Grading key

Account keys

Full marks: Both: who keeps the password, email address and 2FA, and how the agency's team gets into the account.

Half marks: One of the two, for example a general “you stay in control”.

After the end date

Full marks: A clear statement: no percentage on income earned once the contract has ended, or exactly how long it continues and at what rate.

Half marks: A general line about leaving that does not settle whether any percentage runs on after the end date.

Company of record

Full marks: The website gives the agency's legal company name and the place of registration.

Half marks: Only the legal name, or only the place.

Content rights

Full marks: Both: who owns what is created during the work together, and what becomes of the agency's copies and access at the end.

Half marks: One of the two.

Contract preview

Full marks: A full sample agreement or full term sheet, as a page or PDF, readable without a form.

Half marks: A labelled summary of the main contract clauses.

Inclusions and limits

Full marks: What the percentage includes, plus at least one thing it leaves out or one kind of creator the agency turns away (minimum earnings, content types, regions).

Half marks: Only what it includes.

Money flow

Full marks: Both: whose bank receives the platform's payouts (the creator's or the agency's) and how the agency gets its share (invoice, deduction or split).

Half marks: One of the two.

Other charges

Full marks: Every charge besides the percentage is covered: a clear statement that there are none, or a list with amounts and who pays. Charges include setup or onboarding fees, monthly retainers, tool fees, ad spend, content costs and exit fees.

Half marks: Some are covered, for example only a line saying joining is free.

Percentage base

Full marks: Both: whether the percentage applies to gross (all fan spend) or to net (fan spend minus the platform's fee), and which kinds of income it covers (subscriptions, messages and PPV, tips, other).

Half marks: One of the two.

Price list

Full marks: A percentage or range for every service the agency sells, readable without a call, a form or a login.

Half marks: A number for some services only, only “from X%” or “up to X%”, or a number shown only in a calculator or an example.

Start date

Full marks: The website gives a start date, and the first trace of the agency we found (a register entry, its domain or a web archive copy) is within 12 months of it.

Half marks: A start date is given, but the first trace we found is more than 12 months later, and both dates appear on the card; or we find no trace of the agency, and the start date stays unchecked.

Only traces of the agency itself count: a register date we saw ourselves, the registry date of a domain the website uses, or a web archive copy with the agency's own content. A domain's date does not count when a copy of a different website or a for-sale page comes after it and before the agency's own content. Unfinished template pages do not count.

Staying and leaving

Full marks: All three: the shortest possible length, the notice that ends it, and whether it renews by itself. “None” counts as an answer.

Half marks: One or two of the three. A bare slogan about not being tied in counts here.

Wording such as “month to month” or “rolling” answers the renewal part, and so does an agreement that runs until one side ends it. Wording that only describes the right to leave does not.