Commission-based UGC: pay for the videos that sell

Commission-based UGC is creator video you pay for after it works. The creator films and earns a commission: a share of the ad spend you put behind their video, or a share of the sales it brings, as a percentage of each order or a fixed amount per order. Both are commission. No fee for the file. A video that never runs and never sells costs you, at most, the product you shipped.

This page is for brands that have bought UGC at a flat fee and did not like the math. Creators, the same mechanics from your side start at How to get paid commission for UGC.

“We paid $300 a video and nine out of ten never beat our control”

If you have bought UGC at a flat fee, you have said at least one of these:

• “Nine out of ten videos never beat our control.”
• “We paid an influencer a flat fee for one post and got nothing.”
• “I have no idea which creator actually drove sales.”
• “Why add to my CPA when I can just pay $200 a video?”

And if you have already tried commission, one of these two, both posted in public by brands this year:

• “First we tried commission only (15%) but didnt get responses” (r/UGCcreators, 29 Aug 2026).
• “Meta doesn’t see [the platform’s] attribution, it sees last click attribution” (X, 30 Oct 2026).

The first three lines are the case for commission-based UGC. The last three are the objections it has to answer. Each one gets its own section below.

Why flat-fee UGC pays for videos that never run

Three mechanics, none of them the creator’s fault.

A flat fee pays for the file, not the result. Collabstr’s 2026 report, built on more than 21,000 collaborations in 2025, puts the average UGC payout on its marketplace at $154 per engagement (as reported by NetInfluencer, 12 Jan 2026). That fee is the same for the video that beats your control and the nine that do not. You find out which is which after you have paid. One brand did the arithmetic in public on a roster of several hundred videos: “If I paid your model of $166 a video, it would be $115K.” (X, 7 Jul 2026).

Ad accounts eat creative. A winner fatigues. You need the next one, and the next, and a flat fee per attempt makes volume expensive.

Nothing links the sale to the creator. Without a creator link, a code, a pixel or the ad platform’s count per video, “which creator drove sales” has no answer, so you cannot pay on it even if you wanted to.

What commission-based UGC is

A brand briefs a creator. The creator films. Then one of two things pays the creator, and both are called commission on this site: a share of ad spend, or a share of sales. Affiliate programs use “commission” for sales only; here it always covers both.

A share of sales. Each order credited to the creator’s video pays a cut: a percentage of the order, or a fixed amount per order. The credit comes from a creator link, a discount code, a pixel or connected store, or the ad platform’s reporting.

A share of ad spend. You run the video as a Meta ad and the creator earns a percentage of what you spend on ads built from it. The creator is paid for your decision to fund the video, not for the buyer’s decision to check out.

The point of both: the creator is paid when you run their video and it spends or sells. That is a strong reason for them to make the video that wins. You pay for what works.

On HourlyUGC, the share of sales is 1 % to 50 % of each order or a fixed $1 to $500 per order, and the share of ad spend is 1 % to 30 %, on Meta.

Example. A skincare brand sets 15 % of each order. One creator’s video runs as a Meta ad for a month and 80 orders at an average of $42 are credited to it. Attributed sales: $3,360. Creator’s pay: $504. At a flat $6 per order it would be $480. Nine other creators’ videos from the same brief did not get funded and cost the brand nine samples. Example numbers, not a benchmark.

Every way to pay creators, and the pain each one answers

Commission is one of six pay models. Most campaigns that work use two or three together.

Hourly

You book a creator for hours at a rate. Each session ends in videos. There is no fixed video count; the creator films as many takes and variations as the hours allow. Good content at a low cost, and the cheapest unit when you need volume. Of the 25 platforms we checked on 2026-11-07, HourlyUGC is the only one that publishes hourly pay for UGC video sessions. On HourlyUGC the hours are held at hire and paid when the session is marked done (HourlyUGC blog, checked 2026-11-07). Guide: Hourly UGC explained.

Per video

A price per approved video. Declined videos cost nothing. The model most creators quote a rate for; the market average above is a per-video number. Guide: Per-video UGC pricing.

Commission on sales

Percentage of the order when carts vary; flat per order when you have one hero product and a known margin. Amazon’s own affiliate schedule shows how far margin moves the rate: 1 % on Grocery, 3 % on Beauty, 10 % on Luxury Beauty (Amazon Associates, checked 2026-11-07). Guide: How to set UGC commission rates.

Share of ad spend

A percentage of what you spend running the creator’s video as an ad. You pay only on videos you chose to scale; the creator does not carry conversion risk; and you do not need store attribution to pay out, because spend is read per ad. Guide: Pay creators a percentage of ad spend.

CPM: pay per 1,000 views

A fixed amount per 1,000 views of the creator’s own organic post. It pays for reach you can count, and it sits on top of any base. Guide: Pay creators per 1,000 views.

Samples

Ship the product so the creator can film with it. Samples are not pay, but they are a material connection the creator must disclose (FTC, Disclosures 101, checked 2026-11-07).

