A Brand Didn't Pay You? A Step-by-Step Plan to Get Your Money (With Email Templates)

When a brand is not paying an influencer on time, the fix is to escalate in writing and in order. Start by confirming the payment is actually late: find the trigger in your agreement (posting, delivery, approval or invoice), check whether days are calendar or business days, and make sure the brand has your invoice, your W-9 and the right payment details. Payers typically collect your taxpayer ID on Form W-9, and a missing or wrong one can stall a payment or lead to 24% backup withholding.

There is no reliable published survey of how long brands take to pay creators, so rely on the term you agreed: a deposit on signing, payment on delivery or approval, net 15, 30 or 60, or a set number of days after posting. Where no date was agreed, some places set a default. New York City's Freelance Isn't Free Act requires payment within 30 days of finishing the work when a freelance contract names no date. Platform deals can differ: Tubefilter reports TikTok One Pay pays brand deals in under 30 days after posting.

A sensible timeline: on day 1 after the due date, send a friendly check-in that re-attaches the invoice and asks for the scheduled payment date. Around days 3 to 5, find the finance or accounts-payable contact and copy them in. On day 7, send a firm reminder with the amount, due date, contract clause and a request for a written date. On day 14, send a final notice with a deadline 7 to 10 days out and one real next step. By day 30, decide between a payment plan, a demand letter, small claims, a platform dispute or writing it off.

Your real leverage mostly lives in your contract. You can usually pause new or optional work, and if your agreement ties the brand's usage or ad license to payment in full, you can ask in writing that it stops running the content. Deleting posts or pulling Spark Ads access early can put you in breach if the contract requires them, so read it first. Small claims limits and rules vary by state; California, for example, lists $12,500 for individuals and $6,250 when suing for a business. This is general information, not legal advice.

Be careful when a missed payment is followed by a sudden switch in payment method, such as a brand saying its PayPal is broken and asking for your routing and account numbers. Verify the company through its official website, offer a payment link from your own invoicing tool instead, and count money as paid only once it clears. The FTC warns that fake checks can take weeks to be discovered after banks make funds available. To prevent unpaid deals, get terms in writing, ask new brands for a deposit and tie usage to payment.

On Aurelia, the brand pays first. A paid campaign goes live only after the brand has paid in its creator budget, that money is held until your work is approved, and you are paid to your bank automatically when the brand approves your work. Your take-home pay, the product, the usage rights and the deadline are shown before you apply, and the take-home you see already has Aurelia’s fee taken out. The contract is written from the campaign, and revisions stay inside the brief. A brand can cancel a campaign at any point, but approved work is always paid, even if the brand cancels the campaign afterwards. Your bank details go straight to Stripe, and Aurelia never sees them.