Converting follower count straight into a rate is the most common — and most expensive — beginner mistake. TikTok's distribution means followers correlate weakly with actual reach: a 100K-follower account might average 2K views or 500K. Step one of any negotiation is pulling the average views of the last 10 posts.
Second, look at engagement quality, not the engagement number. Likes can be bought; comment sections can't lie. Scroll the last five videos: how many comments are genuine discussion about the content versus emoji spam? An active, on-topic comment section usually converts far better than a high-like, low-comment account.
Third is audience fit. The creator's follower demographics (country, age, gender) must overlap your target customers, or big view counts are just noise. Asking for audience screenshots from the creator dashboard is standard practice — legitimate creators won't refuse — and you can cross-check with an audience report tool.
With those three data points you have an anchor: negotiate on estimated CPM instead of "price per video". Divide the quoted rate by recent average views and compare with your paid-ads CPM. Far above it — negotiate down or walk; clearly below it — you've found someone worth locking into a long-term deal.
One last tactic: for a first collaboration, bundle one dedicated video plus usage rights for cuts, and write data disclosure into the deal. The real performance of that first video becomes your pricing baseline for everything you do with this creator afterwards.