A brand just emailed asking to pay for a post you created six months ago — something you made organically, on your own time, because you genuinely liked the product.
Now they want to use it in their campaign. For most creators, the pricing instinct here is to undercharge. After all, the work is already done! No shoot, no brief, no revision rounds. Feels like found money.
It's not. Pricing how much to charge for existing content in a brand deal is its own discipline, and getting it wrong leaves real money behind.
When a brand likes content you already posted, it's because you've already created a winning piece of content. (You have the leverage in this negotiation.(
This guide covers exactly how to price this scenario: when a brand discovers your old content and wants to pay for it, when they want to repost it as a sponsored post, and when they're asking for usage rights to content you never intended to license.
The Short Answer: How Much to Charge for Existing Content in a Brand Deal
For mid-tier creators, licensing existing organic content to a brand typically runs 50–80% of what you'd charge for new content of the same type, with usage rights added on top. Here's the tier breakdown:
| Follower Count | New Content Base Rate (IG Reel) | Existing Content License Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50K–100K | $800–$1,800 | $450–$1,300 | No creative fee; audience access still priced |
| 100K–200K | $1,500–$3,500 | $900–$2,500 | Usage rights add 25–50% on top |
| 200K–350K | $3,000–$6,000 | $1,800–$4,500 | Organic trust premium applies |
| 350K–500K | $5,000–$10,000+ | $3,500–$7,500 | Brand gets proven content — price accordingly |
These are base license fees. Usage rights are a separate line item added to every one of these quotes — covered in the next section.
Why Old Content Still Has Full Market Value
Here's the framing brands are counting on you to miss: they didn't come to you for a file. They came to you for your audience's trust.
A brand reaching out about your old post already knows it performed. They've seen the engagement. They've watched the comments. That post represents organic proof that your audience genuinely responded — which is far more valuable to them than commissioning new sponsored content where the outcome is unknown.
You did the creative work on your own time, yes. But the asset they want isn't just pixels. The brand wants to borrow the credibility of an unpaid recommendation. That's worth more than a produced ad, not less.
So the "no creative cost" logic that makes creators discount this deal is exactly backward from the brand's perspective. A brand requesting existing content is looking to purchase authentic social proof — an audience relationship built without their involvement. Price that accordingly.
The Organic Trust Premium
Content you created without a brief performs differently than sponsored content. The audience reading comments on that old post doesn't know it was unpaid — it reads as a genuine recommendation. Brands understand this. They're specifically seeking that unsponsored feel.
When you price this deal, that organic quality is a premium, not a discount. The brand would need a much larger production budget to manufacture the same credibility. You already have it.
The Two Deal Types — and How Pricing Differs
Not all existing-content requests are the same. The brand could be asking for one of two very different things, and the pricing structure changes accordingly.
Deal Type 1: Licensing Your Old Post for Their Own Use
The brand wants to download your content and use it in their ads, website, email campaigns, or other owned channels. Your original post stays where it is. You don't have to post anything new. This is a content licensing deal.
Pricing for this structure:
- License fee: 50–75% of your new content rate for that deliverable type
- Usage rights fee: Added on top, priced by duration and placement (see below)
- No creative fee: You don't charge for production time that already happened
The license fee acknowledges your creative work. The usage rights fee acknowledges the ongoing value of using that content in their marketing.
Deal Type 2: Reposting Your Old Content as a Sponsored Post
The brand wants you to reshare your original post with a sponsored label — either by editing the original caption to include a paid partnership disclosure, or reposting the content with new sponsored tags. Your audience sees it. This is a sponsored post deal.
This structure prices differently because your audience is still the delivery mechanism. You're not just licensing a file; you're running a sponsored post through your channel. Price this closer to your standard sponsored post rate for that content type, with a modest creative reduction (10–20%) since no new content is being produced.
If the brand also wants usage rights to run that content in their own ads, that's a third add-on on top of everything else.
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Usage Rights: The Required Add-On Most Creators Forget
This is where most creators leave money on the table.
Every existing content deal includes some form of usage rights — and brands will rarely volunteer what they actually plan to do with your content once they have it. They're hoping you'll hand over the file without asking. They're counting on you treating this like a simple transaction.
Usage rights are always a separate line item. They do not come included in the license fee, and they should not.
How to Price Usage Rights on Existing Content
Usage rights multiply based on duration and placement:
| Usage Duration | Additional Fee (% of License Fee) |
|---|---|
| 30 days | +25–35% |
| 60 days | +35–50% |
| 90 days | +50–75% |
| 6 months | +75–100% |
| 12 months | +100–150% |
| Unlimited / in perpetuity | Do not accept as written — price at 200–250% or counter with a time limit |
For detailed guidance on pricing usage rights, see the full usage rights breakdown for influencer marketing and how much to charge for usage rights specifically.
