What to charge when you are starting out

Almost every new UGC creator underprices, and almost none of them underprice because they lack confidence. They underprice because nobody ever showed them the structure.

Last updated 7 September 2026

The structure, before any number: a base fee for the deliverable, plus usage rights priced separately and per period, plus add-ons for anything extra they ask for. Get that shape right and the numbers fill themselves in.

Starting points by deliverable

Three columns, because your rate should move as your evidence does. Not fixed prices, and not advice about your specific market. Starting points for US-based creators.

Deliverable	Starting out	Established	Strong niche
1 video, up to 30s	$250	$325	$400
1 video, 30 to 60s	$325	$425	$525
3 video bundle	$600	$800	$1,000
5 video bundle	$950	$1,250	$1,600
Photo set, 10 images	$300	$400	$500
Photo set, 20 images	$500	$650	$800

Which column are you in? Starting out means under roughly ten thousand followers and fewer than five paid jobs. Established means a portfolio, repeat clients, and work that has run as a paid ad. Strong niche means a defined vertical where brands come to you. The column is about evidence of results, not about how long you have been doing it.

Then add the rights, always separately

The table above is organic use only. If the brand is putting ad spend behind it, that is a separate line:

Paid ads: commonly 30% to 50% of the base fee per 30 days
Whitelisting: from a 25% floor of base, because the ad runs from your handle
Category exclusivity: priced per month, on its own
Full buyout: multiples of base, because you never earn from it again

The two mistakes that cost the most

1. Quoting one number for everything

"UGC package, $700" cannot be renewed, cannot be negotiated in parts, and teaches the brand that rights are free. Separate lines let you shorten a term instead of cutting a price, and they make the follow-up in six months obvious rather than awkward.

2. Discounting because you like the brand

Real and common. Enthusiasm is not a pricing input, and brands with a media budget who came to you are not the ones who need a discount. If you want to be generous, be generous with scope: throw in an extra hook or a vertical crop, not 40% off the fee.

The floor nobody mentions

Do the hourly before you accept anything. Count set-up, filming, editing, revisions and admin. A product that needs four hours of preparation before you press record is a seven-hour job, and $200 for seven hours is under $30 an hour before tax, before equipment, and before the brand runs it as advertising for a year.

You do not have to charge a lot when you start. You do have to know what you are charging per hour, because that is the number that tells you whether this is a business or a hobby with extra steps.

Raising your rates

The trigger is evidence, not time. Move up a column when you can point to work that performed, repeat clients, or a vertical where you are a specific choice rather than a general one.

Raise on new clients first. Existing clients get the new rate at the next project or at renewal, mentioned once, without apology: "my rate for this has moved to X from this quarter." Nobody has ever lost a good client to one clear sentence.

If you take one thing: price the work and the rights as two different things, from your very first quote. Everything else is adjustable later. That habit is not.

Price it before you reply

The free rate calculator prices the deliverable and the usage rights separately, then splits the 50% deposit and the balance. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or stored. No sign-up and no email.

Open the calculator

Written for UGC creators in the US. Market-informed starting points, not fixed prices, and not legal or financial advice. Your market, niche and results should move them.