What break-even means here
Today you keep your fan earnings minus the platform fee. With an agency you also pay commission. Break-even is the level of fan earnings at which what you keep after both is exactly what you keep now. Below it you are worse off; above it the agency is adding money as well as time.
It is a floor, not a forecast. Nobody can tell you in advance whether a page will grow past it, and any agency that promises a figure is a warning sign.
Why gross or net changes the answer
Commission on net is taken after the platform fee. Commission on gross is taken from what fans paid before the platform fee, so the same percentage costs more and the page has to grow further to cover it. The commission calculator shows the difference month by month.
The formula
You keep today = fan earnings × (1 − platform fee)
Commission on net: fan earnings needed = current fan earnings ÷ (1 − commission)
Commission on gross: fan earnings needed = current fan earnings × (1 − platform fee) ÷ (1 − platform fee − commission)
Extra earnings needed = fan earnings needed − current fan earnings
All percentages are used as decimals, so 20% is 0.2. If the platform fee and a gross commission add up to 100% or more, no amount of growth can break even.
A worked example
Fans pay $5,000 a month, the platform fee is 20%, and the agency offers a hypothetical 25% (an example for the arithmetic only, not a suggested or typical rate).
| You keep today ($5,000 × 0.8) | $4,000 |
|---|---|
| On net: fan earnings needed ($5,000 ÷ 0.75) | $6,667 |
| On net: extra earnings needed | $1,667 (33%) |
| On gross: fan earnings needed ($5,000 × 0.8 ÷ 0.55) | $7,273 |
| On gross: extra earnings needed | $2,273 (45%) |
At either break-even point you keep $4,000, the same as today. Every dollar fans pay above it is where management starts to add money rather than only time.
What to watch out for
- Use a typical month, not your best one. One unusually good month makes the break-even point look easier than it is.
- Check exactly what the commission is charged on: subscriptions only, or tips, messages and pay-per-view too. A rate charged on everything is not the same as a rate charged on part of it.
- Ask whether commission is charged on earnings you would have made anyway, such as renewals from subscribers you already had.
- Put a value on your time. If management frees up hours each week, that can matter even at break-even.
- Platform fees differ and change. Check your platform’s current terms and change the fee above if yours is different.
- Be wary of any agency that tells you how much you will earn. Honest management can explain its plan, not promise a result.
General information only, not financial, legal or tax advice. The tool does arithmetic on figures you enter and makes no prediction about what any page will earn. Platform fees and rules change, so check your platform’s current terms.