Is anybody buying email lists?

81 replies
Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
#buying #email #lists
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    What is it like?
    Problematic, difficult, and absolutely fraught with both legal and practical complications - some readily understandable and foreseeable and others very much less so.

    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is it worth it?
    Very rarely indeed. Not for most people who try it, but many people learn that only "the hard way".

    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Would you suggest to stay away from it?
    I'd do more than that, I think: I'd urge you to stay away from it.

    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Where do I start?
    By understanding the key concept of email marketing, I think. Here it is: what makes it work is normally the existence of a trust-based relationship between the list-owner and subscribers: the fact that the subscribers voluntarily opted in to be on the list-owner's emailing list, because s/he was the person from whom they wanted to hear.

    That doesn't exist, when you've bought the list.

    That's among the reasons why no autoresponder service will allow you to upload a bought list and use it. (You can do it yourself, with a self-hosted one, but then it will be your own ISP and ESP service, your own hosting account, your own domain-name registration and so on, whose security you're putting in jeopardy if recipients hit the "spam" button in their email client software.

    Email marketing is permission based, or it's nothing.

    This very short, recent thread explains: http://www.warriorforum.com/email-ma...marketing.html

    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    How do I find good lists?
    By becoming the person to whose list the potential customers choose to subscribe because you're the person from whom they want to receive email.

    If you want a quick orientation in "the basics of email marketing" which will help you to understand why buying email lists is such a bad idea (I confess I'm astonished to find myself offering this to someone advertising a coaching service which apparently includes list-building?!?! ), these 6 threads will doubtless help you. Between them, they cover all the basics.

    What are the essential things to know about list building?

    Lists: How Long to Presell - Averages

    Website or squeeze page

    Where to get reports to give away on opt in page?

    Autoresponders vs. Broadcasts

    Sick of Emails Not Being Opened?

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author tyronne78
      I agree with Alexa 100%. I would go through all of the forum threads she mentioned in her post. Permission based email marketing is more effective then for example sending out an "email blast" to a database of 10,000 people that don't know you from Adam. Here's a great article about permission marketing:

      Seth's Blog: Permission Marketing
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Problematic, difficult, and absolutely fraught with both legal and practical complications - some readily understandable and foreseeable and others very much less so.



      Very rarely indeed. Not for most people who try it, but many people learn that only "the hard way".



      I'd do more than that, I think: I'd urge you to stay away from it.



      By understanding the key concept of email marketing, I think. Here it is: what makes it work is normally the existence of a trust-based relationship between the list-owner and subscribers: the fact that the subscribers voluntarily opted in to be on the list-owner's emailing list, because s/he was the person from whom they wanted to hear.

      That doesn't exist, when you've bought the list.

      That's among the reasons why no autoresponder service will allow you to upload a bought list and use it. (You can do it yourself, with a self-hosted one, but then it will be your own ISP and ESP service, your own hosting account, your own domain-name registration and so on, whose security you're putting in jeopardy if recipients hit the "spam" button in their email client software.

      Email marketing is permission based, or it's nothing.

      This very short, recent thread explains: http://www.warriorforum.com/email-ma...marketing.html



      By becoming the person to whose list the potential customers choose to subscribe because you're the person from whom they want to receive email.

      If you want a quick orientation in "the basics of email marketing" which will help you to understand why buying email lists is such a bad idea (I confess I'm astonished to find myself offering this to someone advertising a coaching service which apparently includes list-building?!?! ), these 6 threads will doubtless help you. Between them, they cover all the basics.

      What are the essential things to know about list building?

      Lists: How Long to Presell - Averages

      Website or squeeze page

      Where to get reports to give away on opt in page?

      Autoresponders vs. Broadcasts

      Sick of Emails Not Being Opened?

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Mayers
    Hey Matt,

    Hope you're doing well.

    I actually have bought an email list in the past. I don't think buying email lists is bad, but how you use them will determine if it is bad or not.

    There are many people who like to take the spammy approach and just send out tons and tons of clickbank offers while hoping for sales. . . this is NOT how I do it.

    When I purchased a list, I first sent out a contact email without a link to attempt to establish a relationship with the lead and also, to get their PERMISSION to offer them a solution to the problem that they may be having.

    Although I no longer buy email lists, I do not see anything wrong with it as long as you make contact with your prospects and attempt to start a GENUINE relationship with them that could very well turn into a partnership and them becoming a lifelong customer.

