Scoop supports a few different deal structures so you can match the compensation model to the kind of relationship you want with a creator. You can use any combination of these inside a single project, so part of your roster can be paid in cash while another part receives product.
Cash deals
Cash deals are the most common type. You agree on a fixed fee in money, paid out across one or more milestones, in exchange for an agreed set of deliverables.
You define the payment schedule when you build the deal. Common patterns are:
A single payment after the content publishes
A 50/50 split between draft approval and publish
An upfront payment on agreement plus a balance on publish
You can also use fully custom milestone schedules if you have a specific cash-flow setup. Scoop tracks each milestone, surfaces due dates, and flags overdue payments inside the project.
Use cash deals when you want a clean, professional creator engagement, you're working with established creators, or you need very specific deliverables and usage rights.
Barter deals
Barter deals exchange product for content. Instead of paying the creator in cash, you send them product (or give them a discount code to claim product from your store), and they create content in return.
Barter deals require a connected Shopify store. Scoop generates a unique discount code per deal that the creator redeems on your store. You can choose between a 100% off coupon (the creator gets the product completely free) or a 50% off coupon (you split the cost with the creator).
Use barter deals when product samples are the core value exchange, you're building relationships with mid-tier or emerging creators, or you want to scale gifting without a dedicated PR budget.
Ambassador deals
Ambassador deals are longer-term arrangements with a single creator that span multiple pieces of content over weeks or months. Instead of a one-off post, you agree on an ongoing relationship, with deliverables spaced across the contract period and payment milestones tied to each batch.
Ambassador deals are on the Scoop roadmap. If you need to run an ambassador program today, you can structure it as a cash deal with multiple deliverables and a custom milestone schedule.
Comparing the deal types at a glance
Deal type | Compensation | Best for | Requirements |
Cash | Money, milestone-based | Established creators, specific deliverables, paid campaigns | None |
Barter | Product, via discount code | Gifting at scale, emerging creators, sampling programs | Connected Shopify store (or manual coupons) |
Ambassador | Mix of cash and product, over time | Long-term brand relationships, recurring content | Roadmap (use cash with multiple deliverables for now) |
Mixing deal types in one project
You don't have to pick one type for the entire project. Inside a project you can run, for example, a paid cash deal with your top three creators, barter deals with the next twenty, and use the project to track all of them in one dashboard. You decide the structure at the deal level, not the project level.
This is useful when you're testing a new audience tier, running a sampling layer alongside a paid push, or evaluating creators for an ambassador slot.