TERM
Escrow
Funds paid at booking are held in Razorpay Marketplace Escrow — ring-fenced from Creator Scout's own operating account. Neither party can move the money unilaterally.
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WHY CREATOR SCOUT
The rails the creator economy never had.
0.1% TDS at the right section. Escrow-held payments. Brand sign-off, with a 5-day creator escalation to platform support. Verified Instagram audience data. Here's the mechanism, top to bottom.
Get started0.1% TDS at the right sectionEscrow-held paymentsBrand sign-off, 5-day creator escalationVerified IG audience data0% platform fee for brands
0.1% TDS at the right sectionEscrow-held paymentsBrand sign-off, 5-day creator escalationVerified IG audience data0% platform fee for brands
0.1% TDS at the right sectionEscrow-held paymentsBrand sign-off, 5-day creator escalationVerified IG audience data0% platform fee for brands
0.1% TDS at the right sectionEscrow-held paymentsBrand sign-off, 5-day creator escalationVerified IG audience data0% platform fee for brands
HOW IT WORKS
Every order runs the same six steps.
The state machine every deal on the platform goes through — same for every tier, every amount.
- 01
Brand books the creator at the listed price.
Funds enter escrow at booking (Razorpay Marketplace Escrow). The creator is notified. The brand can't recover the money unilaterally after this point — only via the refund policy.
- 02
Creator accepts. Deadline starts.
The creator confirms scope and proposed deadline. From acceptance, the delivery clock runs on the creator side.
- 03
Creator submits. Brand review opens.
Deliverable uploaded inside the platform. Brand is notified by email and in-app. We nudge the brand at 24 hours, 4 days, and weekly thereafter until they act.
- 04
Brand approves — or creator escalates.
Approval releases funds from escrow via RazorpayX. Submissions don't approve automatically. If the brand hasn't responded within 5 days, the creator can request a platform review from the order page and support steps in.
- 05
TDS deducted at source. Payout hits bank.
Platform fee (12% incl. GST) is retained. TDS (0.1% with PAN, 5% without) deducted and filed by Creator Scout. Net payout hits the creator's bank, typically within one business day.
- 06
GST-compliant invoice generated.
Every completed order ships with a tax invoice on both sides — creator-side platform-fee invoice, brand-side GST invoice for input tax credit.
HOW THE MONEY MOVES
Four terms cover the whole cycle.
No black-box back-end. This is exactly how funds enter, clear, and settle.
TERM
Approval
The brand reviews each submission at their own pace. Revision count is locked in the agreement upfront; extra revisions are a defined paid add-on. We nudge the brand at 24 hours, 4 days, then weekly if they don't respond.
TERM
Escalation
If the brand goes silent for 5 days on a submission, the creator can request a platform review from the order page. Support opens a dispute and takes over — submitted work never sits in escrow indefinitely waiting on an unreachable brand.
TERM
Payout
On brand approval (or a resolution issued by support after an escalation), RazorpayX transfers the creator's share — listed price minus 12% platform fee minus TDS — to their linked bank account, typically within one business day.
TAX AT THE RIGHT SECTION
0.1% TDS, not 10%.
We deduct under Section 194-O — the section written for e-commerce operator transactions. Not 194-J, which is what agencies apply off-platform.
With PAN
0.1%
Under Section 194-O of the Income Tax Act, 1961 — the section for e-commerce operator transactions.
Without PAN
5%
Under Section 206AA — the higher rate that applies when the deductee has not furnished a PAN.
WORKED EXAMPLE · ₹50,000 DEAL
Listed price ₹50,000 · platform fee at 12% (incl. GST) ₹6,000 · TDS at 0.1% on gross ₹50 · creator's net payout ₹43,950. TDS is filed by Creator Scout under the creator's PAN.
Form 26Q filed quarterly. Form 16A generated per creator, per quarter — downloadable from your dashboard.
FEE STRUCTURE
The whole fee schedule, on one card.
Brand-side pricing is subscription-only. There is no per-order platform fee on any brand tier.
PartyFeeBasis
Creator (standard)12% per completed dealFlat, inclusive of 18% GST. Deducted from listed price.
Creator (referred a brand)0% for lifeOn the referring creator's own orders with that brand — lifetime, no cap, no expiry. Other creators booking the same brand still pay 12%.
