One rate card.
A quote anyone can follow.

What a talent rate card should contain

A rate card is the talent’s pricing method: a base fee for each deliverable on each platform, plus the rules for adding usage, creator-handle ads and exclusivity. A quote applies that method to one brief. Keeping the two separate means managers can quote consistently and the agency can change a rate in one place.

Define each deliverable precisely. “One reel” should state the length, the number of revision rounds included, the posting window and whether raw footage is supplied. Most pricing disputes start with an undefined deliverable, not with the fee itself.

Brands increasingly expect this clarity. The ISBA and Influencer Marketing Trade Body code of conduct asks brands to be clear about fees and payment terms and to pay on time [2]. A rate card that shows its structure makes that conversation faster for both sides.

Start with base fees per deliverable

The base fee pays for making and posting the content on the creator’s own channels. It reflects production effort, format, platform and the creator’s audience. It should not include usage, paid media or exclusivity; those are priced separately.

Resist borrowing averages from the internet. We looked for a reliable UK per-post benchmark and did not find one. Industry research measures the size of the market rather than individual rates: an IAB UK study reported by Marketing Week put UK creator partnership revenue at £966m in 2025 [1]. That tells you the market is substantial, not what any one creator should charge.

Your best evidence is your own history. For each accepted quote, record the deliverables, the base fee, the brand and whether the talent was happy with the outcome. Review the rate card every quarter, and change it when the evidence changes, not when a single brand pushes back.

Add usage, creator-handle ads and exclusivity as uplifts

Price each permission as a percentage of the base fee for each month it applies. The formula is simple enough to show on the quote: base fee × monthly rate × months. Organic usage, paid usage, creator-handle ads and exclusivity each get their own line and their own rate.

The structure does the negotiating for you. If the brand wants six months of paid usage instead of two, the quote changes in a way both parties can see. If the budget is fixed, the brand can reduce the term or drop creator-handle ads rather than asking the talent to cut the creative fee.

In the fictional example below, the base fee is £4,000. Usage, creator-handle ads and exclusivity add £6,200, giving a gross fee of £10,200. With a 20% agency commission, the agency keeps £2,040 and the talent receives £8,160 before VAT and expenses. All rates are illustrative assumptions, not market rates.

Agree commission and payment handling with the talent

Commission arrangements are regulated. Under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, an agency may generally only charge a work-seeker a fee for finding work in the occupations listed in Schedule 3, such as actors, musicians, other performers and models, and the fee must come from the earnings from that work. There are narrow exceptions, including some publication fees for performers and fees to a work-seeker that is a company working outside Schedule 3 [3]. The same regulation removes these permissions where the agency or a connected person charges the hirer a fee for supplying or introducing the work-seeker [3]. Schedule 3 does not name influencers, so whether a particular creator falls within it is a judgement to make with legal advice.

Government guidance says talent must agree the agency’s terms before any fee is charged [4]. Put commission, payment timing and expenses in writing before the first quote goes to a brand. If you charge brands a management fee as well as taking commission, take legal advice on the structure first.

If the agency receives money on the talent’s behalf, regulation 25 sets client-money rules for those occupations: the money must be paid into a client account by the end of the second business day after it is received, and must not be held for more than ten days, counting the day it arrives, unless the talent has asked in advance for a longer period [5]. Responsibility for enforcing the regulations passed from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate to the Fair Work Agency on 7 April 2026 [6].

Quote VAT, self-billing and gifts correctly

State on every quote whether fees exclude VAT. A business must register for VAT when its taxable turnover over a rolling 12 months goes over £90,000, or when it expects to go over that amount in the next 30 days alone [7]. The talent, the agency or both may be registered, so confirm each party’s status before you issue the quote and the invoice.

Self-billing is when the customer prepares the supplier’s invoice. It applies if the agency buys the talent’s services itself and raises the talent’s invoice to the agency; invoicing a brand as the talent’s agent is not self-billing. For a VAT-registered talent, self-billing needs an agreement in place before it starts, each invoice must be marked “self-billing”, and HMRC advises reviewing the agreement every 12 months [8].

Gifted products are not free money for the talent. HMRC treats goods and services received for promoting products as income, valued at what they would have cost to buy [9]. Record gifted items alongside the cash fee so the talent has the information they need for their own tax return.

Keep the rate card current and comparable

Use one quote structure across the whole roster. When every quote separates base fees, usage, creator-handle ads and exclusivity, you can compare deals, spot under-priced usage and see which brands accept which terms.

Include disclosure in the brief, not as an afterthought. The ASA and CAP’s influencers’ guide expects paid content to be clearly labelled, for example with #ad at the start [10]. A quote that assumes compliant labelling avoids a later dispute about whether it was part of the job.

In Meibo, a deal’s delivery plan holds the talent rate, the commission percentage, the budget and currency alongside the usage and exclusivity terms. Proposals and invoices live in the deal’s commercial record, and the internal commission percentage stays private to your team.

Common questions.