Starting a contract
A contract can start in two ways. Either way the result is the same: a written agreement with a price, deliverables and usage rights that both sides can see.
A brand buys a service package
A creator pitches on a campaign
Accepting or declining
Whoever receives the offer or the pitch can accept it or decline it. There is no counter-offer step. If the terms are not right, decline, agree on new terms in chat, and send a new offer or pitch.
Funding escrow
Once the contract is accepted, the brand pays the full amount into escrow through Stripe. The money is held by ColLabNordic — it is not sent to the creator yet. When escrow is funded, the contract moves to In progress and the work can start.
What the brand pays, what the creator gets
The creator sets their price. VAT is added where the creator is VAT-registered, and the platform fee is added on top of the creator's price. The creator receives their price plus any VAT; the platform fee is retained by ColLabNordic.Wait for funding before starting
Creators: we recommend waiting until escrow is funded before doing any work. Until then, nothing is secured.Work and deliverables
The creator submits deliverables on the contract page — a link, an uploaded file, or both, with a short description. Deliverables can be submitted one at a time as the work progresses.
The brand reviews each deliverable and can approve or reject it individually. Rejecting is how you ask for a revision: add feedback explaining what needs to change, and the creator can submit a new version.
Completion and payment
When the work is done, the contract is closed in three steps.
The creator marks the work as delivered and requests completion. At least one deliverable must have been submitted.
The brand reviews the deliverables and confirms completion.
Escrow is released. The funds go to the creator and appear in their payouts.
The 14-day auto-release
If the brand does not respond after the work has been submitted or completion has been requested, the funds are released to the creator automatically after 14 days. This protects creators when a brand goes quiet. Brands: respond within the review window if you want revisions.If something goes wrong
Ask for revisions first
Most disagreements are about the work itself. Reject the deliverable with clear feedback, refer to the agreed scope, and give the creator a chance to fix it. ColLabNordic does not judge creative quality.
Reporting an issue
Reporting an issue moves the contract to a disputed state and sends it to our team. Use it for Terms of Service violations — fraud, harassment, illegal content, scam attempts. After reviewing, the team can refund the brand, release payment to the creator, or dismiss the report.
Cancelling
Either party can cancel while the contract is still running and no deliverables have been submitted. If escrow was already funded, the money held in escrow is refunded to the brand. Once deliverables have been submitted, the brand can no longer cancel — at that point the options are revisions or reporting an issue.
Usage rights and extensions
The creator decides how long the brand may use the delivered content — a number of months, or perpetual. The expiry date is calculated when the contract is completed: the completion date plus the agreed number of months.
Both the brand and the creator are notified around 30 days before usage rights expire.
To keep using the content after expiry, the creator can offer a paid extension. The extension is a new contract linked to the original one — the brand accepts and funds it the same way.
Frequently asked questions
Still have questions about how contracts work? We're happy to help.
Contact Support