How to price a brand deal
A brand deal rate isn't one number you guess — it's a stack of components you add up. Base content, usage, exclusivity, extras, rush. Price each, and the total takes care of itself.
Here's the framework for building a brand deal quote you can defend line by line.
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How do you price a brand deal?
Build it up in components rather than guessing a total: start with the base cost of creating the content, then add for usage rights, exclusivity, any extra deliverables, and a rush timeline. Add them together for the total deal value — and a line-by-line breakdown you can justify when the brand pushes back.
A brand deal quote, component by component
These are components, not fixed prices — the amounts depend on your situation and the deal. The free rate calculator puts figures to each one.
Stack the components, in order
Each layer answers a specific question about what the brand is asking for.
Start with base content
Price the actual creation of the deliverables first — platform, format, and production effort. Everything else stacks on top of this.
Add usage rights
The biggest swing factor. A post the brand can run as an ad for months is worth far more than one that just lives on your feed. Understand usage.
Add exclusivity
If the brand wants you off competitors for a window, that limits future income — charge for it rather than throw it in.
Add extra deliverables
More platforms or pieces are added components, typically with a per-piece discount for the larger bundle.
Add a rush fee
If the turnaround reshuffles your schedule, a rush premium belongs in the total.
Arrive at total deal value
Sum the components. The result reflects the real deal — and comes with a breakdown you can defend.
A breakdown beats a headline number
The reason to construct a quote from components rather than name a lump sum is simple: brands negotiate. When you open with a single figure, the only move available is to argue about that figure. When you open with a breakdown — this much for the content, this much for the paid-ad rights, this much for exclusivity — the conversation becomes about scope. If the brand wants a lower number, you can adjust what's included instead of just discounting your work.
It also protects you from giving away your most valuable extras. Usage and exclusivity are exactly what brands try to fold into the base fee, and itemising them is how you make sure they're paid for. When you're ready to put real figures against each component, the free rate calculator does it in a couple of minutes.
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Brand deal rates, answered
Build a deal quote you can defend
Stack the components into a total deal value — and a breakdown that holds up in a negotiation. Free to try.
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