Priced DMs & Priority Replies: Charge for Your Advice

A priced DM, or priority reply, lets a creator charge for a private, asynchronous answer instead of giving detailed advice away in social DMs. The follower pays a creator-set price, submits a text question, and receives a text response within the creator’s stated reply window—without booking a call, joining a live chat, or meeting a follower minimum. Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.

Brillay calls this offer Paid Questions. Followers pay upfront as guests, no follower account needed, and each question is one time, no membership. Brillay has no monthly fee or follower minimum, and supports creator payouts in 41 countries, with fee details on pricing.

Picture a sales coach’s normal week: a rep pastes in an objection from a call starting in twenty minutes. Someone else wants a discovery-call script checked before lunch. A third person needs help countering a lowball offer before the end of the day.

None of them wants a scheduled session next week. The moment has a deadline, and the deal may be decided before a booked call could happen. The coach answers what they can for free, while the rest sits unread. That is not just a DM-management problem; it is a pricing problem.

The same pattern appears wherever a creator’s answers are worth more than a quick reaction: a career coach checking resumes before a deadline, a finance creator repeatedly receiving the same general question, or anyone whose audience treats them as the person to ask. Those messages represent demand, but the creator’s time remains unpriced.

What does a free DM habit actually cost you?

Consider an illustrative workload of five thoughtful questions per week, with each answer taking ten minutes. This is an assumption—not a benchmark or earnings claim—but it shows how small requests accumulate.

Under those assumptions, approximately 43 hours of expert time changes hands each year without payment. The time does not appear on an invoice; it simply disappears into the inbox.

A paid question lets followers decide whether a real answer from you is worth the price before you spend time answering: they pay your fixed price upfront, and you deliver the written reply later. The effort of answering may be the same; the difference is that the question now arrives already paid for.

Stripe processing fees are deducted separately from creator earnings and vary by transaction; for the examples below, 2.9% + 30¢ is used only as an estimate for a standard US card payment (Stripe pricing).

Using those illustrative rates, the estimated creator proceeds at three example price points are:

Using an illustrative Stripe processing estimate of 2.9% + 30¢, estimated proceeds are $8.61 at a $10 price, $21.97 at $25, and $44.25 at $50 after Brillay’s 8% platform fee on paid work (tips and goals carry a 5% fee); actual Stripe fees may differ. These calculations are rounded to the nearest cent and do not account for taxes or refunds.

This differs from sending someone to a booked one-on-one session. A scheduled call requires coordinating times, attending live, and reserving a calendar slot for a question that might take only a few minutes to answer. A written answer means no live call, no scheduling, and lets the creator price one answer rather than a full session.

What is a priced DM on Brillay?

One private question, one written answer — followers pay upfront.

Paid Questions are one typed question and one written reply (how it works).

Paid Questions provide a written answer, while paid direct messages vs. coaching calls compares that format with a live session.

Custom Work lets the follower attach files, and for Personalized Videos the follower sends written instructions while you deliver one video — a priced DM keeps that one-question, one-answer shape instead.

Which controls turn a priced DM into a clear offer?

A priced DM should define exactly what the follower is buying. Two controls do most of that work:

• Price: The amount a follower pays upfront for the written reply you deliver later.
• Reply window: The time in which you commit to answering, such as the same day or within 48 hours when those examples match your actual availability.

The price sets the scope expectation, while the reply window establishes when the follower should expect an answer. Followers see the offer’s response or delivery terms before paying.

Your description should also set boundaries. Explain which topics you will answer, what is outside scope, and whether the price covers one answer rather than an open-ended consultation. If your niche touches regulated areas such as finance, health, or law, avoid implying that a general paid reply replaces advice from an appropriately licensed professional, and check the rules that apply to your work and location.

How do you turn on priced DMs?

1. Create your free Brillay page. Start at brillay.com/start. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.
2. Connect payouts. Connect your payout account through Brillay; payment setup and payouts are managed inside Brillay without a separate Stripe dashboard.
3. Turn on Paid Questions. Enable the offer from your dashboard; it is an offer setting rather than a separate application.
4. Set your price. Base the amount on the thought and time required for an honest answer, rather than treating every possible question as identical.
5. Set your reply window. Choose a response time you can reliably meet during a busy week, whether that is the same day or 48 hours in this illustrative setup.
6. Write a concise boundary. State what you will answer, what you will not answer, and what the follower receives for the listed price.
7. Publish and add the link to your bio. Place it where people currently send free questions so you can redirect detailed requests without creating a complicated path.

Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. This control is useful when a question is outside the stated scope, inappropriate, or not something the creator can answer responsibly. Because the price and scope were already public when the follower paid, declining an out-of-scope or suspicious question stays simple rather than turning into a dispute. Paid Questions keep the follower’s question and your written reply private, visible only to the two of you.

What could priced DMs look like for different creators?

The following examples are illustrative starting points, not market benchmarks, required prices, or promises of demand or earnings:

• A sales coach receiving “How do I handle this exact objection?” could redirect that request to a priced question. An illustrative $10-25 range may fit a fast, specific read, depending on the coach’s audience, expertise, and required effort.
• A career coach receiving “Can you look at my resume before I submit it tonight?” could price the same-day written feedback instead of absorbing the deadline for free.
• A personal-finance creator repeatedly receiving “Should I pay off this card or build savings first?” could charge for a bounded educational response while clearly distinguishing general information from individualized regulated advice.

When a request outgrows a text reply—such as a marked-up script, reviewed call recording, or written preparation brief—the creator can turn it into Custom Work with a defined deliverable and delivery time. The key distinction is scope: a priced DM covers one text answer, while a service covers a larger piece of work.

Frequently asked questions

Is a priced DM different from Paid Questions?

No. A “priced DM” is better understood as a paid question for a real answer from the creator, while “priority reply” describes the creator’s use case. Paid Questions is Brillay’s product name. In each case, a follower sends one private text question and pays upfront; the creator sends the written reply within the stated window.

Can followers still message me for free after I turn this on?

Yes. Your social inbox stays open when you enable Paid Questions. Followers can still send free messages, but you can direct repeated, detailed, or time-consuming questions to your paid page instead. They can buy by card without creating an account, which keeps the paid path lighter than asking someone to join a membership first.

Do I have to reply live?

No. Paid Questions are asynchronous (no live call). The follower sends one private question, pays upfront, and you reply in writing within the window you set.

What does Brillay charge for a priced DM?

There is no monthly fee; Brillay takes a small platform fee only when a follower actually pays for an answer. The exact rate is in step 1 of the setup walkthrough and on pricing, and the fee table above shows what it comes to at $10, $25 and $50. Stripe card processing is a separate charge on top: those fees are deducted separately from creator earnings and vary by transaction; 2.9% + 30¢ can be used as an illustrative estimate for a standard US card payment.

How can you put a price on the questions you already answer?

You do not need to add a booking calendar to test a priced DM. Define one written-answer offer, choose a realistic response window, state its boundaries, and place the link where detailed questions already arrive.

Set up your free Brillay page, turn on Paid Questions, set your price and your reply window, and put the link where your DMs already send people. The same page can also collect Tips, Goals, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries alongside a priced DM.