--- title: "Net or gross? How agency commission is calculated" description: "An agency’s share is taken from gross or net earnings, and net can mean more than one thing. Here is the arithmetic, and the questions to ask." url: https://crewvale.com/en/journal/net-or-gross-agency-commission language: en updated: 2026-11-08 --- # Net or gross? How agency commission is calculated An agency’s share is taken from gross or net earnings, and net can mean more than one thing. Here is the arithmetic, and the questions to ask. Guides · By the Crewvale editorial team · 7 min read · Updated 8 Nov 2026 An agency’s commission is taken either from gross earnings, what fans pay, or from net earnings, usually what reaches you after the platform’s fee. The same percentage costs you more when it is taken from gross. And “net” can mean less than you think if the contract subtracts more than the platform’s fee first. ## In short - Gross is what fans pay. Net usually means what is left after the platform’s fee. - OnlyFans keeps 20% of what fans pay, and creators receive 80%. - On OnlyFans, a share of gross works like a share of net that is a quarter higher: 40% of gross takes as much as 50% of net. - Some contracts subtract more before they calculate net: refunds, chargebacks, paid promotion or software. - Few agencies publish their share at all. In one agency directory’s own count, 20 of 248 did. - Ask for the calculation in writing, with a worked example that uses your own numbers. ## What comes off before anyone takes a share? The platform’s fee comes first. OnlyFans keeps 20% of what fans pay, and creators receive 80%: its terms say its fee “is calculated as 20% of the total User Payment and will be deducted from each User Payment”. If a fan gets a refund or a chargeback, OnlyFans may also deduct the creator’s part of that amount, according to the same terms. Other platforms, including the cam sites, set their own fees. Check each platform’s own terms. That fee is the reason gross and net are not the same number. Every share is a percentage of one or the other. ## What do gross and net mean in an agency contract? Gross earnings are everything fans pay, before anyone takes a cut. Net earnings usually means what the platform pays out to you, after its own fee. An agency that takes its share from gross takes part of it from the 20% you never receive. An agency that takes its share from net takes it only from money that actually reaches you. Neither word has one fixed meaning in a contract. The contract has to define it. If it says “net” and stops there, ask what is subtracted, and in what order. > A percentage without a basis is not a price. Ask what it is a percentage of. ## How much difference does it make? This is an illustration, not market data. We chose round numbers to show the arithmetic. They are not typical earnings, and 30% is not a typical share. Say fans pay $3,000 in a month. OnlyFans keeps 20%, which is $600. $2,400 reaches you. Your agency’s share is 30%. - **30% of gross:** The agency takes $900. You keep $1,500. - **30% of net:** The agency takes $720. You keep $1,680. That is $180 apart in one month, or $2,160 over a year, at the same percentage. ## How do you convert a share of gross into a share of net? On OnlyFans, divide the share of gross by 0.8. That gives the share of net it equals. - 20% of gross works like 25% of net. - 30% of gross works like 37.5% of net. - 40% of gross works like 50% of net. - 50% of gross works like 62.5% of net. This only holds for a 20% platform fee. On a platform with a different fee, divide by the part creators keep there. Use it to put two offers on the same basis before you compare them. [Our guide to agency commission](https://crewvale.com/en/journal/how-much-does-an-onlyfans-agency-take) shows a side-by-side comparison. ## What can “net” hide? Some contracts define net as what is left after the platform’s fee and other costs. The agency’s share is then calculated on that smaller number. Costs that are sometimes subtracted include: - refunds to fans; - chargebacks, when a fan’s bank reverses a payment; - paid promotion or ad spend; - software and tools; - the wages of chatters or other staff. Any of these can be fair, if you agreed to them and can see them. They can also turn a low share into a high one. Another illustration. Same $3,000 month, same 30% share. This time the contract subtracts $400 of paid promotion before it calculates the share. - Net after the platform’s fee: $2,400. - Minus $400 of promotion: $2,000. - The agency’s 30%: $600. - You keep $1,400. In this example, the “net” deal with a deduction leaves you less than the 