# Mass messages and PPV: where the money on OnlyFans actually comes from

> How pay-per-view and mass messages work, why the subscription is only the entry ticket, and what most campaigns get wrong.

Source: https://impulse.management/en/blog/mass-messages-and-ppv/
Updated: 2026-09-18

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**Short answer:** For most creators the larger share of revenue comes not from subscriptions but from pay-per-view messages in chat. The subscription is the entry ticket; the selling happens afterwards. The most common mistake is not a price that is too high but too many messages to everyone — a list that gets an offer three times a day stops opening them.

Anyone looking only at the subscription price is looking at the smaller half. Here is how the larger one comes about.

## Why the subscription is only the entry ticket

A subscription brings a fixed, small amount per month. Everything around it — individual content, custom requests, tips — is a multiple of that on most accounts. That is exactly why many creators lower their subscription price or give away [free trials](https://impulse.management/en/blog/free-trial-subscriptions-onlyfans/): not because the subscription does not matter, but because every new subscriber only becomes a buyer in chat.

What that means for pricing is covered in the piece on [prices](https://impulse.management/en/blog/setting-your-onlyfans-prices/).

## What a mass message is — and what it costs

A mass message goes to a group at once: everyone subscribed, everyone who bought recently, everyone who has not opened anything for two weeks. Attached to it is a piece of content with a price that is only visible after purchase.

It costs nothing in fees and a great deal in attention. Every message that is opened and not bought makes the next one a little less likely. A list that gets an offer three times a day stops opening at all after three weeks — and at that point better content does not help either.

The same calculation gives us the rhythm we run: **few, well-prepared sends instead of many.** What sits in between are messages without a price.

## Segments instead of "everyone"

The difference between a campaign that works and one that fizzles is almost always the choice of recipients.

- **People who have bought before** are the most likely to buy again. This group tolerates the higher price.
- **People who have only subscribed** need a reason first. A cheap entry point is worth more here than the big release.
- **People who have not opened anything for a long time** get no more offers but a personal message with no price. Skip that distinction and you lose the group entirely.

This split is the real lever — not the wording of the message.

## Which segment gets what

| Group | What they get | Price level | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| has bought before | the big piece of content | higher | most likely to buy again, and can take the price |
| has only subscribed | an affordable entry | low | needs a reason first |
| has not opened anything for a while | a personal message with **no** price | none | another offer loses the group entirely |

This segmentation is the real lever — not the wording of the message.

## What belongs in a good send

- **Content that exists nowhere else.** What sits in the feed is not worth a PPV message.
- **A preview that shows something.** A blurred rectangle sells nothing.
- **A price that matches the length.** A short clip does not carry the same amount as a set.
- **A line that comes from you.** Picking up the last conversation sells better than any pre-written phrase — which is why our [chat team](https://impulse.management/en/blog/working-as-a-chatter-for-an-onlyfans-agency/) reads the history before writing.

## Moving to the one-to-one conversation

PPV to a group is the start. What follows is the conversation with an individual — and that is where the larger amounts appear: custom footage, repeat purchases, special requests. What to watch out for and where the line sits is covered in the piece on [custom requests](https://impulse.management/en/blog/custom-requests-in-chat/).

## Our take

Revenue depends less on price than on rhythm and selection. Send to everyone every day and you earn well for a few weeks and nothing afterwards. How we split that for an account depends on size and niche — we go through it in the [first call](https://impulse.management/#contact).

## Sources

- [OnlyFans Help Centre](https://onlyfans.com/help)
- [OnlyFans: Terms of Service](https://onlyfans.com/terms)
- [OnlyFans: Acceptable Use Policy](https://onlyfans.com/acceptable-use-policy)
- [Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) — Annex I on misleading offers](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32005L0029)
- [Section 5 UWG — misleading commercial practices](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__5.html)