    Hope this is helpful!

    -Josh
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    • Profile picture of the author Geeked Labs
      Perhaps it would be better to acquire a whole company? That way you could legally acquire their list too.
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  • Profile picture of the author linuxsmtp
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

    What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
    buying is not good, you cant make money with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author beasty513
    The money will always be in the relationship with the list.

    Buying a list is a very cold approach, and one that
    could get you in hot water with the ISP's.

    Just don't do it.
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    • Profile picture of the author heavysm
      The best that could happen is that you buy a list that's already part of a thriving business...in which case you're buying the business NOT just the mail list.

      You would then need a well transitioned follow up to those subscribers letting them know of the shift in ownership etc etc so your spam complaints don't kill you AND to ensure that responsiveness stays decent.

      I've seen this done successfully on one particularly successful clickbank product which had thousands of subscribers, but the transition follow-up emails were executed extraordinarily well so that 70 - 80% of subscribers stayed on.

      Another form of attaining a list excludes money at all...and it's the VERY advanced technique of list swapping. Not just adwapping but swapping entire lists between marketers. It can be very technical and messy but can be done.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Poc
        Originally Posted by heavysm View Post

        The best that could happen is that you buy a list that's already part of a thriving business...in which case you're buying the business NOT just the mail list.

        You would then need a well transitioned follow up to those subscribers letting them know of the shift in ownership etc etc so your spam complaints don't kill you AND to ensure that responsiveness stays decent.

        I've seen this done successfully on one particularly successful clickbank product which had thousands of subscribers, but the transition follow-up emails were executed extraordinarily well so that 70 - 80% of subscribers stayed on.

        Another form of attaining a list excludes money at all...and it's the VERY advanced technique of list swapping. Not just adwapping but swapping entire lists between marketers. It can be very technical and messy but can be done.
        Do you know a place where people would sell their lists with whole autoresponder accounts?

        And that advanced technique you mentioned, where can I find out more about that?
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        • Profile picture of the author justaskbigjohn
          [DELETED]
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        • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
          Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

          Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

          What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
          buying leads, solo's, seo, and paid advertising
          can be tricky areas to be sure....
          but they can all be done

          what ever you do, start small and work your way up
          so that once you find something that works you can scale it
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        • Profile picture of the author heavysm
          Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

          Do you know a place where people would sell their lists with whole autoresponder accounts?

          And that advanced technique you mentioned, where can I find out more about that?
          Buying an entire account is are but not unheard of. You'll need to scour other IM/MMO forums for people selling their accounts.

          As far as i know only Aweber allows full list transfers between it's users.

          So user A could send their list to user B and it classified as selling a business asset wherein the list is part of that business.

          The full setup for the more advanced technique is way too technical to get into here.

          But the general idea is that you have your own self hosted autoresponder and list swap with someone of comparable list size. This is often done for marketers in the 100,000+ subscriber zones where doing a list swap means a definite increase in clicks and subscriber response to make the effort worth it.

          In this way both list swappers would be said to partner up, at least momentarily, so that subscribers don't feel spammed to death by their emails and each email names both marketers so there is no confusion for subscribers.

          But that's just the tip of the ice berg. There will be spam complaints and confusion will run high among subscribers so this is only done at great risk to both participating marketers.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnnyPlan
          Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

          Do you know a place where people would sell their lists with whole autoresponder accounts?

          And that advanced technique you mentioned, where can I find out more about that?
          And, you're seriously still asking for a place to buy email lists, even after expert members here have explained why it's so clearly a bad idea?

          Are you just ignoring what others are saying till you find that one answer you want?

          What good would a bought list serve you anyway? The people you are spamming with emails didn't ask for those emails; won't open them and if they do, won't respond by clicking through to buy.
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          • Profile picture of the author bitport09
            There are some Dos and Don't in buying an email list but I prefer to pick don't! Its better to do some old fashion way, many of email marketing are doing some efforts to collect some emails but some user seems to be spam and disregarded those emails
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Corners
    I've used listjoe.com before and got some good responses.
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  • Profile picture of the author Reddy20
    I agree on the posts above. I can't seem to find something on email marketing. Solo ads would be great.
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  • Profile picture of the author longseo
    Actually, I love to building my own email list rather than buying from someone else. I can focus on my niche and the email marketing campaign will be more effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Feast
    Hi Matt, When you buy Email lists off venders you will not find them targeted to your niche. The best way really is get a good solo ad provider & work on that.
    Plus you can get them targeted to you niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
    Originally Posted by Geeked Labs View Post

    Perhaps it would be better to acquire a whole company? That way you could legally acquire their list too.
    Originally Posted by heavysm View Post

    The best that could happen is that you buy a list that's already part of a thriving business...in which case you're buying the business NOT just the mail list.

