How Much Should You Charge for a Brand Deal? Start With What They Are Buying

creators Oct 16, 2026

By Nicole Carter, Founder of NEGOTIATi℠

Most creators ask how much they should charge for a brand deal. The better question is what, exactly, the brand is buying.

When a brand reaches out, the email usually leads with excitement and ends with a number. In between, often in a single sentence, are the parts that matter most: how long the brand can use your content, whether it can run your video as its own ad, and whether you can work with anyone else in the category while the deal is active.

Those details are not small print. They are the deal.

What the Market Says

Pricing varies widely, but 2026 industry pricing guides offer a useful starting point. A single Instagram post from a creator with 10,000 to 100,000 followers commonly falls somewhere between about $250 and $1,000, with Reels and video priced higher. The same guides suggest adding roughly 20 to 50 percent when a brand wants to reuse your content in paid advertising, and 20 to 40 percent for exclusivity, depending on how long it lasts and how broadly the category is defined.

Those ranges are estimates, not rules. Engagement, niche and past results often matter more than follower count. But they make one point clear: the post is only the base price. Everything the brand does with it afterward is worth something too.

Meet Priya

Priya creates home cooking content and has about 40,000 engaged followers across Instagram and TikTok. A national cookware brand offers her $500 for one Reel.

It is a brand she genuinely likes, and her first instinct is to say yes. Then she reads the brief more closely. The brand wants to run her Reel as a paid ad for six months, and it asks her not to work with any other kitchen brand for ninety days.

Priya realizes the $500 is paying for three things: the Reel, six months of advertising using her face and voice, and a quarter of a year without other kitchen partnerships. Only one of those was priced.

What Priya Prepares

Her base rate. She looks at her engagement and the results of past partnerships, and sets a confident starting rate for a Reel on its own.

Her add-ons. She decides in advance what she charges when a brand wants paid usage, and what exclusivity costs per month.

Her minimum. She knows the number below which the deal no longer makes sense for her business.

Her flexibility. She identifies what she can offer instead of a lower price: a shorter usage window, a narrower category or an extra story at no charge.

The Conversation

Priya thanks the brand and tells them she would love to work together. Then she uses a simple line: "I wish I could make $500 work, but unfortunately that wouldn't cover the minimum for a Reel with paid usage and exclusivity."

She follows with two clear options. The first is $500 for the Reel as organic content only, with no paid ad usage and no exclusivity. The second is $750 for the Reel, plus 60 days of paid usage and 30 days of exclusivity limited to cookware, for a total of $975.

The brand counters at $900 for the full package. Priya accepts, and asks for half up front and half when the Reel goes live. She earned almost twice the original offer by pricing what was already being asked of her.

Questions to Ask Before You Quote

Will the brand use my content only on my channels, or in its own ads too?
For how long, and on which platforms?
Am I being asked to avoid other brands, and how broadly is that category defined?
How many revisions are included before the content goes live?
When am I paid, and how much up front?

How Prepared Creators Approach Brand Deal Pricing

They price the deliverable, not the follower count. Engagement, niche and results set the value of the work.

They price usage and exclusivity separately. Paid ads and category limits are added value, so they carry added cost.

They lead with their own number. A clear rate gives the brand something to respond to.

They know their minimum. It keeps a good relationship from turning into an unprofitable one.

They offer options, not ultimatums. A lighter package at a lower price keeps the conversation moving.

Your Audience Is the Asset

The brand has a marketing budget. You have an audience that trusts you, and that trust took years to build.

Your audience took years to build.
Price it like it did.

If a brand offer just landed in your inbox, The Counteroffer gives you a written response strategy within 24 hours. To build your full pricing approach with us, book a Walk Me Through session.

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