‘Influencer’ demanded free picnic for her and 10 friends and then asks caterer to pay HER $200 for privilege

There’s no indication that the saturation of social media and influencer advertising will be slowing down anytime soon. While some companies are more than happy to provide a free service for exposure in return, others may perceive the requests as self-entitled and overstepping the line.

One popular Reddit thread, titled, ‘I’ll charge you to do something for me’, sent users into an uproar after a small-business owner shared a shocking screenshot of a back-and-forth between herself and the influencer.

The unidentified ‘influencer’ initiated the conversation with the picnic setup company in a seemingly innocent compliment, “Hey! I literally love your picnic setups. They are adorable!” She written.

Naturally, the owner thanked her in return before the influencer expressed how she’d love to host one for her and 10 of her friends.

The business owner politely responded with her rate of $360 – which includes “a 2-hour picnic and a charcuterie.”

Things soon took a jaw-dropping turn as the influencer abruptly asks for the service for free – oh, and the audacity to request a payment of $200 for the privilege.

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“I am an influencer in the area and was hoping you could do the picnic for free,” she said.

“On top of that, you would pay a huge discounted rate of $200 to post to my social.”

She added in a separate message: “I usually charge $1,200.”

Reddit

The image caused quite a stir on the popular Reddit thread. One user responded with the perfect logic:

“No, this is where you drop the classic: Sure, I’ll pay you $200. The way this will work is you pay me $360 upfront for the experience,

“We will post it to your social with a special discount code.

“And if 30 people use the code and pay for my service, then you provided me with great exposure and revenue and I’ll happily refund your money and pay you $200 for the great advertising.

If you don’t think you can deliver that, then you’re not really an influencer or worth my time.”

While another highlighted that with that type of charge rate, the influencer should have enough money to pay the business owner’s $360 rate.

“The sad thing is she does this because it probably works,” one added. “She contacts hundreds of businesses a week and a few are desperate enough to think that she actually has influence over anything. Sad really.”