UGC Raw Footage: Should You Send It, and What to Charge?

A brand that asks for your raw footage wants less of your work and more of your footage. Less work, because nobody needs you to edit. More footage, because every take you hand over is material for another ad. Priced well, a raw footage job can be some of the easiest money in UGC. Handed over as a favor, it can be the most underpriced thing you ever send.

Three things decide which way it goes: a price, the brand's use of the footage agreed in writing, and payment before the full-quality files leave your phone. All three are below, along with what brands mean by raw and how to price the two kinds of raw job.

What raw footage means in a UGC brief

In UGC, raw footage means the clips from your shoot before anything is edited: no cuts between takes, no captions, no music, no text on screen. That's the core meaning. Where it gets slippery is how much of the shoot the brand means, and platforms don't use the word the same way. Billo's basic $99 order is one video filmed from the brief without captions, music or graphics, and Billo calls that the raw video. On JoinBrands, a content-only job delivers the raw files, and any separate clips a creator uploads are extras the brand can choose to buy.

Creators run into the same split. Asked what brands mean by raw, one commenter on r/UGCcreators said it usually means footage that's completely unedited, and sometimes an edit without captions or music. Another creator only found out by asking: the brand wanted every take, mistakes included. They called it the easiest money they'd made.

So before you quote, find out which of these the brand is asking for:

Unless a brand asks for every take, send clean, usable takes, framed right and with the obvious fumbles trimmed off, never your whole camera roll. A request for b-roll is a different ask: cutaways shot on purpose, sent raw or edited (how b-roll differs from raw footage).

Should you send raw footage to brands?

Yes, once those three things are in place: a price, the use agreed in writing, and payment before the full files. If one of them is missing, the cases near the end of this guide explain when to hold the files back for now.

Raw footage is normal, paid UGC work, and plenty of jobs ask for nothing else. In late October 2026, the Pitchlo job board listed a hair-care brand offering $100 for five short hook clips filmed on a phone, a night-cream brand offering $150 for 36 raw clips (three takes of each shot), and a running-apparel brand offering $200 for the raw clips behind one 15-second video.

Brands want raw clips because they test a lot of versions of an ad. TikTok's advice to advertisers is three to five different creatives in each ad group and three to five ad groups in each campaign, with a library of creative assets to refresh from. Its Smart Creative tool mixes videos, text and calls to action into variations, and swaps out videos that show signs of fatigue in their first three to five days. A folder of hooks, bodies and b-roll gives a brand's editor the pieces for all those versions without booking another shoot.

Raw footage jobs come in two kinds, with two different prices:

• Raw instead of an edit. You film the shot list and the brand edits. You skip the editing, but the footage is the whole job.
• Raw on top of an edit. You deliver a finished video, and the brand also wants the clips it came from, so it can cut more ads from your shoot than the one you made.

Most arguments about raw footage come from mixing the two up. Brands tend to say raw is less work, so it should cost less. Creators tend to say raw lets the brand make more ads, so it should cost more. Both are right, about different jobs.

What to charge for raw footage

We found no published data on what raw footage actually sells for. What exists is advice, platform price lists and job listings, so treat each number below as one signal with its source named, not as the market rate. Then price in two parts: making the footage, and what the brand can do with it.

Raw instead of an edit: price the shoot

Start from your rate for one finished video. You won't edit, but you'll usually film more takes and sort more files, so it makes sense to price a raw-only job close to that rate rather than far below it. Not everyone prices it that way. Insense's pay guide for brands starts raw footage at $100 against $150 for one edited video, about a third less, and adds $20 to $30 to the raw price when the clips come separated into hooks, body, call to action and b-roll.

Listings and creators give a wider spread:

• The raw-only listings above offered $100 to $200 a job, and most of those prices included paid ad use, so compare them with your production fee plus a usage fee. A UK fitness app offered $335 for the raw footage behind two ads, with six months of paid ads on Meta.
• Creators on Reddit report more. One was paid $450 for five to seven short clips plus a voiceover recording, and said they'd charge at least $1,200 to $1,500 for forty 30-second clips.

Big asks need their own math. Briefs described on Reddit in July and August asked for 30 to 60 minutes of talking to camera, some with b-roll and photos on top, for $300 to $450. When one creator asked how to price 36 clips for a brand's library of ad material, a reply suggested $1,500 to $2,000. A workable starting point is to price each concept (one script's hooks, body and call to action) near your raw-only rate, then check the total two ways: per clip, and per hour of filming, prep and sorting. The night-cream listing works out to about $4 a clip, and it didn't say how many ads the brand could cut from them.

