Revealed: how much money influencers are really getting from token-based gifts

• Today, FXC Intelligence publishes a report detailing how token-based influencer gifting works across six major social media platforms and reveals how much creators actually receive from social media payments.
• The report found significant variation in the transparency of social media gifts across the platforms – Snapchat had the most ambiguous system, making it impossible to determine how much of a gift a creator will actually receive on the platform. 
• YouTube has the best pay-out rates for creators, who receive 70% of gifts. For the other platforms, the number mostly sits at around 50%.

Today, FXC Intelligence has published a report detailing how token-based influencer gifting works and revealing how much creators actually receive at the end of the gifting process.

The report – which examined Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok and Youtube – found that a large portion of the money sent by a fan is taken by the respective social media platform, although the precise amount varies significantly by provider.

Using a token-based gift inevitably reduces the transparency of the process compared to a direct payment to a creator in a single currency. However, the report found that there was significant variation in the transparency of the gifting process across the six different platforms.

The level of transparency was assessed across pricing, use of conversions and pay-outs. The best performing platform was YouTube, which displayed clearly communicated gift prices at the point of purchase, a single token system and easy-to-find information about the amounts paid to creators. 

Conversely, Snapchat was the least transparent. It has a complex three-step token system and no publicly available information about the conversion rates, making it impossible to determine how much of a gift a creator will receive.

The report found that YouTube also has the best pay-out rates for creators, who receive 70% of gifts. For the others, the number mostly sits at around 50%.

Lucy Ingham, Editor-in-Chief and Head of Content at FXC Intelligence said:

“Token-based gifting has been on the rise for some time and is now a widely recognised practice across social media platforms. Followers of the trend may be surprised to learn that these social platforms are taking cuts as high as 50% from the gifts to their favourite creators. 

“Whilst sending gifts can open new forms of communication between influencer and follower, those looking to just financially support their favourite creator may want to consider alternative platforms that take a far smaller cut of the gift – ensuring that more of the money they send ends up in the creator’s pocket.”

The amount of money creators receive from the different platforms varies between the different platforms and is dependent on whether a currency conversion is required (pay-outs are mostly in US dollars) and if the platform charges fees to withdraw money in addition to the cuts they take from the initial send amount. 

In all cases, there is a considerable delay between the gift being sent and a creator receiving their pay-out, with many companies only paying out when a certain balance has been reached (Facebook, Snapchat and Youtube require at least $100 to accrue before pay-out) and will then make a payment at a set date or window the following month. 

To find out more information about the report click here. Lucy Ingham is available for commentary and can offer more information about the research.

Further information

• Token-based gifting is the practice of social media followers sending virtual gifts to their favourite creators, who can then convert them into cash pay-outs.
• The report assessed six major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok and Youtube.
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