklist.

Where Cadant helps

Cadant keeps your rates in one place in Settings and can show them as a rate card on your profile. On each deal, the fee, the usage-rights amount and the whitelisting amount are stored separately, so when you review past deals you can see what you charged for each part, not just the total.

A quick checklist

• Base fee covers the work only, and you know your floor
• Usage, whitelisting, exclusivity, raw files, variations and rush priced as lines
• A written rate card with units and standard terms
• Past deals reviewed every few months
• A brief requested before you quote
• Lower budgets met with less scope, not a lower base fee
• A clear reason to walk away, written down before you need it