---
name: creator_rate_cards
description: Price creator brand deals and build a rate card. Use when a creator needs per-deliverable pricing, usage-rights math, quote breakdowns, or negotiation replies for brand partnerships.
---

# Creator Rate Cards

## Purpose

Turn a creator's audience size, niche, and deliverables into a defensible quote. Covers rate card structure, per-deliverable pricing, usage-rights and whitelisting math, add-on fees, bundle discounts, negotiation scripts, and FTC disclosure basics. All benchmarks come from published 2026 creator-economy data, cited in `references/`.

## Workflow

1. **Gather inputs.** Follower count and primary platform, niche, engagement rate (if known), deliverables (format and count), and any brand asks: usage rights duration, whitelisting, exclusivity, rush timeline, revisions.
2. **Set the base rate.** Use the benchmark tables in `references/rate-benchmarks.md` for the matching tier, platform, and format. Adjust up for finance/tech/B2B niches (1.5-4x multiplier), engagement above 5% (premium), and proven past campaign results. Never price on follower count alone.
3. **Price rights as line items.** Usage rights, whitelisting, exclusivity, and rush are add-ons, never freebies:
   - Paid ad usage: 20-30% of base rate per month of use.
   - Whitelisting (ads run from the creator's handle): 50-100% of base rate per month, stacked on top of ad usage.
   - Exclusivity: +25-50% for a 30-day category lockout.
   - Rush (under 48-72 hours): +25-50%.
   - Perpetual buyout: minimum 2x base; all-rights-in-perpetuity bundled into base is a walk-away flag.
   - AI training rights: separate line item entirely, never folded into usage.
4. **Build the quote.** Run `bin/rate-card.py` with the numbers to get an itemized breakdown, or build a three-tier rate card (Starter / Growth / Scale). Offer bundle discounts: 10-15% off 3-post bundles, 20-25% off 6-post bundles. Quote 120% of the ideal rate to leave negotiation room.
5. **Send the rate card.** The card must carry five sections: profile + audience metrics, deliverables with per-asset pricing, bundle pricing, add-ons, and contract terms (turnaround, payment, revisions, kill fee). See `references/rate-card-template.md`.
6. **Negotiate.** Brands expect it. Reply scripts for the four common cases (gifted-only offer, lowball, "what's your rate", firm budget) live in `references/negotiation-scripts.md`. When the budget is firm, shrink the scope, not the rate.
7. **Close clean.** Get usage duration, channels, whitelisting, exclusivity, and revision count agreed in writing before filming. Renegotiating after an ad is live and performing is the weakest possible position.

## Output Contract

A finished quote includes:
- Itemized breakdown: base rate + each add-on (rights, whitelisting, exclusivity, rush, extras) + bundle discount = final quote.
- A one-page rate card (five sections, see template reference).
- Negotiation replies ready to paste, customized with the creator's real numbers.
- FTC disclosure check: `#ad` up front before any caption cutoff, spoken early in video, platform's paid-partnership label on. Full rules in `references/disclosure-rules.md`.

## Operating Rules

1. Every number must trace to a benchmark or a stated formula. No invented ranges, no "typical rates" without a source.
2. Range data is stale fast. 2026 figures ship with the skill; if the calendar has moved more than a year past the cited data, flag the numbers as aging and re-verify before quoting.
3. UGC-only pricing and influencer pricing are different jobs. UGC prices the creative work (no audience component, $100-$500/video typical). Influencer pricing adds distribution. Never use one number for both.
4. Organic-only is the default quote. Anything beyond organic (paid usage, whitelisting, cross-platform repost, AI training) is a priced line item scoped to duration and channels.
5. Never quote perpetual rights inside the base rate. If a brand demands it, price a buyout or walk.
6. When unsure about disclosure, disclose. Clear beats clever.