TikTok Brand Deals: How to Price Your First Sponsorship Without Undercharging

Brand deals are where most TikTok creators make the bulk of their money, and the first one is where most of them get underpaid. Not because they negotiated badly, but because they had no basis for a number and guessed low.

Start from engagement, not followers

Follower count is the worst single predictor of what you can charge. Brands increasingly price on views and engagement, because those reflect how many people will actually see the video.

A workable starting method: take the median view count of your last ten videos — median, not average, so one viral outlier does not distort it — and price per thousand of those views. Rates in the range of $20–$50 per thousand median views are common for a straightforward in-feed sponsored video, varying by niche.

So a creator whose videos reliably do 50,000 views is looking at roughly $1,000–$2,500 for one video. That number surprises people who were about to ask for $150.

Adjust for your niche

If your audience buys expensive things, you are worth more. A creator teaching software or personal finance commands several times the rate of an equally-sized comedy account, because the advertiser’s return per viewer is higher. Do not benchmark against creators outside your subject.

Price the usage, not just the video

This is the most expensive thing first-time creators give away. A brand that wants to run your video as a paid advertisement, or use it on their own channels, or keep it up forever, is asking for substantially more than one post. Each of those is a separate line:

• Organic post only — your baseline rate
• Paid amplification (they run it as an ad) — typically add 50–100%, scoped to a time limit
• Whitelisting (they run it from their account as you) — more again
• Exclusivity (you cannot work with competitors) — charge for it, and cap it at a few months

If you quote one price and they later ask to run it as an ad for a year, that was never included.

What to put in writing

Deliverables and count. Deadline. How many revision rounds are included — two is normal, unlimited is how you end up working for free. Payment terms and date. Whether the fee covers paid usage. Who owns the footage afterwards.

Mistakes that cost real money

Accepting product instead of payment. Fine for a brand you genuinely love and a product worth having. Not fine as a rate.

Quoting before you know the scope. Ask what they want first. Always.

Dropping your price to close the deal. It sets your rate with that brand permanently, and they talk to other brands.

Not tracking your own numbers. You cannot justify a rate you cannot evidence. Screenshot your median views and audience demographics before you pitch.

Before you pitch at all

Check your reach is healthy. Pitching a rate based on median views that have quietly halved over the last two months means you will either lose the deal when they check, or win it and underdeliver. Know where you stand first.