"'770,000 YouTuber' Reveals Earnings: 'Without Ads, Can't Avoid Losses'"

Labor costs alone 7 million KRW per month and various fixed expenses revealed
"Advertising is essential for sustainable channel operation" emphasized

YouTuber 'Afit,' who has 770,000 subscribers, revealed his YouTube earnings and explained why he has no choice but to do market advertising.

YouTube AFIT capture

Recently, Afit uploaded a video titled "I Honestly Tell You How to Make Money on YouTube." Since 2019, Afit has been posting content mainly focused on home training. He said, "I challenged many things to survive in the fierce competition. I think I have built recognition and established my position in home training and diet." He added, "To be honest, I have made a lot of money through YouTube."

He then disclosed the income generated solely from his YouTube channel over the past five months. The monthly earnings ranged between 5 million and 8 million KRW. He explained that since he belongs to an MCN (a type of creator agency), the revenue must be split 80/20, and said, "If this much income is generated, it can be considered a loss."

Afit said, "Only 80% of the YouTube revenue is mine. But there are fixed salaries paid to the editor, filming director, and manager." He added, "The fixed monthly labor cost alone is 7 million KRW. Since they are family members, the labor cost is somewhat lower, but until last year, when I hired a separate filming PD, the expenses were much higher." He also mentioned that currently, his father works as the filming director and his mother as the road manager.

He further explained that due to the nature of fitness YouTubers, earnings are higher in summer and drop by half in winter. "As of November last year, after deducting fixed expenses, there was a deficit of 3 million KRW, and even in July this year, when earnings were high, there was a deficit of about 600,000 KRW," he said. He emphasized, "There were additional expenses such as studio rental and purchasing filming equipment, so the losses were much greater than this."

YouTube AFIT capture

Afit stressed that to survive as a full-time YouTuber, advertising is inevitably necessary. He said, "There must be trust that the products recommended by this person are reliable even if they are advertisements, to create a sustainable channel." Afit stated that he generates revenue through YouTube Market. He sells products by inserting purchase links in the content description or pinned comments.

He said he proposes to select only products he genuinely wants to advertise, lowering the usual advertising rates and sharing the profits. He confessed that finding products he can sincerely advertise is the most difficult part, and the second hardest is negotiating the lowest price with the brand. Afit added, "The more the price is cut, the less the brand earns, and from the creator's perspective, I have to confidently say that buying through my market is the cheapest, so price discussions continue and conflicts arise."

Nevertheless, Afit said, "Market work is much more fun, and since I bring only good products, many people trust me and come. As market sales increase, so do earnings. Successfully completing it becomes a portfolio. It is much easier to negotiate good prices when preparing the next market." He proudly stated, "YouTube earnings practically leave nothing behind, and to operate a sustainable channel, I put all my effort into selecting good products and advertising mainly through the market. Market work involves ten times more tasks than advertising and is extremely stressful," but added, "However, subscriber trust has increased, and I have achieved high income."