Give it your goal, package cost, budget and launch date, and it works backwards to a dated plan. At the starting assumptions below ($1,000 budget, $18 per package) that means shipping about 50 packages, contacting about 167 creators and starting about 28 days before launch.
Change any input and the plan updates instantly. The page address updates too, so you can share the exact plan.
Rates and timings start as editable assumptions, not benchmarks. Replace them with your own numbers.
Your cost of goods, not the retail price.
Held back, not planned for.
Share of creators contacted who say yes.
Share of shipped creators who post.
Starts at eight weeks from today. Change it.
Recalculates as you type. Nothing here is sent anywhere.
Creators to contact
Start the shortlist 28 days before launch.
Wave sizes: wave 1, 50 packages (contact about 167).
Pick a launch date to see calendar dates.
Build the shortlist
Collect and vet about 167 creators who fit the brand, so you have enough to contact.
Outreach opens
Send your ask to 167 creators and collect opt-ins plus addresses. Aim to ship 50.
Follow up once
Nudge everyone who has not replied. One follow-up, not three.
Outreach closes
Lock the list. Whoever has said yes by now gets a package; you expect about 50.
Parcels leave
Pack and ship 50 packages (2 days after the list is locked).
Packages delivered
Allows 5 transit days. Check tracking and chase anything late.
Content due
Gives creators 7 days to make content. Send one reminder.
Posts live (launch day)
About 20 posts expected from this wave at your post rate.
Measure and decide
Compare posts received with packages delivered, then set your real post rate for the next wave.
Want to run this without a spreadsheet? Seed sends each creator one branded link, they pick a product and type their address, and a $0 draft order lands in your Shopify admin. Install Seed on Shopify. The calculator above stays free and needs no email.
The table shows when each stage happens, in days before (negative) or after (plus) your launch day, using the starting timings in the planner: a 7-day outreach window, 5 days in transit and 7 days for creators to make content. These come from the rules, not from measured data. Change the timings above and the plan above changes with them.
| Goal | Shortlist starts | Outreach opens | Parcels leave | Delivered | Posts live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Posts live on launch day | -28 days | -23 days | -14 days | -9 days | Launch day |
| Reviews and social proof | -21 days | -16 days | -7 days | -2 days | +14 days |
| A UGC content library | -28 days | -23 days | -14 days | -9 days | Launch day |
Build your shortlist with the influencer brand fit checklist, then check each profile with the engagement rate calculator. If you are not sure gifting is the right lane for a creator, try the gift, pay or affiliate picker.
The planner covers when and how many. The rest is the work of each stage. At the outreach stage, ask first and ship only to creators who say yes, using the same opt-in logic as the how many influencers to gift calculator. When you have a cost per post, put it next to a paid alternative in the gifting ROI calculator. Price the full wave, packaging included, in the gifting budget planner.
Seed handles the collection step: you share one branded link, the creator picks a product and variant and types their address, and a real $0 draft order lands in your Shopify admin. That removes the spreadsheet of addresses between "outreach closes" and "parcels leave".
Work backwards from the date you want posts live. At the starting assumptions here a launch-day plan starts about four weeks out: five days to shortlist, a week of outreach, two days to pack, five in transit and nine for content. Slower shipping or longer windows push the start earlier.
Divide your budget, minus a reserve, by the all-in cost of one package to get how many you can ship. Then divide by your acceptance rate to get how many to contact. The planner does both steps for you, using acceptance and post rates that you should replace with your own.
Waves let you learn before you spend the rest. Ship a first batch, measure how many creators post, then adjust the second batch. A single wave suits a hard deadline such as a launch. The content library goal splits packages into two waves, 14 days apart, for this reason.
Real campaigns have reships, damaged parcels, wrong addresses and late additions. Holding back a slice of the budget means a problem does not force you to cut creators. The default of 10% is only a placeholder, so set the figure that matches your own history, or zero if you want every dollar allocated.
The planner flags it when the shortlist start date has already passed. You then have three options: move the launch date, shorten outreach and creation windows, or contact only creators who already know your brand. Compressing the timeline may lower your post rate, so test a lower rate in the inputs.
No. It is a scheduling and arithmetic tool. Every timing and rate is an input you can change, and the defaults are labelled as editable assumptions. The rules that turn them into dates are listed in the methodology below, so you can check each step or copy the logic into your own sheet.
The planner is deterministic arithmetic and calendar maths that runs in your browser. It does not call an AI model and uses no third-party data. The rules are:
usable budget = budget − budget × reserve %
packages = floor(usable budget ÷ (product cost + packaging and postage))
creators to contact = ceil(packages ÷ acceptance rate)
posts expected = packages × post rate
posts live = launch day + goal offset (0 days, or 14 for reviews)
content due = posts live − 2 days; delivered = content due − creation time − use days
parcels leave = delivered − transit; outreach closes = parcels leave − 2 days
outreach opens = outreach closes − outreach window; shortlist starts = outreach opens − 5 days
The fixed constants are 5 days to shortlist, 2 days to pack, a 2-day gap between content due and posts live, 7 days to measure after posts go live, and 14 days between waves for the content library goal. They are planning conventions we chose, not industry standards. The reviews goal adds 7 days for creators to use the product before making content. Dates are calendar dates and ignore weekends and public holidays, so move any that land on one. Every default (30% acceptance, 40% post rate, $6 packaging and postage, 10% reserve and the timings) is an illustrative starting assumption, not a benchmark or a measured Seed statistic. For help reading your own rates, see the Seed blog.
