u/BitchySaladFilosofer

Hey everyone! I got my first brand deal offer and I’m trying to figure out if I should accept it or hold out for something better. Would love some advice from more experienced creators.

The Offer:
• Brand: TEMU (e-commerce platform)
• Payment: $300 cash + $150 in products (one-time, not recurring)
• Deliverable: 90-second integration that must START within the first 3 minutes of one video
• Timeline: ASAP

My Channel Stats:
• Subscribers: 30K
• Recent performance:
• Video 1: 221K views, 8.3% CTR, 98.1% like ratio
• Video 2: 32K views, 8.2% CTR, 97.9% like ratio, 4.8% comment rate
• Video 3 (11 hours old): 7.9K views, 9.6% CTR, 6.5% comment rate
• CPM: $11.84
• Niche: Dating/relationships commentary from neurodivergent perspective
• Growth: +5.6K subscribers in last 28 days

My Concerns:
1. Retention: My latest video has 5:18 avg view duration (41% retention). Adding a 90-second ad in the first 3 minutes could hurt this further.
2. Pay seems low: With my recent video hitting 280K views and my CPM at $11.84, I’m wondering if $300 for premium placement (first 3 minutes) is undervaluing my content.
3. I tried to negotiate to $600 with later placement (5-7 min mark), but they declined and said their budget can’t go higher and placement must be first 3 minutes per company policy.

My Questions:
1. Is $300 + $150 in products a fair rate for a channel my size with my metrics?
2. How much weight should I give to protecting the first 3 minutes vs. getting my first brand deal experience?
3. Should I accept this and keep it as a portfolio piece, or hold out for better offers?
4. For those with similar subscriber counts and performance—what are you typically getting paid for integrations?

I know I could just make ~$300-500 from ad revenue alone if the video performs like my recent ones, which makes me hesitant. But I also don’t want to pass up valuable experience if this is actually a decent offer.

Any advice appreciated!