Buying LISTS-forbidden these days?

16 replies
Just a question about lists for some of the more experienced marketers.
Building your own list is the way to go(that's a given), however are there any circumstance's where someone might be allowed to purchase a list, and does anyone ever make any progress with these lists anymore? I see sites selling leads still even in 2011, but I also see that most hosts including Hostgator do NOT allow purchased lists to be emailed from their servers, ( they may look the other way I'm not sure) and many auto-responders today also say you are not allowed to upload purchased lists.

When sites offer to sell you 2 million leads for X amount, is there ANY chance at all these days of making use of these, or is it pretty much spamming any way you spin it?

What's the real deal on buying lists these days?

Thanks- Mike
#buying #days #listsforbidden
  • Profile picture of the author Josiah
    It can be a sketchy business, more often than not you will pay for a whole lot of invalid emails harvested by some spider, and a lot of times they are acquired through illegal means (depends on where you are buying from, of course). I wouldn't recommend it, I honestly don't see one of those lists converting well enough to justify the price. And remember, if it's being sold to you, its probably been sold to someone else before.
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    • Profile picture of the author marston007
      Thanks, good info!! I appreciate it.
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  • Profile picture of the author webapex
    Ya just about have to take over an autoresponder account intact to not make waves.

    There less such regulation for physical postcard/salesletter mailings, with a good rented list of targeted prospects some guys have gotten a better ROI than with PPC. So far you just have to deal with the nets not the feds when sending to cell phones, waiting to hear about 1 million cell phone textings.
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  • Profile picture of the author AnikSingal
    Stay away.. do it the old fashioned way!

    Buying "leads" usually ends up with spam complaints and a banned mailing account!

    Final answer.. it's SPAMMING and illegal!
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  • Profile picture of the author briankoz
    That's actually a common misconception. Spamming by itself is NOT illegal. You simply have to follow several rules in CAN Spam such as real headers, not using deceptive subject lines, etc..

    However, several autoresponders don't normally allow it because it can hurt the deliverability. There still are plenty of marketers who use bought lists (some of the biggest media companies out there sell lists of their clients) but it's not always super easy to get into and you do have to know your stuff and know how to convert those kinds of leads.

    - Koz
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    • Profile picture of the author marston007
      " Spamming by itself is NOT illegal."

      Really? I have never heard that. I guess it's the same as Junk Mail in my mailbox, it's not illegal either.
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      • Profile picture of the author rts2271
        Originally Posted by marston007 View Post

        " Spamming by itself is NOT illegal."

        Really? I have never heard that. I guess it's the same as Junk Mail in my mailbox, it's not illegal either.
        If you do any email marketing you should read CAN-SPAM. Cause if you don't know spam is not illegal then you may be missing out a rule or two you need to have in play.

        Without the ethical debate and the drama yes you can buy a list, yes you can make money with it, but if you have to ask the question here then you are far from ready to do it.
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        • Profile picture of the author Peter Livingston
          I do buy solo ads once in a while..Is it considered spammy?
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by bipas View Post

            I do buy solo ads once in a while..Is it considered spammy?
            Simply buying solo ads isn't spammy.

            What could push things in that direction are a) the list you send to, and b) what you send.

            Send a well-written, solid relevant offer to a list that expects offers, and it isn't spammy at all.

            Send a hyped-up, mismatched mess to a list that doesn't expect it, and, well,...
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
      Originally Posted by briankoz View Post

      That's actually a common misconception. Spamming by itself is NOT illegal. You simply have to follow several rules in CAN Spam such as real headers, not using deceptive subject lines, etc..

      However, several autoresponders don't normally allow it because it can hurt the deliverability. There still are plenty of marketers who use bought lists (some of the biggest media companies out there sell lists of their clients) but it's not always super easy to get into and you do have to know your stuff and know how to convert those kinds of leads.

      - Koz
      Yep. A common enough misconception that you WILL get TONS of spam complaints to your ISP who will most likely have a zero-tolerance policy and shut you down without caring about the letter of the law.

      In other words, no matter what CAN-SPAM says, your ISP also has rules...and those rules are most likely more strict.

      Stay away from the lists of millions. It only leads to trouble.

      All the best,
      Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author skibbz
    Whats the review on the company listguy.com? you say lists definately do not work....there is not even one reputable company that you can pin point?
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    Some figures from a client of mine.

    I've advised them not to use the
    listbroker in question and advised them
    that it is 'spammy' at the best.

    1,000,000 emails

    25 responses

    2 sales

    Conclusion: Build your own list.

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      If I were to go that way, I would never buy a list like you describe. It's getting down on your knees and pleading for trouble.

      That said, I would have no qualms about renting a list from a reputable broker. Many of the brokers that handle postal lists are also handling email lists. Companies of all stripes are building legitimate email lists with the dual purpose of marketing to those lists and renting them for extra income.

      How many forms have folks filled out for coupon offers, samples, e-clubs and such from major corporations and noticed a little checkbox by the submit button, saying something like "Yes, I want to receive information and offers from selected merchants?"

      Those "selected merchants" are the ones renting the list...
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    You can get massive lists of opportunity seekers pretty cheap. Along with email addresses many lists have phone numbers and physical addresses. Forget contacting people by email and phone. Those avenues are highly restricted and troublesome.

    I've been looking at using offline marketing methods to promote online products and I have to say, there are many interesting possibilities. One of the strategies I'm considering right now is postcards. Considering how much it costs to get a signup for your list online, postcards could be a great method for list building as well as product promotion.

    A post card costs $.29 to mail and about a penny or two (depending on volume) to produce. Offline "opportunity seekers" isn't exactly virgin territory but I think many people receiving a postcard offering free money making info would be willing to opt in to a list.

    There are also several other ways to market offline to promote online stuff. Anyway, if it works out look for a WSO explaining the whole process in detail.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Buying targeted leads is certainly a very fast and economical method to reach your prospects in nearly any niche. However, emailing as the first contact is not only a huge waste, but also can get you banned by your ISP and cause serious legal liability. What I do is call (business leads only) or send letters by mail with a strong incentivized offer to subscribe for followup.
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