“You don’t have to pick”: how the models combine

A base plus whatever you add on top.

Change the terms mid-campaign and the change should apply to future videos only. On HourlyUGC, a change to the share “applies to videos delivered from now on” and videos already delivered keep their terms (HourlyUGC blog, checked 2026-11-07). Guide: Mixing UGC pay models.

“Creators won’t film for commission only”

The objection comes from brands who tried it, like the Reddit brand quoted at the top. A brand on X with thirty or so creators on its roster had not found “any creators want to make a video for free for % of GMV” (X, 12 Oct 2026). Creators say the same thing from their side. One of them, on a commission platform, describes offers that ask creators to “create ads FOR FREE, giving 15% commission” (X, 24 Sep 2026).

Why it happens: commission only puts every risk in the deal on the creator. Their hours are spent before anything is known, and whether the video runs, whether the page converts and whether the count credits them all sit on your side. A creator with three offers open takes the one with a base, and the creators with the most offers open are the ones you want. Commission only also needs something to share. A sales share on a product that sells a few units a day, or an ad spend share on an account that is barely spending, is a small number however the percentage reads.

The fix is not more creators. It is a base. Put a per-video fee or booked hours under the commission and the same offer reads as paid work with upside. Keep commission only for the campaigns where the offer carries it: a product with margin, spend already running, and creators you have paid before.

On HourlyUGC the base and the commission live in the same campaign: hours held at hire, or per-video slots funded at a price, with a share of sales or of Meta ad spend on top. Commission only stays an option for when you want zero upfront cost.

“Meta doesn’t see the platform’s attribution”

A brand on X, comparing a commission platform’s count with its own ad reporting: “Meta doesn’t see [the platform’s] attribution, it sees last click attribution” (X, 30 Oct 2026). The complaint is right, and it applies to every sales share counted outside the ad account.

Why it happens: two counters, two rules. Meta credits a conversion to an ad inside its own window, 7-day click and 1-day view by default (Jon Loomer’s guide, updated 1 Mar 2025). A store or a pixel credits the last creator touch inside its own window. The same order can land in both counts, in one, or in neither, and the two totals never match. When the creator’s commission comes from one count and your ad reporting from the other, you pay on a number you cannot see in Ads Manager.

The fix: decide before the campaign starts which count pays the creator, and treat the other as a check, not a bill. For a share of ad spend the question disappears, because spend is read per ad and no sale has to be attributed to anyone. For a share of sales, pick one counter and write its window into the brief.

On HourlyUGC you choose who counts. Meta, or HourlyUGC through a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel: last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes, and each order counted once. When the video runs as a Partnership Ad, the creator’s share of ad spend is counted from the spend Meta reports per ad.

How to run a commission-based UGC campaign

A method any brand can apply, with or without a platform.

1. Pick the base. None, if you want zero upfront cost. Per video, if you want many faces on one brief. Hourly, if you want volume from one creator you trust.
2. Set the share from margin. Gross margin minus the CPA you can live with is the ceiling. Example: a $40 order with 60 % margin leaves $24; if you need $12 of that, the share can be up to 30 %, and 15 % leaves room for ad spend.
3. Choose the count before the first video. Your ad platform’s conversions per ad, or your store with a pixel and creator codes. One of them pays; the other is a cross-check.
4. Write the window and the hold. Last touch within N days; commissions held until refunds clear. Shopify Collabs, as a reference, holds for a merchant-set 1 to 90 days and cancels commission on orders refunded in that window (Shopify Help Center, checked 2026-11-07).
5. Open the door. Post the brief with the terms on it and let creators apply, instead of DMing fifty of them.
6. Run the winners as partnership ads. From the creator’s handle, with your brand as sponsor, so the ad reads as a person and the creator earns on the spend.
7. Review by creator, not by video. Brief once, get a week of cuts back, approve in one sitting.

How HourlyUGC runs all of it in one campaign

Every way to pay creators. One platform. Commission, hourly, per video, CPM, or a mix. The facts, checked in the product on 2026-11-07:

• The door. A campaign can be open, by application (with or without an intro video), or invite only. Creators apply; you stop chasing.
• The base. Hourly (hours held at hire, paid when the session is marked done), per video (slots funded at a price, paid on approval, returned if declined), or none.
• Commission. A share of sales at 1 % to 50 % of each order or $1 to $500 per order, or a share of Meta ad spend at 1 % to 30 %. Creators see the terms before accepting the brief.
• The count. Sales attributed by Meta, or by HourlyUGC through a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel: last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes. Orders are counted once.
• On top. CPM per 1,000 views of the creator’s organic post, and samples shipped to the creator.
• Ads. Meta Partnership Ads launched from inside the campaign with the creators’ videos. The creator approves your brand once in Instagram; the ad runs from their handle with your brand named as sponsor; spend is read per ad and the creator’s share is counted from it (HourlyUGC blog, checked 2026-11-07).
• Reporting. Spend and results by video and by creator in the Ads tab.