Last updated: October 29, 2026. Written and maintained by the Seed team. Seed is a Shopify app that lets brands gift products to creators through one branded link. The tool runs entirely in your browser; the numbers you type are not sent anywhere.
Build a gifting agreement in under a minute — deliverables, posting window, usage rights, and FTC disclosure. Copy it or save as PDF. Free, no email.
The same contract generator, pre-set for an Instagram deliverable: in-feed post plus story.
The same contract generator, pre-set for a TikTok deliverable.
A content-licensing agreement for UGC, not a posting agreement. Usage rights and deliverables only.
For unpaid product-gifting sends specifically: the gift, deliverables, and usage rights.
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The Chrome extension behind the DM assistant above. Install it, connect your Seed account, send from your own session.
Put in your product cost, shipping, and creator count, and get your real cost per piece of content, including your own hours. Ungated.
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Work out a creator's engagement rate on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, by followers and by views. Average up to 12 posts. Free, no email.
Build an influencer media kit with stats, audience, past collabs and rates. Live preview, three layouts, save as PDF. Free, no signup.
A UGC or influencer rate card with deliverables, usage rights, whitelisting and bundles. Preview it, then save as PDF. Free, no signup.
Three ready-to-send pitch emails (cold, warm, follow-up) for creators asking brands for PR packages or collabs. Free, no signup.
What can you actually earn on TikTok? Sponsored-post rate by tier, Creator Rewards eligibility, and a TikTok Shop affiliate estimate. Free, no signup.
Sponsored feed post, Reel and Story rate ranges by follower tier, plus an affiliate-earnings estimate. Free, no signup.
Score a creator's video against your brief in about two minutes. Free, no login.
Enter how many posts you want and get the number of creators to contact and gift, using your own acceptance and post rates.
Plan a gifting campaign budget: product, packaging and shipping cost by lane, total cost and cost per creator.
Compare the cost per 1,000 views and per content piece of influencer gifting against Meta and TikTok ads, with your own numbers.
Answer six questions to find the right influencer deal type for a creator: gifting, a flat fee, or affiliate commission.
Build a free influencer gifting application form with the exact fields to ask, then copy it or run it live on Shopify.
A free outreach CRM template with statuses, follow-up dates and notes. Download the CSV for Google Sheets or Excel.
Track sends, posts, discount codes, revenue and ROI with formulas built in. Download the CSV for Google Sheets.
Generate a one-page influencer brief: product, key messages, dos and don'ts, disclosure and deadlines. Free, no signup.
Generate a short outreach DM or email offering influencers a gifted product, in your own tone and language.
Score your influencer outreach subject lines against a transparent checklist, and get better variants.
Pick a niche and platform for a hand-written hashtag set, mixed broad to niche. No made-up volume numbers.
Get a recommended monthly influencer budget, split across gifting, paid posts and UGC, from your revenue and stage.
Estimate the real cost of a PR package: product, box, inserts, packing materials and shipping.
Calculate what the content from your gifting campaign would cost to buy from an agency or UGC creators instead.
Estimate fair UGC rates from experience level, deliverables and usage rights, for brands and creators, sources linked.
Estimate fair YouTube sponsorship rates from a channel's average views, format and usage rights, sources linked.
Estimate expected reach for a creator's post, Reel or Story from follower count, using published benchmarks.
Calculate follower growth rate over any period and flag suspicious spikes between two checkpoints.
Enter a follower count to see its influencer tier under three published definitions, with typical CPM ranges.
Create $0 influencer orders in Shopify, tag them, and calculate the real COGS and shipping cost of every gift.
Generate hundreds of unique influencer discount codes from a prefix and download a CSV, ready for a Shopify bulk-codes app or the API.
Per-creator code conversion plus an estimate of the halo sales promo codes miss, with every assumption editable.
Paste your landing page and a list of creators and get one tagged UTM link per creator in bulk, as a CSV.
Price usage rights for creator content in ads: duration, channels and exclusivity, with editable percentages. Free, no signup.
Add the creator fee to your media spend to get blended CPM and CPA for TikTok Spark Ads or Meta partnership ads.
Turn a creator's fee and post stats into CPM, cost per engagement and cost per view, and compare with your own benchmark.
Estimate EMV from views, likes, comments and shares using values you set, plus an honest look at why EMV isn't revenue.
Find the most you can pay to acquire a customer through influencers, from your margin, repeat orders and target LTV:CAC ratio.
Find the highest affiliate commission you can pay influencers from your order value, costs and the profit you want to keep.
Build a tiered ambassador commission ladder from your margin, a starting rate and sales thresholds. Copy it or download CSV.
Work out ROI, ROAS and break-even revenue for a paid or gifted influencer campaign from your costs, commission and margin.
Score how well a creator fits your brand on a transparent, weighted checklist before you reach out.
Pick a launch date or holiday and get backward-planned recruit, ship and posting-window dates for 2026 and 2027.
See whether import VAT and duty likely apply when gifting product abroad, for the EU, UK, Switzerland and Norway, with official sources.
The regulator, required label and gifted-product rule in 10 countries, each with an official source. Not legal advice.
What the IRS, HMRC, CRA, ATO and other tax authorities say about gifted product as creator income, with sources. Not tax advice.
Share one branded link. The creator picks a product and types their address, and a $0 draft order lands in your Shopify admin. Seed then follows up and tracks their posts.