Brand — Free₹0/mo0% platform fee on orders.
Brand — Growth₹6,999/mo (₹5,999 billed yearly)0% platform fee. Team seats + higher-volume workflows.
Brand — Pro₹10,999/mo (₹9,999 billed yearly)0% platform fee. All Growth features + analytics.
SIDE-BY-SIDE
Us vs the alternatives.
The three ways brand–creator deals happen in India today, on one page.
| Dimension | Creator Scout | Traditional agency | Direct DM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / agency fee | 12% creator-side, incl. GST | 15–30% agency margin, bundled in invoice | 0% |
| Brand fee | 0% on every tier | Retainer + margin | 0% |
| Payment security | Escrow, milestone release | Agency-mediated, delay-prone | None |
| TDS rate | 0.1% under 194-O (with PAN) | 10% under 194-J | 10% or unfiled |
| Approval SLA | Brand sign-off, 5-day creator escalation | Ad hoc | None |
| Verified metrics | Instagram Graph API | Rarely verified | Screenshots |
| Dispute resolution | Structured, on-platform | Agency-arbitrated | WhatsApp screenshots |
| Invoicing | GST-compliant, auto-generated | Bundled agency invoice | Creator issues manually |
THE BOUNDARY
What Creator Scout is not.
A short list of adjacent products we're not, so nobody conflates the platform with things it isn't.
Not a talent agency.
We don't negotiate on a creator's behalf, take on personal representation, or collect an ongoing commission tied to a creator's off-platform earnings.
Not a lead-generation tool.
No cold-outreach sequences. No email scraping. No exportable creator databases.
Not a talent management firm.
Creators own their profiles, their contact terms, their inbound.
No brand-side commission.
0% on brand orders across every tier. Platform revenue comes from the creator side only.
We don't sell creator or brand data.
Audience data fetched from Instagram displays only on the creator's own profile.
No exclusivity required.
Creators work off-platform in parallel. No non-competes.
Frequently asked questions.
Brands pay 0% platform fee on orders across every tier — Free, Growth, and Pro. Creators pay 12% flat per completed deal, inclusive of 18% GST. Refer a brand to the platform and your fee on their deals drops to 3.5% for six months; your first deal with them is 0% if it's under ₹50,000.
0.1% with a valid PAN under Section 194-O of the Income Tax Act, or 5% without under Section 206AA — significantly lower than the 10% agencies typically deduct off-platform under Section 194-J. We file Form 26Q quarterly and generate Form 16A per creator.
The brand's payment enters Razorpay Marketplace Escrow at booking — before the creator is required to touch the brief. Funds release from escrow to the creator's bank via RazorpayX when the brand approves — or when platform support resolves a creator escalation if the brand has gone silent.
Escrow keeps the funds locked. We nudge the brand at 24 hours, 4 days, then weekly. If no response for 5 days, the creator can request a platform review from the order page and support steps in. Delivered work never sits in escrow indefinitely because of an unreachable brand.
Yes — share your referral link. Every deal you ever do with that brand is 0% platform fee — for life, no size cap, no expiry. It's a fee reduction on your own orders, not a separate payout. Other creators booking the same brand still pay 12%.
Follower count, engagement rate, reach, and audience demographics (age, gender, city) are fetched directly from Instagram's Graph API on OAuth connection and refresh automatically. No screenshots, no self-reported metrics.
Yes. Post a brief with your requirements — deliverables, niche, budget, timeline. Matched creators apply directly. Briefs can be public in the marketplace or invitation-only.
No. The Free tier books creators at 0% platform fee. Paid subscriptions (Growth ₹6,999/mo, Pro ₹10,999/mo — cheaper billed yearly) unlock team seats, higher-volume workflows, and analytics. Pricing is subscription-only; no per-order margin at any tier.
Revision count is locked in the agreement upfront — extra revisions are a defined paid add-on. Escrow protects funds throughout. If the collaboration goes sideways, our dispute resolution team reviews the full order history and resolves fairly.
No. GST is only relevant on the platform-fee side, which we invoice directly. A creator does not need to be GST-registered to accept payouts on Creator Scout.
Sign up. Book a deal. Get paid.
Free to join. 0% platform fee for brands. Escrow-backed for both sides.
Get started