Bonus Tip: Ask the brand exactly where and how they'll use the content before you price it. "Running it in paid social ads" is a much more valuable use case than "sharing it on our brand Instagram" — and the rate should reflect that. Paid ad usage adds 50–100% more than organic brand channel usage.
Red Flag: Brands Asking for Retroactive Compensation
Sometimes a brand doesn't ask permission first. They reach out after using your content, trying to retroactively "formalize" what already happened with a payment offer — often lower than fair market value, framed as a courtesy.
This is a different situation. If a brand has already been using your content without your permission, any payment they're now offering is not a routine licensing deal. It's settlement territory.
The correct framing here is:
- Document the unauthorized usage before engaging with their offer
- Do not accept their first number — it's almost certainly discounted to their benefit
- Price the retroactive deal as if the full usage period already happened at your standard rate, plus a premium for unauthorized use (typically 25–50% above the standard usage fee for that duration)
If a brand used your content for six months without a contract, you're entitled to six months of usage rights fees — plus that premium — regardless of what they're offering to pay. For a detailed guide on handling this specific situation, see what to do when a brand uses your content without permission.
A Real Deal Breakdown
Here's how this looks in practice.
Creator profile: Lifestyle creator, 131K Instagram followers, 83K TikTok, 5.2% average engagement rate on Instagram.
What happened: A wellness brand DM'd her about a smoothie recipe video she posted eight months ago — no partnership, totally organic. They want to license the video to use in their paid Meta ad campaign for the next three months.
The ask: Content license + 90-day paid ad usage rights for Meta ads only.
How to price it:
| Line Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Content license fee (75% of new IG Reel rate of $2,200) | $1,650 |
| 90-day paid ad usage rights | $1,237 |
| Total | $2,887 |
Without pulling in the usage rights line item, she might have quoted $1,500 and called it a licensing fee. The correct quote is nearly double that — and the brand expected her to ask for it.
Most guides online recommend lower rates at this tier. Selah is built for the creator side: you should be paid what you're worth.
How to Calculate Your Rate for This Deal
The variables that change your total:
- What the brand plans to do with it. Organic brand channels vs. paid ads vs. print is a major fork in the rate.
- How long they want to use it. 30 days and 12 months are entirely different contracts.
- Whether you're reposting or just licensing. Reposting means your audience is in play. Price it like a sponsored post.
- Your engagement rate. A highly engaged audience multiplies the licensing value. If your old post has thousands of genuine comments, that's documented proof of audience quality.
- How long ago you posted it. Very recent content (last 60 days) is still actively circulating. Content from 1–2 years ago is more dormant but not without value. The organic trust premium still applies.
For a full walkthrough of how these variables interact, see how to price a brand deal.
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Your old posts are part of your body of work. When a brand reaches out about one, they're not doing you a favor — they found something they want and they're trying to acquire it at the lowest possible price. You get to decide what it's worth. Quote accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much to charge for existing content in a brand deal when no new work is involved?
Charge a license fee of 50–75% of your standard new content rate for that deliverable type, plus a separate usage rights fee based on duration and placement. The absence of creative production time lowers the base rate slightly, but the usage rights fee compensates — and often brings the total close to what you'd charge for new content anyway.
Can a brand use my old content without paying me?
Only if you previously granted them rights to do so in a contract. Organic posts you created independently belong to you. A brand downloading and using that content without your permission is unauthorized use — not a gray area. If this has already happened, document it and price the retroactive deal above standard rate.
Should I charge a lower rate if the content is old?
Not significantly, and not for the reason brands suggest. The audience trust embedded in organic content actually makes it more valuable to the brand, not less. A modest reduction in the creative fee (since production is complete) is reasonable. Reducing the usage rights fee because the content is old is not.
What's the difference between licensing old content vs. running it as a new sponsored post?
Licensing means the brand uses the file on their own channels — you're selling them the content asset and usage rights. Reposting as a sponsored post means your audience sees it again with a paid partnership label — you're running the campaign through your channel. The second scenario is priced closer to a standard sponsored post rate because your audience is still the delivery mechanism.
What if the brand asks me to retroactively disclose the post as sponsored since they're now paying for it?
This is a legitimate ask if they're paying for the post going forward, but it requires careful handling. The FTC requires disclosure when there's a material connection, and a current payment for an old post could qualify. You're entitled to negotiate additional compensation for any changes to the original post, including added disclosures or caption edits — that's additional creative work, and it should be reflected in the contract.