UGC whitelisting: what it is, what to charge and how to get paid

Whitelisting means a brand gets permission to run paid ads through your social media account instead of its own. On Meta this is called partnership ads; on TikTok the equivalent is Spark Ads. It is not how you find your first brand. It is something you can offer once a brand already wants your video, and it is a second way to be paid for the same work.

What does whitelisting mean for a UGC creator?

Whitelisting is when a brand runs paid ads from your handle, so the ad shows your name and profile instead of the brand's. Xolo's whitelisting explainer describes it as a brand running paid ads through your personal account. The brand pays Meta or TikTok for the ad spend. You are paid for the permission.

That is different from the brand posting your video on its own page. Your face and name are attached to the ad, and the brand controls the targeting and how often people see it. That is why it is worth its own fee.

How does the permission work on Meta?

Partnership ads are Meta's name for ads that run with a creator's identity, and the creator grants permission. Meta's developer documentation describes two levels:

• Account-level permission: the brand can run partnership ads from your account without asking again for each post.
• Post-level permission: you approve one specific post. If a brand publishes the ad before you approve, it waits in a pending state until you do.

Pick the narrower one when you can. Post-level approval keeps the brand to the videos you agreed on. The exact buttons change, so follow Meta's current help pages when you set it up, and never share your login or password with a brand. Permission is all they need.

How much should I charge for whitelisting?

There is no standard price. Published guides disagree, so treat every number as a range to start from, not a market rate. Most of them price it on top of your video fee (set that first with how much to charge for UGC) and by the month:

These are vendor blogs, not studies, and they don't agree with each other. Pick one way of pricing before you name a number, and stick to it.

An example. Say your video fee is $200 and you charge 30% of it per month for a 3-month whitelisting window. The access is $60 a month, so $180 for three months, and the whole deal is $380: $200 for the video plus $180 for the ad access. The formula is the same one Xolo uses: content fee plus monthly fee times the number of months. The numbers here are an illustration, not a rate card.

Longer windows, more platforms, a wider area (worldwide instead of one country) and exclusivity all justify a higher price. A brand that asks for "full rights" with no end date is asking for a buyout, and that is a different, larger price.

What should I put in writing?

Whitelisting goes wrong when the terms live in a chat. Confirm these in an email or a signed agreement (the UGC contract guide has a one-page template) before you grant any permission:

• Platforms: Meta, TikTok, or both.
• Start and end date, in months. "Ongoing" is not a duration.
• Which videos can be used in ads, and whether edits are allowed.
• Fee, and how it is billed: the video, then the monthly access fee as its own line.
• Spend: if the brand plans a small test, a big campaign should mean a new quote.
• Exclusivity: which competing category you will avoid, and for how long. Price it, don't give it away.
• What happens at the end: the brand stops running the ads and you turn the permission off.

A short confirmation works: "Confirming: one video at $200, plus whitelisting on Meta for 3 months at $60 a month, starting November 1 and ending January 31. Permission is for this video only and ends on the end date."

How do I get paid for it?

Keep the video and the whitelisting as separate invoice lines. The video fee is earned when you deliver it, whatever the ads do. Bill the access fee for each month the permission is active, ideally at the start of the month, so you are not giving access on trust. If the brand misses a payment, you can switch the permission off. For follow-ups on late invoices, see how to invoice a brand as a UGC creator.

Be careful with deals that pay only if the ads perform. The base video fee should not depend on results; the guide on performance-based UGC pay covers how to protect it. If the brand wants the access every month, a monthly retainer is a natural way to bill it.

What are the risks?

• Your face on weak ads. The brand controls the creative once it runs as an ad. Ask to approve the final ad copy.
• Access creeping past the agreement. Put the end date in writing and turn the permission off yourself on that date.
• Unpaid access. Don't extend a month of access before the invoice for it is paid.
• Disclosure rules. Paid content normally has to be labelled as an ad. Follow the platform's branded content tools and ask the brand how it will handle it.

When in doubt about a contract, ask a lawyer. This guide is practical advice, not legal advice.