How a Deal Becomes Real Money
When to start work, what the offer actually agrees, and where your money sits at every stage.
What this guide covers
The one rule worth more than everything else here
Do not create or post anything until the brand has paid. An accepted offer is not a funded one.
Only the green row means the money exists.
Until the brand pays, nothing is held anywhere. If they go quiet you have worked for nothing, and there is no deal for anyone here to enforce. That is why delivering to an unfunded brand is against the platform terms, and creators have received formal warnings for it.
If a brand asks you to post first and promises to pay afterwards, say no and tell us. The request is itself the warning sign, and the whole reason the money is held in advance is so you never have to take that risk.
What you are actually agreeing to
An offer carries four structured terms. Everything else lives in the chat, which is binding between you but is not tracked by any field.
| On the offer | Only in the brief and the chat |
|---|---|
| Price | How many posts |
| Expected delivery date | Format, for example Reel against Story |
| Duration, Permanent or Temporary | Usage rights, including paid ads |
| Bio URL | Required tags, hashtags and the disclosure |
Duration is the one people miss. Permanent means the post is meant to stay up. Temporary means it can come down after the agreed period, which has to be more than four hours.
Get usage rights into the chat before you accept. If a brand intends to run your face as a paid ad for six months, that is a different job from one organic post, and the offer form has nowhere to record the difference.
Pricing the offer
The floor is $10. That is the smallest paid collaboration the platform allows, and a large share of deals sit exactly there.
After the 20% payout fee, a $10 deal leaves you $8. Decide whether the content is worth making at that price before you send the offer, because a cheap deal takes the same work as an expensive one.
Start from your own numbers
Audience size and engagement, and what you have actually been paid on past Ainfluencer deals.
Respect the campaign’s range
Pricing well above the stated budget without explaining why is the quickest way to be skipped.
Price the deliverable, not the post
A Reel plus three Stories plus usage rights is not the same job as one static image.
Be wary of commission only
Fine when the brand runs their affiliate programme on Ainfluencer. A brand wanting to handle commission off-platform is asking you to work unprotected.
Negotiating, and what locks when
Before payment, either side can change the terms. After payment, changes need both of you to agree.
| Stage | Who can change the terms | How |
|---|---|---|
| Before the brand pays | Both of you | Edit Offer on the card. The other side accepts or rejects |
| After the brand pays | The brand proposes, you decide | A revision request. You see Accept or Reject on the offer card |
| A higher price in a revision | Agreed by you | The brand pays the difference and it joins the same deal |
| A lower price in a revision | Agreed by you | The difference goes back to the brand’s wallet |
Accepted extra money is included when you withdraw, because the payout uses the deal’s current price. So agreeing more work mid-deal does not cost you the original booking.
Why the chat hides your email and your address
Contact details are blocked until the offer is paid. It is not aimed at you.
| Situation | Can you share contact details? |
|---|---|
| The offer is not paid yet | No. It is hidden, and the brand sees Contact hidden |
| The offer is paid | Yes. Sharing opens up |
| A gifting conversation | Yes, those are never masked |
| The brand is on the Ultimate plan | Yes, their chat is open |
So if a brand needs your shipping address, the order is: they pay, then you send it. Trying to get a contact detail past the filter is reviewed every night and can produce a formal warning, which is a poor trade for saving a day.
Where your money actually sits
Four stages, and the fee is taken at the last one rather than the first.
Your wallet shows the full price. The 20% comes off when you withdraw.
The brand’s fee is not yours
They pay a platform fee on top of your price. It never reduces what you receive.
A coupon does not reduce you either
If the brand used one, Ainfluencer covers that share, so you still get the full price.
The chat card estimates 80%
The offer card shows price times 0.8 once approved. That is the same 20%, shown early.
Escrow cannot be withdrawn
Only released money can. Approval is what moves it.
If the brand accepts and then stalls
A deal sitting at Waiting Payment is not progress, and waiting quietly is the wrong response.
Message them once, plainly
Say you are ready to start as soon as the deal is funded. Many brands do not realise work cannot begin.
Do not start anyway
This is the exact situation that produces suspension warnings.
Keep sending other offers
An unfunded deal is not a booking. Do not hold your calendar for it.
Let it go if it stays quiet
Nothing is lost: no money was held and no delivery was owed.
A brand’s willingness to fund quickly is the best single signal you get. One that funds within a day of accepting is usually one that approves promptly too, which is what decides how fast you are paid.
From a campaign you like to money in your wallet
The sequence that actually pays, with the point of no return marked.
Ready to send your next offer?
The Ainfluencer creator app is free on iOS and Android. Sign up, link your handle, and start finding brands.