    You would then need a well transitioned follow up to those subscribers letting them know of the shift in ownership etc etc so your spam complaints don't kill you AND to ensure that responsiveness stays decent.

    I've seen this done successfully on one particularly successful clickbank product which had thousands of subscribers, but the transition follow-up emails were executed extraordinarily well so that 70 - 80% of subscribers stayed on.

    Another form of attaining a list excludes money at all...and it's the VERY advanced technique of list swapping. Not just adwapping but swapping entire lists between marketers. It can be very technical and messy but can be done.
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Do you know a place where people would sell their lists with whole autoresponder accounts?

    And that advanced technique you mentioned, where can I find out more about that?
    I'd like to know more about that too!
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    • Profile picture of the author bentanck
      I thought you have a WSO on list swap ?
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  • Profile picture of the author lerxtjr
    @Matt Poc I'm just shaking my head a bit at these never-ever-email responses. To the shagrin of others, yes, buying the right list and sending the right offer using the right approach in the right (small) quantity (with follow-up) can be a very successful way to get leads and customers online. Unfortunately, I know how this subject is such a sore spot on this forum so I'm a bit reluctant to share details of the "how." I just wanted you to know that it is possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Ray
    In my opinion you would be much better served by building your own list using various methods(FB, solo ads, etc.)

    If you buy a email list, that thing could be a ticking time bomb. Old emails, spam traps... the list goes on.

    I know it sounds appealing, especially to people starting out. But my opinion is to stay far away from lists like that. You will be better served building your own list (Not to mention the experience you get from it... you will be able to do it over and over again).
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  • Profile picture of the author Bob McCarthy
    Hi Matt

    This is a complicated question (believe it or not).

    For many marketers, renting or buying an email list is taboo. They call it spam – which I guess it is because you would be using email to reach people who don’t know you and have never asked you to send them emails.

    All of the major email service providers (Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, aWeber, etc.) prohibit the use of third party lists (because the spam reports will go toward them).

    But there is a large segment of the business and sales population who use email lists unapologetically. They don’t see what the big deal is. Email is cheap so why not connect with people by email. If I get a spam complaint, so be it. It is just a numbers game.

    I think this is an evolving issue. Even if you oppose it, you see so many people doing it, you wonder why bother follow the ethical rules? How many of us go over the posted speed limit because everyone is doing it?

    The appeal of course is price. Email is cheap, pretty much free. However, the cost of an email list is often double the cost of the same direct mail list. List companies set their email list pricing higher to protect their direct mail lists.

    Most of the companies selling email lists are simply brokers of demographic lists (often from the same original source). Demographic lists are never the best lists for any form of direct marketing.

    Some of those companies will release the list to you leaving you to find your own server to send out the emails. Other companies are more protective of their lists and will only rent you the list if they deploy the email.

    If you want something better than a demographic lists, find a publication that targets your audience and contact them about using their email lists. Not all of them will be open to it, but some will. These lists are better because they contain people who have actually subscribed to the publication. These publications will almost always require you to send your email through them.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author npoint
    Stay away from it ,it could leads you to big troubles, there are so many possibilities to build your own list very affordable ways. Have you tried solo ads ?
    It`s a lot better option if you want to spend some money on it than purchasing a list from someone.

    Once you gather your own list you can then offer someone to exchange solo ads so you both will build some more subscribers for free if you are in same niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author isaacsmithjones
    To be honest, I'd say that it all depends on WHY someone is selling their list.

    When I was really into website flipping, I'd essentially buy lists. But that's as part of the website, and I'd check out the list, see how "clean" it is (i.e. check it for bounces, and get an idea of response rate), and then I'd sell on the clean list.

    But if someone is selling lists for a living, you need to ask yourself:

    Where did they get the list?
    Why are they selling it if it is profitable?
    How many people are they selling this same list to?

    And that's why I'd only buy a list as part of a website sale, because at least I can see a legitimate motive.

    I'm sure there are other reasons.