What brands say

“It broke our previous performance ceiling. Same product, same offer, same audience. The only thing that changed was creative volume.” Pup Labs, Growth Team

“Reviewing by creator instead of by video saved us the most time. We brief once and get a week of cuts back.” Gravitiq, Creative Lead

“The rights are ours the moment payment clears. Everything sits in one place, so the team stopped chasing invoices and files.” ALLSALE, Head of Growth

Kitsch runs each product line as its own campaign, with approved videos landing in one shared Library for ads; the workflow is in the Kitsch case study.

How sales are attributed to a creator

Attribution decides whether commission-based UGC works or ends in an argument. Four ways to credit a sale, each with a window.

• Creator link or code. The creator shares a tracked link or a checkout code. Codes survive screenshots and word of mouth; links are more exact. Shopify Collabs credits a commission on a purchase made “using an affiliate link or code” (Shopify Help Center, checked 2026-11-07).
• Pixel or connected store, last touch. The store records the last creator touch before the order, inside a window. Google Analytics describes the logic as giving “100% of the key event value to the last channel” the customer clicked through (Google Analytics Help, checked 2026-11-07). HourlyUGC counts the last touch within 7 days.
• The ad platform’s count. When the video runs as an ad, the platform reports conversions per ad. Meta Ads Manager’s default attribution setting is 7-day click and 1-day view (Jon Loomer’s guide, updated 1 Mar 2025; Meta’s own help pages need a login).
• A marketplace’s rules. Amazon Associates credits items added to the cart “within 24 hours” of arriving through the creator’s link (Amazon Associates Help, checked 2026-11-07).

Write down which count pays, the window, the refund rule and the payout date. Guide: How to track creator sales.

The creator’s side of the same deal, what they get and what they risk, is in Is commission-based UGC worth it?.

When does each pay model fit?

Decision guides: Commission vs flat fee, Running a commission-only campaign, Performance-based UGC, UGC vs affiliate marketing.

Partnership ads: why ad spend share exists

Share of ad spend only works because a brand can run a creator’s video as an ad from the creator’s own handle. Meta calls these partnership ads, “formerly known as branded content ads,” a way to “amplify content with a creator or other partner’s handle” (Meta Newsroom, 21 Feb 2024). Meta says pairing partnership ads with its catalog ads drives “a 19% reduction in cost per action” (Meta for Business, Meta’s own claim, checked 2026-11-07).

HourlyUGC launches Meta Partnership Ads from inside the campaign, and the creator’s share of ad spend is counted from the spend Meta reports per ad. Guide: Meta partnership ads for UGC.

What the FTC requires

Every commission deal is a material connection. The FTC’s influencer guidance says to disclose any “financial, employment, personal, or family relationship” with a brand, that free product counts, and that the disclosure must be “hard to miss,” inside the video for video content (FTC, Disclosures 101, checked 2026-11-07). For links and codes, the FTC’s FAQ suggests “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post,” and says “Affiliate link” alone is not enough (FTC, Endorsement Guides FAQ, checked 2026-11-07).

Brands are on the hook too: the FAQ says a company “is ultimately responsible for what others do on your behalf.” The Guides were updated on 29 June 2023, when the FTC also said a platform’s built-in tool “might not be an adequate disclosure” (FTC press release). The maximum civil penalty for a knowing violation of an FTC rule is $53,088 per violation, unchanged for 2026. Not legal advice. Creator guide: FTC disclosure for UGC creators.

Where to run a commission-based UGC campaign

Three options: a store plugin plus a spreadsheet, an affiliate network, or a creator platform that holds briefs, videos, tracking and payouts in one place. Platforms differ on which pay models they support, how they count sales, what they charge and how creators are paid. We keep a sourced, dated fact sheet per platform at /platforms/ and a comparison at Best commission UGC platforms, and every fact on them links to the platform’s own public page.

Glossary

Commission-based UGC, ad spend share, partnership ads, Spark Ads, whitelisting, last-click attribution, GMV, AOV, CPA, ROAS, CPM, usage rights, product seeding, affiliate link, discount code.

Guides for brands

Commission vs flat fee, How to set commission rates, Pay a percentage of ad spend, How to track creator sales, Hourly UGC, Per-video pricing, Pay per 1,000 views, Mixing pay models, Meta partnership ads, Commission-only campaigns, Performance-based UGC, UGC vs affiliate marketing.

Guides for creators

How to get paid commission, Is commission UGC worth it?, Is commission UGC legit?, GMV commission, FTC disclosure, Commission UGC jobs, How to pitch a brand, Creator rates: commission vs flat, Canvas UGC.

Start a campaign on HourlyUGC

Pick a base or none, set the share, choose the count, open the door, and launch the winners as partnership ads from the same place. Start a campaign on HourlyUGC. Creators: find campaigns on HourlyUGC.