Raw on top of an edit: price the extra ads

Here the brand already has your edit and wants the clips behind it to make more versions. Published advice puts raw footage at anywhere from about 10% to 100% on top of the video's price: Hubfluence's rate guide says 10% to 25%, Merra 20% to 30%, Influee and inBeat 30% to 50%, and The UGC Club and After Hours Creator Club 50% to 100%. None of them shows data behind the number. The UGC Club's own example is a $200 video with at least $100 more for the raw files.

Where you land depends on what you hand over. Every take belongs at the top of the range, because it's more files and more for the brand to work with. Clips already cut and labeled by hook, body and call to action are much quicker for an editor to use, so they're worth a little more. And ask how many ads they plan to make: "a few more hooks to test" and "a library for the next six months" are different jobs.

On a $200 video, for example, sorted best takes for a few hook tests might add $20 to $50, near the low end of that range. Every take for a six-month library is where the top of the range makes sense: 50% to 100%, or $100 to $200 more. Treat that as an illustration of the method.

On a marketplace, read its terms before you price anything. On Billo, creators can sell extra clips and photos from a shoot at a price they set per item. Billo adds 25% on top for the brand. The brand sees only low-resolution previews until it buys, and what it buys carries the same usage rights as the main order. On JoinBrands, extra content sells at a discounted rate when a brand picks it after its first purchase.

The usage line comes on top

Footage and usage are two lines on the quote. The production fee pays for making the footage. The usage fee pays for where and how long the brand runs the ads it cuts. Raw footage makes that second line matter more, because one shoot can turn into many ads instead of one. As one creator put it, two creators can each be paid $300 while one sells a single organic post and the other gives away years of paid ads. Price that second line with the usage tiers for UGC, then add raw footage to the add-ons on your rate card so the next quote takes a minute.

What to reply when a brand asks for raw footage

The best time to price raw footage is before you film. A videographer on r/videography who charges extra for raw files said clients have never really argued about it, as long as it was discussed before the shoot. Swap your own numbers into these replies.

The brief asks for raw footage

Once the brand agrees to it in writing, that reply is your license. What each line does:

• Raw files. Naming best takes or every take, and roughly how many clips, keeps a short raw ask from growing into your whole shoot.
• Use. Sending the files doesn't hand over your copyright, but in the US, permission to use your work on a non-exclusive basis needs no written agreement, so a "sure, here are the files" email can end up being the license. Writing the scope down is what keeps it to this brand, these platforms and these dates.
• Edits. The FTC's endorsement guides say an endorsement may not be presented out of context or reworded to distort the endorser's opinion or experience. That part of the guides is the advertiser's to follow, and this line lets you hold the brand to it.
• Not included. Raw-only briefs sometimes come from an agency working for several clients. One brief shared on Reddit wanted unlimited, worldwide use that extended to agencies and other brand partners, which could put your face in ads for companies you've never dealt with. Ask which brand the footage is for. If a brand wants AI rights, that's a separate grant with its own price, never part of a raw footage deal; see what an AI clause can quietly include.
• Portfolio. Some contracts bar you from showing the work at all. One creator turned down a contract that asked for unlimited usage, no portfolio use and all the raw files.
• Delivery. Without payment first, the other lines are just requests.

If the brand sends its own contract instead, look for the words "work made for hire", or wording that assigns or transfers your copyright, such as "assigns all right, title and interest". Either one means the brand wants to own the footage, not just use it. Under US copyright rules, a commissioned video counts as a work made for hire only with a written agreement, signed by both sides, that says so. Charge much more for ownership or say no, and have a lawyer read the contract first. For a model of a short, clear license, look at the UK fitness app's listing. It named the use (paid Meta ads from the brand's own accounts, in the UK, for six months) and listed the edits allowed. Ads through the creator's own account, other platforms and posts on the creator's own channels needed a separate written agreement.

"Raw is less work, so it should cost less"

For a raw-only job, agree with what's true and explain the rest:

If the brand pushes back on raw files that come with your edit, point to the extra ads: the edit was one video, and the raw files are the material for every version after it. Either way, trade scope instead of dropping the price: fewer clips, a shorter period, one platform. These scripts for holding your number help when a brand pushes twice.

They asked after you delivered

A raw request after delivery or approval is a new job, not a condition for money you're already owed. When a brand asked for raw files after the video was delivered, one creator quoted £75, half their £150 video rate. The brand replied that it had never paid extra for clips it had already paid for, and went quiet. With the invoice overdue, the brand said it would pay only once the raw footage was uploaded. Answer the new ask without reopening the old invoice:

If the video is already paid for, answer as you would any raw-on-top request, with the first reply in this guide. If it isn't, and the due date has passed, follow the steps for a brand that hasn't paid.

