A major part of being a blogger is negotiating & committing to projects with brands, companies and even other influencers. However, it’s not all free YSL Beauty & sponsored trips to Morocco. Oh, no. Recently I’ve had some horrifying experiences with shady influencer collabs and I’m here to spill the (iced) tea. Of course, you know I’m not going to diss them on the internet, ’cause my mama taught me better than that. But I will spill without naming them or giving away too much.

From a brand who expected me to promote their shoes for free and then give them back, to being told that I’d be receiving zero compensation after I’d done completed my work, sometimes it can be really tough in the influencer space. Which, I don’t think a lot of people understand. Obviously we show the world only what we want to on social media, whether you’re an “influencer” or not. And we often leave out the unglamorous side of things. Especially the shady influencer collabs we fortunately don’t have to promote.

So, what I am going to do is tell you about that side of the business and what’s happened to me. Grab a snack and get ready to hear about my shady influencer collabs.

3 Times I Fell Victim to Shady Influencer Collabs

The Bikini Brand that Ghosted Me

I had been chatting with a bikini brand on instagram to work together on a collaboration. We had agreed on terms, dates & what I’d be using their bikinis for. (An “animal print swimsuits by the pool” post by the way.) They agreed to send me snakeskin and leopard print bikinis. They asked me for my address, said everything was fabulous and that they couldn’t wait to see the photos. Then, after a few days I get a message from them saying they’re “so sorry” but they don’t think the bikinis will make it on time for my shoot. I told them not to worry and that I would reschedule my photo shoot. And I did.

Then, a couple of weeks go by and I still haven’t received anything. I wanted to follow up and make sure nothing was lost in the mail, so I went to send them a message. Only, there was a slight problem: I couldn’t find them in my DMs. I tried searching for their handle but nothing came up either. Strange, right? Well, luckily for me I have a second account for my fashion tech blog, @vrinverawang. And what do you know? When I searched them from that account, they popped up right away. It’s clear they ghosted me, I have no idea why and quite frankly, I think I dodged a bullet. Anyone who conducts business in that way is absolutely unworthy of working with me.

A Company Who Actually Asked Me Why I Wanted to be Paid

My inbox is constantly filled with companies reaching out for blog posts. A few weeks ago, I got a pitch about writing an article on female empowerment & what it means to be confident—while also including links to the company’s website in the post. I loved the idea and started to set everything in motion. I sent over my rate card and waited for a negotiation, at the very least. What I got instead, was asked why I wanted to be paid at all. I was dumbfounded. They told me that their idea was strictly to work for exposure and that they could also share my post on their social platforms. They said they were trying to promote their business. I thought, you’re trying to promote your business? Well, what about my business?

I ended up responding to them about why I wanted to be compensated (proven traffic, my blog is a business, I’m experienced, etc.) and never heard back from them. Oh well, their loss. I’ll just chalk that up to one of many shady influencer collabs.

The Label Who Offered Me a Terrible Deal with No Guarantee

I was in talks with a clothing label to promote some of their animal print garments. Finally, they came back with an offer: 30% off and “a possible feature” on their page. Excuse me? I’m not going to get into my rates for social media posts here (you have to leave some things a mystery) but it’s definitely not 30% off and maybe, maybe not being featured on their instagram. A lot of brands will try to lowball you like this. Honestly, I don’t have time for it. Perhaps when I was first started blogging I’d have jumped at a possible feature, but I’m older, wiser & a hell of a lot fiercer than I was back then.

The moral of the story is: know your worth. Sure, you might miss out on some deals because your standards are high, but at least you’ll be staying true to yourself and not wasting your time following up with people who have little respect for you and your online business. Oh, and I think I also failed to mention about a PR agency who I know was paying my other blogger friends, who tried to get me to work for free. I put my foot down and they ended up giving me what I wanted. Be fierce, fearless & a little ferocious when it comes to that stuff.

Do you have any shady influencer collabs to tell me about? I’m dying to know.

All “Shady Influencer Collabs” photos by Morgan Craigon.