In short: A UGC quote is really two prices: one for the video and one for the right to use it. JoinBrands lists what a brand has to agree on: whether the use is organic or paid, the channels, the time period (it names 30, 90 or 180 days, 12 months or perpetual), exclusivity, whitelisting and raw footage. Each extra right adds value for the brand, so creators price it in. Billo’s guide puts rough numbers on the add-ons: paid advertising 20–50%, whitelisting 50–100% and perpetual rights 100–150% on top of the base rate. Those are one publisher’s benchmarks, not a market rule, which is why the safest move is to see the rights price on its own line.
Why the rights have a price
A creator who sells you a video for your product page has sold one thing. A creator who sells you the same video for paid ads, for a year, with a promise not to work with your competitors has sold something quite different, and the second is worth more to you. JoinBrands’ guide makes the point that every extra right adds value for the brand, so creators price it in. That is fair. The trouble starts when the rights are vague and the price is not.
What each right adds
Billo’s usage rights guide lists benchmark add-ons. We repeat them with the source, because they are a useful picture of how quotes are built, not because every creator charges them.
| Right | What it changes | Add-on, per the guides |
|---|---|---|
| Paid advertising | You may run the video as an ad, not only post it | 20–50% of the base rate |
| A longer term | From a few months to perpetual | Perpetual: 100–150% |
| Whitelisting | Ads run through the creator’s own account | 50–100% |
| Exclusivity | The creator may not work with competitors | 3–10 times the standard licensing fee |
| Raw footage | Files without music, captions or text | JoinBrands says some creators charge extra |
Billo’s guide also says usage rights overall typically add 20–100% or more to the base fee, and that standard paid usage runs 3–12 months.
What the guides call a normal term
The guides do not agree on one standard, which is itself a warning to put the term in writing. JoinBrands names 30, 90 or 180 days, 12 months or perpetual as the options, and notes that longer costs more. Billo says standard paid usage runs 3 to 12 months. Sprintlaw’s UK guide lists 30 days, 3, 6 or 12 months or in perpetuity, and says 3 to 6 months is typical for paid ads. For exclusivity, it gives the example of barring competing vitamin C serums in the UK for 60 days, and says the restriction should be proportionate and spell out the category, the competitors and the dates.
The costly mistake: agreeing late
Billo’s guide warns that renegotiating in the middle of a campaign is always more expensive than agreeing up front. JoinBrands gives the practical version: if a video is performing, ask the creator to extend, which is usually far cheaper than finding a new winner, but the extension is still a second invoice. The pattern is easy to recognize:
- You buy a video for organic posts at a low price.
- The video does well, so you want to run it as an ad.
- You are now negotiating from a weak position, for a right you could have bought in the first quote.
The fix is to decide where the video will run before you commission it. UGC usage rights explained covers the three levels of use.
Work out which rights you need
| You plan to… | You need |
|---|---|
| Put the video on your product page and organic posts | Website and organic social, for as long as the page stays up |
| Run it as an ad from your own ad accounts | Paid use, in the channels you will use |
| Run it through the creator’s handle | Whitelisting, with its own term (see partnership ads, Spark Ads and whitelisting) |
| Stop competitors using the same creator | Exclusivity, priced separately |
| Re-cut, subtitle or crop the video | Editing rights |
How to compare two quotes
- Ask for the video price and the rights price on separate lines.
- Write down the channels, the territory and the end date, or the absence of one.
- Ask what an extension costs before you need one.
- Check whether editing is allowed, and whether an agency or ad platform may use the video for you.
- Compare the total for the video and the rights you will actually use. The method is in cost per usable video.
On Usicri
On Usicri there is no rights line on the quote, because the rights come with the approval. Once you have approved a video and the payment has been collected, the creator grants you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license without time limit, for all media and channels, including paid advertising from your own ad accounts, and you may edit the video (section 5 of the Terms of Service). No usage fee, no extension fee and no second invoice. Your agency or an ad platform may use the video on your behalf. What the license does not include is whitelisting through the creator’s account, which you agree with the creator separately, and exclusivity; if you need either, a bespoke agreement is the better route. You set the payout per video, so the price is yours to decide. Creators on Usicri choose your campaign, and they see the payout, the brief and the license terms before they film. You pay only for the videos you approve: the payout, with no platform fee on videos approved through December 31 and a platform fee of 15% after that. A campaign is not guaranteed to receive submissions, and because the license is broad, a payout that matches it is what draws them; see UGC rates for beauty and fashion and what the license covers, or how it works for brands or create a free brand account.
For a checklist of what an order should name, read what a UGC order includes.