Q: Flat fee or revenue share for a big content partner? Which won?

Q: Flat fee or revenue share for a big content partner? Which won?

We tested both with comparable review sites. One large partner wanted a $3,000 flat placement fee for a 'best tools' article. Another agreed to standard 25% revenue share on the same kind of placement.

How it played out over a year:
— The flat-fee article drove ~95 sales. At our average order value, that's commission-equivalent we paid $3k for upfront, with no clawback if refunds hit
— The rev-share partner drove ~80 sales and we paid roughly $2,400 in commission, only on sales that stuck

So the flat fee cost more per sale and carried all the risk. We shifted our default to rev-share for content placements and reserved flat fees only for partners who refused performance terms and had proven traffic.

The caveat: flat fees buy you certainty and a guaranteed slot, which matters for a launch with a hard date. For evergreen placements, rev-share almost always wins on risk-adjusted cost.

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