How Much Should Creators Charge for UGC?

How much should you charge for UGC?

Price UGC from the work and the licence, not from your follower count. Build the number from four components: production time, the number of deliverables, the usage rights the brand is asking for, and any exclusivity you're asked to give up. Creators who quote a single flat number get negotiated down; creators who quote itemised lines get negotiated on scope instead — which is a much better conversation.

Your audience size is largely irrelevant here. You are selling production and a licence, and that is why UGC is accessible to creators with small followings and strong craft.

Build your UGC rate from four lines

1. Production time

Count everything honestly: concept, setup, filming, retakes, editing, revisions, and the messages back and forth. Most creators undercount by half because they only count filming. Decide what an hour of your professional time is worth and apply it.

2. Deliverables

Price each asset, but discount additional assets from the same shoot — the setup cost is already covered. A brand asking for one video and three hook variants is asking for four deliverables, not one.

3. Usage rights

This is the line most creators give away for free, and it is often worth more than the production fee.

4. Exclusivity

If a brand asks you not to work with competitors, they are restricting your income. Price it, and always clarify what counts as a competitor — "no other skincare brands" is a far bigger concession than "no other vitamin C serums".

Worked example

Hypothetical figures for illustration only.

• Concept, filming and editing, around 5 hours at DKK 500/hour — DKK 2,500
• 3 extra hook variants — DKK 900
• Paid-ad rights, Meta only, 6 months — DKK 1,800
• No exclusivity requested — DKK 0

Quote: DKK 5,200, itemised. If the brand says it is too expensive, you remove the hook variants or narrow the rights window to three months. You do not cut the total while keeping everything included — that teaches them your prices are decoration.

What raises your rate

• Scripted concepts, actors, locations or props
• Rush turnaround
• Proven performance data from previous UGC — "my last video ran as an ad for four months" is a real argument
• Specialist niches: technical products, regulated categories, specific languages
• Being able to deliver 4:5, 1:1 and 9:16 crops without extra work

What lowers it

• Bundles and retainers with guaranteed monthly volume
• Product you genuinely want
• Simple, repeatable formats you can shoot quickly
• Long-term relationships that remove pitching time

Do not discount because asking for money feels awkward. That is not a pricing signal.

Should you charge differently for UGC than for a sponsored post?

Yes, and it is worth being explicit about why. A sponsored post sells access to your audience. A UGC asset sells your production skill and a licence. Two different things, two different prices, and a brand asking for both should see both lines. See how much creators should charge brands for the distribution side.

Decision framework

IF the brand only wants files and no post → price production plus rights, ignore follower count entirely.

IF they want a post and the files → quote three lines: post, content, rights.

IF they ask for perpetual rights → either price it as a premium licence or counter with a 12-month window. Perpetual is forever, and creators routinely agree to it without registering that.

IF they refuse to name a budget → give an itemised quote anyway. It anchors the negotiation on scope.

Practical things that protect your rate

• Deliver clean files without platform watermarks. Meta's Advertising Standards ban any graphical overlay, logo or watermark in a video ad's first three seconds, and an export carrying another platform's watermark sits in frame from second one — so it fails Meta's ad review. Sending the original file makes you noticeably easier to rebook.
• Put the rights end date in writing, even in a short message. "Paid rights on Meta until 1 March" is enough.
• Ask what the asset is for before quoting. A product page image and a scaling Meta ad are different licences.
• Keep your own performance record. If a brand renews rights on your asset, that is evidence it worked — and evidence is what lets you raise prices. See how to build a media kit.

FAQ

Do I need a big following to sell UGC?

No. UGC is bought on craft and reliability. Many working UGC creators have small audiences.

Should I publish a rate card?

Generally no — scope varies too much, and a public number becomes a ceiling. Say rates are available on request.

What if a brand wants to keep using the content after the window ends?

Renew the licence. This is normal, and a renewal is one of the strongest signals that your work performed.

How do I know if I am underpriced?

If every brand accepts immediately without negotiating, you are almost certainly too cheap. Related: creating content brands want to use and what brands pay for UGC.