    E.g. I'm selling solo ads to lists of weight loss product buyers. I COULD just send them my own promotions, which would be way more profitable. But I'm not in the weight loss niche. But as soon as I do find a worthwhile product to sell, I'm gonna stop selling solos.

    It's basically the same thing. You need to ask why someone would be selling a list, for a "one-time" hit, when they could be sending them multiple promotions for years to come.

    Is it a terrible list? Are they selling it to loads of people? Is it even their list?
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  • Profile picture of the author dynamicsuccess1
    If you do it right, you can have massive success in it. The key is to research, research, research. Don't just throw your money at the first list you come across.



    -Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author Franck Silvestre
    I never bought a list, but what I'd suggest would be to start building your own.

    As for buying a list, I'd ask the list owner to let me test it first. If the list is good, he shouldn't have any problem with that.

    As someone says above, it's tricky. Be careful if you don't want to end with a few thousand unresponsive subscribers hitting spam all day long.

    Take care,
    Franck
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  • Profile picture of the author DanielKnights
    Hi,

    Has anyone used Add Blast? There seem to be a few companies that allow you to email once a day to their HUGE list.

    Obviously, you would have to direct them to your landing page (they opt in, so not spamming) where you offer incentives for them to sign up. Follow that up with helpful emails with free gifts and after a few emails to them, start recommending products they could purchase.

    I really look forward to hearing anyone's thoughts on this.


    Thanks - Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author Javisito
    Just go the old fashioned way and build a list. Bought lists are not permission based and usually means trouble.
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  • Profile picture of the author joegaris
    I've had success buying lists and profiting from them. You need to mail them and gather the openers/clickers. Then move those to a good IP or email service and that is your money list.
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  • Profile picture of the author npoint
    Don`t buy the lists, there are many ways to build list quite fast like for example buying media or solo ads if you want to see your list growing fast, If you can wait , there are also free methods, a lots of them.

    If you lists will not be double opt-in aweber, getresponse and any other TOP service will ban your account very fast.

    I would suggest you to build your own list from the beginning, once you have some subscribers you can use ad swaps in same niche to make your list grow for free.



    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

    What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
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  • Profile picture of the author trendier
    Buying a list has too many legal complications. Try running a solo ad, it's essentially the same thing without the risk of legal issues imo.
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  • Profile picture of the author Khalil Bashir
    I don't buy any email lists at all for email marketing. I advertise my opportunities in lists that are already established. What I mean is I do ezine advertising with solo ad providers whose list already is receptive to receiving home biz offers. The only times I have considered or compiled lists of phone numbers is when I have done postcard marketing in the mail, or I have done phone broadcasting.
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  • Profile picture of the author tones
    Hello Matt,

    What you need is a autoresponder, then a free offer such as a ebook with good info in it that relates to your niche you want to promote. Then you need to make a squeeze page for that ebook and make it very enticing. The traffic part of it is buying solo ads that also relates to your niche.

    The free offer does not have to be a ebook can be a video or whatever as long it adds value for someone so they opt-in and become a subscriber of yours. Put yourself in there place and offer them what they want. Make money niche would be a good niche to consider but the niche you choose is up to you.

    Buying a email list I believe is throwing away your money.
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  • Profile picture of the author LTurnerJVManager
    There are tonnes of people who sell lists out there, once you have a list the issue is actually mailing it succesfully.

    1). You setup your own self hosted setup and then manage and run the reputation, warm the IP's up (hardly any SMTP providers like IM stuff)

    2). You import the leads into a well known AR

    BUT you need to make sure you double check the list and get it professionally cleaned so that you actually do inbox and won't face a tonne of other problems too.

    Ive purchased many lists in the past from fellow marketers and companies and it does work!

    Lewis
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

    What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
    Good leads exist.
    I sell offline and online exclusive IM leads
    contact me and I can help you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    Buying an email list is probably one of the worse decisions you can make when marketing online. You do not want to be sending unsolicited emails to people who never opted in to your opt in form. Just a terrible idea, and also a big waste of money. Build a list from scratch through free and paid advertisement.
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  • Profile picture of the author mass
    Don't buy email list ,Build it .
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    • Profile picture of the author AttilaM
      Originally Posted by mass View Post

      Don't buy email list ,Build it .
      Exactly!
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  • Profile picture of the author James Campbell
    Quite a few people commenting in this thread who have clearly never purchased lists, don't know how to properly approach purchased leads, don't know how to mail purchased or rented lists, etc....