Before you send raw footage: what to cut and how to deliver it

Raw files show more than an edit does, so go through them once before they leave your phone. Hold back any take that shows:

• Your address: shipping labels, parcels, mail on the counter, the house number behind you on the doorstep.
• People who didn't agree to be in an ad: a partner walking past, a roommate, kids in the background. On a family shoot everyone in frame should have said yes, and for kids that's their parent's call.
• Music, TV or radio playing. It's on the audio of every take, and it isn't cleared for ads.
• Other brands: logos or products in shot that the brand won't want in its ad.
• Lines that aren't true. If a script has you say you've used the product for months when it arrived last week, change the line before you film it. Under the FTC's guides, endorsers can be liable for statements they know or should know are deceptive, including saying they've used a product when they haven't.

If you've agreed to send every take, add a line to your terms saying you'll leave out any take that shows other people, private details or untrue claims.

Then deliver the files so they arrive intact:

• Original quality, through a link. Chat apps can shrink video. WhatsApp says media files are usually compressed when shared, and by default it caps video at 720p (480p on slower connections). Apple says an iPhone may compress video attachments in Messages. Send a shared folder or a transfer link instead. If you use WeTransfer, its own guides say the free plan is for non-commercial use.
• A format their editor can open. iPhones set to High Efficiency record video as HEVC (H.265). Switch Formats in the Camera settings to Most Compatible and new videos record as H.264, which works with more devices and operating systems. Ask which one the brand's editor wants before you film, because the switch only applies to videos you shoot after it.
• Location off. An iPhone camera with Location Services on embeds where each photo and video was taken, and the people you share them with may be able to see it. Before filming at home, set Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera to Never, or remove the location from clips you've already shot.
• Names an editor can use. "hook-1-take-2", "body-take-1" and "broll-pour-3" beat "IMG_4471".
• Previews first, full files after payment. Low-resolution or watermarked previews let a brand check what it's getting while you keep the clean files until you're paid. With 30 or more clips, put every clip back to back in one watermarked, low-resolution reel, so the preview is a single export. It's also easier to protect, since Google Drive's download block can be set on files but not on a folder.
• Your own labeled copies. Brands come back for new cuts, and a tidy folder turns that request into a quick, paid job.

When to keep the files back, for now

Most raw requests are fair once they're priced. A few aren't, at least not yet:

• Nothing has been paid yet. Send previews, not the full files. Sending first can make sense for a brand you've worked with before, but decide it case by case.
• The only payment is product. One creator sent raw files for free, with permission to use them, and the brand has run ads from them for a year. If a gifted deal wants raw footage, quote it as a paid add-on and send the finished video as agreed.
• A small fee for forever. One $100 listing wanted unlimited use of four hooks and a body, and barred the creator from reusing the videos for other brands. That's a package to counter or skip.
• "There'll be more projects." As one commenter wrote in a thread about free extra work, "A promise of future projects is not payment."

Raw footage: five more questions

Do I have to send raw footage if the brief didn't mention it?

No. If it wasn't in the agreed deliverables, it isn't owed. Offer it as a priced extra, with the same terms as the first reply above.

Can I give raw footage free to a brand I want to keep?

You can. Put it on your invoice at its normal price as its own row, then take it off as a discount, and keep the usage terms in writing. The brand sees what it was worth, and your next quote doesn't start from zero.

I already sent raw files with no terms. What now?

Email the brand to confirm in writing what the files are for: which platforms, paid or organic, and until when. Price anything beyond that as an extension. Having it in writing now gives you something to point to if the footage turns up somewhere you didn't expect.

What about photos: should I send RAW files?

Only if the brand asks for them and pays for them. Most photo briefs want finished images, and RAW files keep far more of the camera's image data for editing. On iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models, an Apple ProRAW photo is a DNG file of about 25 MB at 12 megapixels, 10 to 12 times the size of a HEIF or JPEG. On iPhone 14 Pro and later Pro models, a 48-megapixel ProRAW photo is about 75 MB. It can also look different than expected in apps that don't support it. Send RAW files through a folder link, because Apple's Mail app converts ProRAW into a smaller JPG. Price them like raw video: an extra, under the same usage terms as the finished photos.

Can a brand use my raw footage to make an AI version of me?

Only with your agreement, and that agreement should be separate, priced and in writing. AI avatar tools such as HeyGen and Synthesia build a talking digital version of a person from one short continuous recording (HeyGen says a 30-second clip from a phone can be enough), and both ask the person on camera to record a consent video before the avatar is made. Put a line in your terms that the brand can't use your footage, face or voice to make an AI avatar, a voice clone or any other digital replica without a separate written agreement. New York and California already make some vague digital-replica clauses unenforceable when the person signed without a lawyer or union, but a clear line of your own is simpler than relying on that.