Short answer
A PR package is free product a brand sends a creator, hoping for a post.
You get one by filling in brands' own gifting or creator forms, requesting samples as a TikTok Shop affiliate (1,000 followers; free ones need a sale in the last 120 days), or taking UGC platform jobs where the brand ships the product. If you post about it, the FTC says to disclose it, and the IRS generally counts property received for your work as income.
What is a PR package?
A PR package is free product a brand's PR or marketing team sends to creators and press, hoping they talk about it. Classic PR packages come with no contract.
For UGC creators and TikTok Shop affiliates, most free product now comes with a job: a shoppable video for a TikTok Shop sample, an ad for a Billo job.
How do creators actually get PR packages?
Through five routes, roughly from nothing owed to a paid deal: unsolicited boxes, brand gifting forms, TikTok Shop free samples, UGC platform jobs and direct paid deals. You can't apply for unsolicited boxes, so the middle three are where a small creator should spend time.
| Route | What you need | What you owe | The product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand gifting or creator form | Set by each brand | Whatever you agree; often a post | Usually yours to keep |
| TikTok Shop free sample | 1,000 (affiliate) plus a sale in the last 120 days | A shoppable video within 14 days of delivery | Sent free by the seller |
| Billo UGC job | None | An ad video for the brand | Shipped at no cost, "part of your reward" |
| Clip UGC job | None listed | Content within 7 days of receiving the product | You keep it as part of your pay |
| Insense campaign | Set per campaign (see our review) | The campaign's deliverables | Shipped after you're hired; return it if you can't deliver, or be invoiced |
| JoinBrands job | None | The job's video | Brand ships it, or you buy and are reimbursed; you keep it |
| Hummingbirds campaign | None, public Instagram | An Instagram post with a disclosure, up for 6 months | You buy it; a gift card perk pays you back |
Our pick under 1,000 followers: apply for UGC platform jobs before gifting forms, because Billo and Clip state no following is needed and their product arrives with a fee, while a gifting form ships product with no pay.
How do you get PR packages from brands directly?
Find the brand's own creator, ambassador or gifting form and apply there, then follow up with a short pitch that shows a video you've already made.
- List 10 brands you already use
Brands send to people who visibly use them. Find each one's Creators, Ambassadors or Press page in the site footer.
- Film one sample video first
20 to 30 seconds on the product you own, as if the brand had briefed you.
- Apply, then email the right person
At small brands, the founder; at bigger ones, the creator or influencer lead. Three or four sentences: who you are, the video idea, a link to your sample, and a plain ask. Follow up once after five to seven business days.
- Agree what you owe in writing
Before it ships: is a post expected, by when, and may the brand reuse your video? Reuse in ads is a paid deal. Give a PO box or business address, not your home.
How do you get free samples on TikTok Shop?
As an approved TikTok Shop affiliate with a sale in the last 120 days, you request them from the Product Marketplace or accept a seller's Target Collaboration invite; the seller approves and ships, and you post a shoppable video within 14 days of delivery.
From TikTok's US pages: affiliates must be 18 or older, US-based and have 1,000 followers. Under 5,000 you're in the Affiliate Creator Pilot for at least 30 days, with up to 3 shoppable videos a day and no campaigns; TikTok's pilot guide says free sample requests open up with your first sale, even there, as long as a sale falls in the last 120 days. Without a recent sale you can still use refundable samples: you buy at full price and are refunded only if your content drives the sales the seller sets.
Open requests are capped by badge: 20 for Bronze and Silver, 40 for Gold, 50 for Platinum, 100 from Ruby to Diamond, counting requests in review, shipping or waiting for content. Target Collaboration invites have no cap. It's one sample per product per seller, and sellers set their own thresholds, such as a follower minimum.
| Check | This creator | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 18+, US-based, approved affiliate | Yes, 3,200 followers | Pass (still in the pilot, under 5,000) |
| Sale in the last 120 days | First sale 40 days ago | Pass |
| Open requests under the badge cap | Bronze, 6 open | Pass, 6 of 20 |
| Seller's thresholds | Seller A asks for 5,000 followers; Seller B for 1,000 | Request from Seller B |
| Timeline | Requested October 20; approved by October 27; shipped by November 3; delivered November 7 | Shoppable video due by November 21 |
The seller has 7 days to review and 7 to ship; with 4 days in transit (our guess; delivery time isn't capped), that's 32 days from request to deadline, so plan the video before the box arrives. TikTok's older sample page says orders with no shoppable video within 14 days of receiving the product are canceled, and that the video should stay up 3 days or more. Your pay is the commission; our commission calculator works it out after returns.
Can you get PR packages without followers?
Yes, if you count product that comes with a paid job: Billo states no following is required, and Clip and JoinBrands list no follower minimum, because the brand runs the video rather than posting to your audience.
You need a pitch video and a few samples rather than an audience; the UGC creator guide covers those, and the UGC jobs guide compares the platforms.
What do you owe a brand that sends you free product?
Legally, a disclosure whenever you post about it; beyond that, only what you agreed to before it shipped.
- Free product counts. The FTC's influencer guide says to disclose free or discounted products, even if the brand didn't ask you to mention them.
- Unasked-for boxes count too. The FTC's endorsement FAQ says it doesn't matter how the product reached you, or that you weren't required to review it. These are US rules; other countries set their own.
- Say who gave it. "Gifted" alone is likely ambiguous, the FTC says; "Gifted by" plus the brand should be enough for free product. Put it in the video, said and on screen.
- Be honest. You can't talk about a product you haven't tried, or call one you think is terrible terrific.
Do you pay tax on PR packages?
Often, yes in the US: the IRS says income can come as money, property or services, and goods you receive in exchange for work count at their fair market value in the year you receive them.
Product sent in return for a video fits the IRS's bartering rule, generally reported on Schedule C. We found no IRS rule for a truly unsolicited box, so keep a gift log (date, brand, product, retail value, what you owed, what you posted) and ask a tax professional.
How do you turn a PR package into paid UGC?
Send the brand the video and offer a license to use it. The gift paid for your post on your own account; the brand reusing the file on its channels, new hooks and ad spend behind it are new work, so each is a line in the quote.
| Offer | Typical (low–high) | How it's built |
|---|---|---|
| The file on the brand's own channels | $263 ($150–$450) | 1 × $175 (beginner base $175) + 2 × 25% of a video |
| Plus 30 days of paid ads | $342 ($195–$585) | 30% of the content fee |
| Plus 90 days of paid ads | $394 ($225–$675) | 50% of the content fee |
Those figures use the calculator's default beginner video rate ($100 to $300, typical $175, set from SideShift's and JoinBrands' published beginner ranges, which the rate calculator cites) and +25% per extra hook, which is our assumption. The ad uplifts follow SideShift's guide, which puts paid use at 25 to 50% of the base rate for 30 to 90 days. Each line is rounded on its own, as the calculator shows it. If a gift's retail value is less than that quote, the gift alone underpays the video.
- Post it, disclosed, and wait a week
Note the views, average watch time, saves and any sales. Those numbers are your case.
- Send the file, the numbers and the offer
Thank them, link the post and attach the video. Fill in how long you've used it; the template leaves that blank.
- Quote paid usage as its own line
A set period (30 or 90 days) for the brand to run the video as an ad, plus the extra hooks.
What didn't we check?
We didn't request a sample, apply to a gifting form or take a platform job for this post. TikTok's pages range from 2025 to September 2026 and some figures changed between them (the pilot's posting limit did), so check the Academy before relying on a number. We don't list brands that send PR, because lists go stale.
