The fee types you'll run into
Not every provider charges all of these. Check which ones are in your deal.
| Fee type | How it can be charged | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | A monthly or annual plan, whether or not you order | What do I get if I order nothing this month? |
| Service fee or markup | A percentage or flat fee on top of what the creator is paid | Is the price I see the price I pay? |
| Commission on sales | A percentage of revenue the content drives | How is that revenue measured, and for how long? |
| Percentage of ad spend | A cut of what you spend running the ads | Does the fee rise when I scale a winner? |
| Usage rights | Extra charges for paid use, longer terms or more channels | What can I do with the video without paying again? |
| Whitelisting | A fee to run ads from the creator's account | Is it charged per video, per month or per creator? |
| Revisions or reshoots | Charges after a set number of rounds | What happens when a video still misses? |
| Product and shipping | Your cost of goods plus postage per creator | Who pays when product doesn't come back as a video? |
Work out your real cost per approved video
The number that matters isn't the sticker price per video. It's what you spent, divided by the videos you could actually run.
All-in cost per approved video = (subscription for the period + creator fees + service fees + rights + add-ons + product and shipping) / videos you approved and can run.
Run it over a full quarter, not a single order, so the subscription and the misses are counted. Two things usually surprise people. First, a subscription spread over a slow month makes each video far more expensive than it looked. Second, videos you paid for but can't use still sit in the top half of the formula, so a low sticker price with a high miss rate isn't cheap.
Why percentage fees grow with your success
Flat fees and percentage fees behave very differently once a video works.
A flat fee is fixed when the video is made. If that video becomes your best ad and runs for a year, the cost of making it doesn't change.
A percentage of sales or ad spend keeps going. Scale the winner and the fee scales with it, even though nobody made anything new. That can be a fair trade when a provider is also running your media. For production alone, it means your best creative gets more expensive the better it performs.
When you model a percentage deal, use your realistic upside, not your current spend. That's the version you'll be living with if it works.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is there a subscription, minimum or retainer? What happens if I pause?
- Is the per-video price all-in, or is there a fee on top?
- Do you take any percentage of my sales, revenue or ad spend?
- What usage rights are included, and for how long?
- What does whitelisting cost, and is it charged when the creator declines?
- When am I charged: at order, at delivery, or at approval?
- What do revisions cost, and is there a limit?
If a provider answers all seven in writing, you can compare them fairly against anyone else.
How Ad Army prices
Ad Army charges one flat price per approved video and nothing else by default.
| Format | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| 15 second edit | $125 | One hook, captions, licensed music |
| 30 second edit | $175 | Three hook variations, captions, music |
| 60 second edit + raw | $260 | Long-form cut plus raw clips for your editors |
There is no subscription, no retainer and no minimum. We take 0% of your sales and 0% of your ad spend, so a video that turns into your best ad costs exactly what it cost on the day you approved it. Full content rights are included. The only add-on is Spark Ads or whitelisting at $50 per video, billed only if the creator accepts. Nothing is charged when you order; each video is billed when you approve it, after revisions until it's right.
(opens the full-size image in a new tab)