To sell PPV on Fansly, add the photos, videos, voice notes or text you want to charge for, open the media permissions box and set a purchase price, either with the Require purchase checkbox or through Advanced Permissions and Add Price. Then publish the locked item in a timeline post or send it in a one-to-one or mass message. Attach a free preview if you want the post considered for the For You page, and resell the same set with Copy Media instead of uploading it again.
Fansly calls this locked media, and its Get Started Monetizing article lists it beside tips and subscriptions as one of the three core ways creators earn on the platform. This guide covers the mechanics of selling it: where a locked item can live, the price limits, previews, reuse and the numbers Fansly shows you afterwards. What to charge and when to send offers is a strategy question that our pay-per-view pricing and timing guide handles, and the wider platform basics sit in how Fansly works for creators.
Where Fansly lets you sell locked media
The Locked Media (PPV) article names two selling routes, posts and direct messages, and says both use the same media permission settings. Other help articles quietly extend that list: mass messages, stories, locked text and audio posts all accept the same kind of permissions. The table maps each format to where you build it, what the help centre says about previews, and the price rule it states.
| Format | Where you set it up | Preview option | Price rule in the help centre | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo or video set on your timeline | Post composer: pick the source, select media, set previews, set permissions, upload | Add Free Preview; only compulsory when the post is promoted to the FYP | $1.00 minimum and $499.99 maximum for each piece of media sold | Media sale price limits |
| Several bundles inside one post | Repeat the add-media steps in the same post, for example a free bundle beside a paid one | Each bundle goes through its own preview step | Every bundle carries its own permissions and price | Posting |
| Media sent in a one-to-one DM | Upload icon at the bottom left of the conversation thread | Optional preview attached to the media offer | Same permission settings as a timeline sale | Locked Media (PPV) |
| Media inside a mass message | Envelope icon, New Mass Message, choose the audience, then compose | Optional preview, as with any media offer | Priced through the same permissions box as feed media | Mass Messages |
| Locked text | Locked Text icon on the home page composer, then set who can unlock it | No media preview; the public caption is what browsers read | A price is optional, and no separate range for text is published | Monetizing Text Posts |
| Voice note or audio post | Microphone icon in a post or DM, record, then set previews and permissions | Previews work as they do for other media | Earnings statistics count voice notes under Media | Recording an Audio Post; Statistics Page |
| Story | Story section at the top of the home page | Feed and DM media permissions apply to stories too | The story disappears after 24 hours, so the offer is short-lived | Stories |
| A set you are selling again | Three blue dots on the media, Copy Media, then Copied Media when attaching | The copy is an exact replica of the original offer, preview included | A price or permission edit on one copy applies to every copy | Copied Media Offers |
Two practical points come out of the table. A single post can hold a free bundle and a paid bundle together, so a teaser and the full set do not need separate posts. And short-lived offers have two homes: stories disappear on their own, and a timeline post can be set to expire with the Post Expiration option that the Posting article describes.
Setting the price, and the two ceilings in the help centre
The click path in the Locked Media article is: Advanced Permission, then Add New and New Permission, then Add Price, enter the amount and confirm. For simple cases you may not need it, because the Permissions on Fansly guide describes basic checkboxes for Require purchase, Require subscription and Require follow, with Advanced Permissions reserved for combinations.
The help centre does not quite agree with itself on the upper limit. The Locked Media (PPV) article says a purchase price can be set anywhere between $1 and $500, while the Minimum Price of a Media Sale page gives $1.00 as the minimum and $499.99 as the maximum for individual photos and videos. The pricing page is the narrower and more specific of the two, so plan around its lower ceiling and test the form before you announce anything near the top of the range.
You also do not need two posts to charge two groups differently. The permissions guide explains that Add New creates an alternative route, where meeting any one option unlocks the item, while New Permission stacks an extra requirement onto an existing one, so the fan must meet both. Fansly's own illustration in the Locked Media article lets subscribers buy a picture for $5 while non-subscribers pay $30. Three patterns cover most sales:
- Price only: everyone who can see the post pays the same amount, which suits sets aimed at followers and casual visitors as much as subscribers.
- Included for one tier, priced for everyone else: one route is Subscribed limited to the named tier, a second route is Add Price, so that tier opens it free and other fans buy it.
- Price with an expiry: the Limited Time option makes an unlock route available for a window you choose and then withdraws it, even though the post itself remains, as the permissions guide describes.
Free previews and covers: what a buyer sees first
A free preview is a teaser attached to the locked item. Fansly's free preview article describes the flow: choose media from your Vault or your device, wait for the pop-up, click Add Free Preview and pick the portion to show. A built-in editor can blur, censor or add text to the teaser before it goes live.
Previews are optional for most sales but compulsory for one. The Posting article says a preview is only required when you want to promote locked content to the For You page, and adds that previews are visible to everyone on Fansly. That second clause matters more than it looks: a preview is effectively public, so build it to the standard of anything you would show a stranger browsing the platform, and keep it honest about what the locked file contains. Our guide to the Fansly For You page covers what else a post needs to be eligible for discovery.
Video covers are a separate control. The custom thumbnails article explains that the gear icon on a video shows Edit Cover when the main media is a video and Edit Preview Cover when the preview is one, so you can choose a frame or upload an image instead of accepting whatever frame appears. The Media Sales article makes the same point in a line: clear titles and engaging thumbnails help paid content get noticed.