30% of gross deal did. The promotion may have earned you more, or it may not. What matters is that you agreed to it, you can see the invoice, and you know who decides how much is spent. ## What about refunds and chargebacks? A refund or a chargeback can arrive after the month is closed and the agency has been paid. Ask what happens then. - If a payment is reversed, is the agency’s share of it reversed too? - Is the reversal subtracted from next month’s earnings, or from yours alone? - Can the agency hold back part of your money in case of future chargebacks? For how long, and is it paid out in the end? If the agency keeps its share of money that was later taken back from you, you pay its share on income you never kept. ## What if the agency receives your payouts? Then the platform pays the agency, which keeps its share and pays you the rest. You can only check the calculation if you see the platform’s own statements, not only the agency’s summary. Crewvale’s contract checklist treats this setup as fine when you are paid at least monthly with access to the platform’s statements. No payout schedule, or no access to the statements, is a red flag. [Our guide to the six contract terms](https://crewvale.com/en/journal/compare-onlyfans-and-webcam-agencies) covers the rest. ## Which revenue is a chat team’s share counted on? A share for a chat team can be counted on three different bases. The contract has to say which. - All revenue. The share applies to everything your page earns, including subscriptions that renew without a single message. - Only what the chat team brings in. The share applies to sales that come from the team’s messages, such as paid messages. Ask who measures that, and how. - Only growth above a baseline. The share applies to revenue above an agreed starting level, often called new revenue. The baseline needs a definition: which months, which kinds of revenue, and whether it can be reset. An illustration, with round numbers we chose. Your page earns $4,000 a month before the chat team starts and $5,000 after. A 20% share of all revenue is $1,000. A 20% share of the $1,000 of growth is $200. Same percentage, five times the cost. Some chat teams charge a flat staffing fee instead: a fixed amount per month or per hour. It is easy to predict, but it does not depend on results, so you carry the risk if nothing improves. A share costs more when you do well and nothing when you don’t. Ask for the base, the baseline and the fee model in writing, with a worked example on your own numbers. ## Questions to ask before you sign - Is your share taken from gross or net? - If it is net, what exactly is subtracted first, and in what order? - Who decides how much is spent on promotion or tools, and is there a limit? - If a payment is refunded or charged back, is your share of it reversed too? - Do you hold back any money for chargebacks? For how long? - Will I see the platform’s own statements every month? - Can you show me the calculation with my own numbers, in a slow month and a good one? Ask for the answers in writing. Then check that the contract says the same. One agency directory gives the same advice: the contract should spell out the calculation base, in words, with a worked example. ## How does this work on Crewvale? Crewvale is a free marketplace where creators and cam models compare OnlyFans and webcam agencies on their published terms. Every agency publishes six terms before you talk, including its share and what it covers, and how you are paid. Each agency describes in its own words what its share covers, so check whether it is counted on net or gross earnings. Crewvale’s contract checklist treats a share taken from net as good, a share whose basis isn’t stated as one to ask about, and a share taken from gross as a red flag. [The checklist](https://crewvale.com/en/contract-checklist) runs on your device, and Crewvale doesn’t see your answers. The Crewvale team reviews each agency’s six published terms and its commitment to check every creator’s ID and age before it is listed. Agencies that also submit a company registration document that passes the check carry the Verified badge, renewed every 12 months. Crewvale is free for creators, and no agency can pay to rank higher. [Compare agencies](https://crewvale.com/en/agencies) on their published terms. ## Sources OnlyFans’ terms of service, last updated October 2026, for the platform’s 20% fee and refunds. An OnlyFans agency directory’s own count of 248 agency websites, checked on 2 September 2026. Crewvale’s contract checklist, last updated 17 October 2026. All read on 18 October 2026. Last reviewed: 26 October 2026.