    Find a reputable data vendor. Find a reputable data cleaner/scrubber. Get a decent mail setup. Have a proper "warm up" sequence in place for the leads and have a plan to promote either your services or others. There is gold in them hills, I promise.

    Most people are just too scared to learn how to do this properly and go with the tried and true answer of, "Don't do it. It isn't worth it.", of course without having any proper experience with it themselves.
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    • Profile picture of the author osensnolf
      Originally Posted by James Campbell View Post

      Quite a few people commenting in this thread who have clearly never purchased lists, don't know how to properly approach purchased leads, don't know how to mail purchased or rented lists, etc....

      Find a reputable data vendor. Find a reputable data cleaner/scrubber. Get a decent mail setup. Have a proper "warm up" sequence in place for the leads and have a plan to promote either your services or others. There is gold in them hills, I promise.

      Most people are just too scared to learn how to do this properly and go with the tried and true answer of, "Don't do it. It isn't worth it.", of course without having any proper experience with it themselves.
      I agree with James. Most have never tried and are echoing the same "bad idea" comment and talk about legal trouble. Unless you are using proxies or bots or not honoring opt-out request, I'm not sure what kind of legal trouble you would be in (in the USA).

      Buying a list is the quickest way to make money... and the quickest way to have your account shut down.

      As James said, you need to find a good source, have your data cleaned by someone like DataValidation so that when you send your first email, it has as many bounces, traps, and complaints removed.

      Sure, it is a 'cold' email but those that do not want it will unsubscribe and those that do will keep it. I get stuff in email and regular mail all the time from people I do not know. It is my decision if I keep it or delete it.

      The good news, is that if you are going to have an account shut down or some trouble, it will be while sending your first email. That said, if you make it 24-hours after the first send, you should be in good shape.

      Consider isolating your purchased emails from your other email account so that you do not have your main account shutdown. After a while, you can move them over. Having a backup plan is optimal. I learned the hard way about this.

      Having said all of that, if you do buy a list, make sure it is highly targeted and not generic or else you will increase your chances of having problems. If you see supplies to florist, make sure you only have florist on your list.

      There are good and bad reviews from the company below online but I have used them and spent a lot of money. Yes they have bounces but I made my money back very quickly.
      specialdatabases.com/
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  • Profile picture of the author skyro
    I would stay away from it and just use click banking ad swaps and solo ads.
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    • Profile picture of the author bitport09
      If you plan to buy an email list there are some precautions to take and some serious consequences, they try to legitimize subscriptions to receive updates from us and our partners we think but for real your email address is likely being collected for a shared list if you sign up for something and the terms are included pop-ups, surveys etc. Automatically a visitor on a site requests information and you'll get a co-registration. This is when the vendors use "bots" to trawl the web and collect email addresses from websites, forums and comment sections.
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  • Profile picture of the author jojoba
    Don't waste your money ..; Stay away from this unless it is a legit and well well known list with a clean opt-in and opt-out process.

    But in 99.9% of the cases, stay away from this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sofiadet
    From my experience there is no point of buying list. Avarage Open Rate in case you will buy a list is about 12% but a conversion rate is often less than 1%.
    It's a waste of money, unfortunately. How high was your conversion rate when you used a bought list?
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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    Never buy emails from another user. They probably have either been over saturated already or the list may be over sold to others, meaning that the subscribers are getting spammed multiple times. Build your own list, be patient, and gain good customer relations with those subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author mobread
    A lot have marketers have mentioned here a very good point. If you buy a list you do not have any sort of relationship with that list. Which will most likely lead to a very unresponsive or even spam complaint list.

    We all want a shortcut, but you gotta put in the work to build a nice responsive list.
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  • Profile picture of the author cheeta.admin
    its not legal to trade on email lists. but most of the junk i got in my personal email i never subscribe to them .. that mean our email add been sold every where.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Campbell
    lol same nonsense responses just like I outlined in my original posts

    Typical for this forum unfortunately.
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    • Profile picture of the author bitport09
      Originally Posted by James Campbell View Post

      lol same nonsense responses just like I outlined in my original posts

      Typical for this forum unfortunately.
      Yeah with that the same tiring old looping comments..
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  • Profile picture of the author davidpham
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

    What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
    I highly recommend NO. Not just because it is not allowed to sell, but it doesn't work anyway. If it work, the seller will know how to use it
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  • Profile picture of the author dimmers81
    Buying lists are fine if you know what you are getting into.