Reusing a set with copied media offers
Every locked item is a media offer: the content, an optional preview and its permission settings, as the copied media article defines it. Copy Media duplicates that offer exactly, purchase history included. Anyone who bought the original sees the copy marked as already purchased, so reposting a set never charges a past buyer twice, and a price or permission change on one copy follows the offer everywhere it appears.
To use it, click the three blue dots on the media and choose Copy Media. Next time you attach media anywhere uploads are supported, Copied Media appears beneath Upload New and From Vault. The same article carries a warning worth building into your routine: deleting a post or message that contains an offer deletes the offer, and a deleted offer vanishes from every other post or message that used it. Buyers keep their copy; fans who had only liked or bookmarked it lose access.
Because edits travel with the offer, a temporary discount on a copied set is a discount everywhere that set is listed. If you want a sale price in one place only, the trade-off is a fresh upload for that place, which loses the duplicate-purchase protection for anyone who bought the original. Decide which matters more before the sale starts, not halfway through it.
Selling locked media through messages
Selling in DMs works much like selling on the feed, according to the Locked Media article: open the thread, use the upload icon, set the media permissions and send. For a group, the envelope icon opens New Mass Message, where you choose the audience and an optional send time before composing.
Two message details are worth knowing before you lean on DMs for sales. Fansly's Mass Messages article says unsending a mass message removes it from every recipient's inbox, but anything a fan already bought from it stays in their purchases. It also says mass messages are not delivered to users who have not been active recently, whatever filters you choose. Audience filters, scheduling and automation are covered in our Fansly mass and automated messages guide.
Reading sale stats and following up with buyers
Fansly reports results per item. Click the three blue dots on any locked media and choose Sale Stats to see Total Sales, Total Sales Value and Pending Sales Value, which the Locked Media article defines as earnings still inside the 7-day processing period. For messages, Broadcast Message Stats under Messages in the Creator Dashboard shows Sent, Viewed, Purchases and Earned for each send.
The newer Statistics page, introduced in beta in September 2026, breaks net earnings down by product type, and the Statistics page article lists Media, Locked Text and Media Sets (bundles) as separate types. That split shows which format is carrying your locked-content income, which tells you more than a view count does.
Buyers are also your most useful list. The Adding Buyers to Lists article describes an Add Buyers to List option in the three-dot menu of any piece of media. Fansly's own clip store migration guide suggests using lists like that to send sequels to past buyers, offer bundle discounts to repeat customers and invite them to private live streams.
Locked-media setup checklist
Work through this list for each new set. It roughly follows the order in which Fansly's screens ask for things, which keeps rework after publishing to a minimum.
- Upload the files to a Vault album ahead of time; the Media Vault article notes that processing can take a couple of minutes for larger files.
- Choose the surface: a timeline post as a standing listing, a DM for one buyer, a mass message for a segment, or a story for a short-notice offer.
- Write a caption that states plainly what the locked item contains, such as the format, running time and number of files.
- Pick the access pattern: price only, one tier included with a price for everyone else, or a time-limited unlock route.
- Enter a price inside the published range and stay clear of the disputed top end.
- Build the free preview while you edit the set, then check it is suitable for anyone browsing Fansly.
- Set a video cover with Edit Cover or Edit Preview Cover rather than relying on a random frame.
- Choose the wall the post belongs on, and pin it if it is a flagship set; the Posting article allows up to 25 pinned posts before the oldest pin drops off.
- Tick Post to FYP when you want discovery traffic, remembering that a locked post needs its free preview to qualify.
- Save the permission set as a preset if you will reuse the same structure.
- Open Media Permissions from the post's three-dot menu and confirm the rules saved the way you intended.
- A week later, read Sale Stats, add buyers to a list and decide whether the set deserves a second run through Copy Media.
What buyers keep after a sale
From the buyer's side, a Fansly purchase is close to permanent. Purchased media sits in the buyer's Media Collection, and the sold media article says deleting it does not remove it from that collection. Sold media cannot be edited or replaced either, so a corrected or extended version has to be uploaded and sold as a new item. Buyers cannot download or save purchases outside Fansly, according to the article on saving sold content.
Media unlocked by a tip behaves differently. The permissions guide says purchased media stays available even if you change permissions or delete your account, whereas media opened through a tip may become unavailable after a permission change or deletion. If a fan should keep something, sell it with a price rather than a tip threshold. Refund rules, and what a refund does to your balance and the buyer's access, are in our Fansly refunds and chargebacks FAQ.
Where these instructions stop
This guide reflects Fansly's help centre and Creator Hub as they read on 1 October 2026. Help articles change without notice, and some already disagree with each other, as the price ceiling shows. Where two pages conflict, the narrower rule is the safer one to plan around, and Fansly support can confirm current behaviour for your account. Those are real limits on any summary, this one included.
It also stops at mechanics. It does not tell you what to charge or how often to send offers, and preview design in general is covered by our PPV launch checklist, which is written for OnlyFans but transfers well. Income from locked media is taxable in most countries and the treatment depends on where you live, so check your own position with a registered tax agent or accountant.