"What does a media buyer cost?" is the question founders ask third, after "do I need one" and "what do they do". It deserves to be asked first, because the pricing model you pick quietly determines whose interests your media buyer is serving.
The four models, and what they actually cost
- In-house hire. Roughly $66,000 to $72,000 a year in the US for a mid-level buyer, before benefits and payroll tax, with senior and strategy-level roles running well past $90,000. Slow to hire, four to ten weeks realistically, and you absorb the management load.
- Agency. Typically 10 to 20 percent of ad spend, or a retainer from about $2,000 to $10,000 a month and up. Fast to start, broad bench, but your account is one of many and the person who sold you is rarely the person in the account.
- Freelancer. Roughly $15 to $45 an hour on open marketplaces, considerably more for proven operators. Direct access to the person doing the work, but continuity risk when a bigger client appears.
- Consultant or fractional buyer. Usually a fixed monthly fee independent of spend. Fewer clients, direct contact, and the incentive structure below is the reason this model exists.
The incentive problem nobody puts in the proposal
Percentage-of-spend pricing is the industry default, and it contains an obvious conflict: your media buyer earns more when you spend more, whether or not spending more is the right call.
Any pricing model that pays more for higher spend will, eventually and often unconsciously, recommend higher spend. That is not dishonesty. It is arithmetic acting on judgement.
This matters most at exactly the moment it is hardest to see. When an account approaches its efficient ceiling, the correct advice is frequently "hold budget and fix creative or landing pages". A percentage fee makes that advice expensive to give. The budget framework covers how to tell a genuine scaling opportunity from a forced one.
Flat retainers invert the problem mildly: a buyer on a fixed fee has no financial reason to grow the account. The honest answer is that no pricing model is neutral, so what you are really buying is judgement, and you should price for the judgement rather than the hours.
What you should expect at each budget level
- Under $3,000 a month in ad spend. Retainers often exceed the spend itself, which rarely makes sense. Run one channel yourself against a clear framework, or buy a one-off audit and setup rather than ongoing management.
- $3,000 to $15,000 a month. The sweet spot for a freelancer or fractional consultant. Enough budget to produce real signal, not enough complexity to need a team.
- $15,000 to $50,000 a month. Multi-channel management becomes a real job. Agency or dedicated fractional, with creative production treated as part of the media function rather than a separate line.
- Past $50,000 a month. In-house ownership plus specialist support usually wins, because the cost of a percentage fee at that spend buys a full-time senior hire outright.
The cost nobody quotes
The largest number in this decision is not the fee. It is the spend managed badly while you find out. A buyer charging $3,000 a month who fixes broken conversion tracking is cheaper than one charging $1,200 who optimises confidently toward numbers that were never real. That failure mode is common enough that measurement is the first thing the audit checklist examines, and the first thing worth asking any candidate about.
Two practical protections. Structure a paid trial of two to four weeks on a single channel with a success metric tied to your actual unit economics, and require reconciliation against your backend rather than the ad dashboard. The interview framework in how to hire a media buyer covers what separates an operator from someone confident about the wrong numbers.
A fair way to decide
Ask what the fee buys in hours and in whose attention, ask how the model behaves when the right answer is to spend less, and ask what happens in month four when the easy wins are gone. The answers tell you more than the price does.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a media buyer cost?
In-house buyers in the US average roughly $66,000 to $72,000 a year before benefits. Agencies typically charge 10 to 20 percent of ad spend or a retainer of about $2,000 to $10,000 per month. Freelancers commonly range from $15 to $45 an hour, with experienced operators charging considerably more, and consultants usually work on a fixed monthly fee.
Is percentage of ad spend a fair pricing model?
It is standard but not neutral. Paying a percentage means your media buyer earns more as your spend rises, which creates pressure toward scaling even when holding budget and fixing creative or tracking would serve you better. Flat fees remove that pressure but give no incentive to grow, so judge the operator rather than the model.
At what ad spend should I hire a media buyer?
Below roughly $3,000 a month, a retainer often costs more than the spend it manages, so an audit plus self-management usually makes more sense. Between $3,000 and $15,000 a freelancer or fractional consultant fits well, and past $50,000 a month an in-house hire is typically cheaper than a percentage fee.
What is the most expensive mistake when hiring a media buyer?
Paying a low fee to someone who optimises against broken conversion tracking. Every bidding decision inherits whatever measurement problems sit above it, so an account with double-counted or missing conversions will spend efficiently toward the wrong outcome, which costs far more than the difference in fees.