    From bought lists with aprox 40000 emails costing around $500. Excluding email software costs I've. Made around $10000 from it.
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    • Profile picture of the author ShawnLim
      Originally Posted by dimmers81 View Post

      Buying lists are fine if you know what you are getting into.

      From bought lists with aprox 40000 emails costing around $500. Excluding email software costs I've. Made around $10000 from it.
      This is something worth digging into..
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  • Profile picture of the author annewilliams123
    I bought email list from somewhere but do not find it so useful even though I bought it from a good agent. I do not think so buying data will help or one can use their own old data instead of buying from other companies.
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  • Profile picture of the author mrBela
    So,
    A lot of you are saying that building is much better than buying. Fair enough.
    The thing is that I got hold of an entire database of 50k+ names, addresses, dob's, for "free" - basically I have to split the profit with the "seller". Everyone on the list has one common interest and it can be broken down to age groups.

    Does anyone have a good idea on how to profit from the above without being flagged for spam?
    Obviously I want to make the most out of it - sending out 50,000 individual e-mails is not very productive (or it could be, depending on the conversion)

    I'm open to any new ideas as there are not many out there to chose from.
    Cheers.
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    • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
      Originally Posted by mrBela View Post

      So,
      A lot of you are saying that building is much better than buying. Fair enough.
      The thing is that I got hold of an entire database of 50k+ names, addresses, dob's, for "free" - basically I have to split the profit with the "seller". Everyone on the list has one common interest and it can be broken down to age groups.

      Does anyone have a good idea on how to profit from the above without being flagged for spam?
      Obviously I want to make the most out of it - sending out 50,000 individual e-mails is not very productive (or it could be, depending on the conversion)

      I'm open to any new ideas as there are not many out there to chose from.
      Cheers.
      Does the original seller have them on his/her autoresponder list?

      The only way it is not spam is if the original owner sends them through his/her account...
      YOU write it, and put your aff link (or what ever) and get him/her to send it.

      then it's not spam...
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by mrBela View Post

      Does anyone have a good idea on how to profit from the above without being flagged for spam?
      Yes.

      Don't send any spam.

      Specifically, make certain that the person sending the emails to those recipients is the same person to whose list those recipients voluntarily subscribed.

      Email marketing (that isn't spam) is permission-based.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author markeeter
    Lol these threads are going on since July, I doubt the author is even going through this now. Its filled with great info though!
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincent Joseph
    List building is one of the best ways to run your online business. Just be careful... treat your list with respect. I have a list of 10k and if you play your cards right they would be worth around $1 a month EACH... You can do the math
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    • Profile picture of the author bitriot
      Political emails are protected from CAN-SPAM, though you don't buy political lists, you rent them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Katie Watters
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    I can elaborate a bit further on buying lists, as that is mainly all I have done for many many years.

    I buy co-reg lists, because you can acquire huge lists cheap.

    You will need your own servers, mail software and get IPs that you can ideally change out on a monthly basis if needed. This is because the potential for you IPs to become blocked, black listed, sbl'd exist and if this happens, you will need to swap them out. However, in some cases none of this matters. There are some domains that you can mail to that even if the IPs are blacklisted, sbl'd, etc... they will still accept the mail.

    To lessen the chance of this happening, you can use data cleaners like impressionwise.com that will remove known complainers, traps, etc...

    Most likely the majority of your mail is going to go in the junk folder. So response is not that great. This is why having a huge list is important...compensate for the lower response.

    You want to send affiliate offers that have mass appeal. This will generate the highest response rate/$$$ possible, along with opens and clickers. Which you will want to collect all your opens and clickers.

    You can then mail the opens/clickers and they will generate a much higher response/$$$ then your overall list, which you still continue to send to, to keep pulling out more opens/clicks. There are times I will send an offer that I know is probably only going to break even, because it's known to generate above average opens/clicks.

    Obviously with all of this, you need to be can-spam compliant.

    The above is a complete business in it's self and highly profitable. It's even possible to automate almost the whole thing. The only work I do at all is when I set up a new server or need to make a change to it. When I add a new offer or remove one. When I pull the new opens/clicks off the server and add them to the list. Other than this, everything runs 24/7 all on it's own.

    If you want to take it even further, you can also start sending the opens/clicks to squeeze pages and opting them in to as many lists possible and then start sending to them on IPs that will inbox. Which becomes a completely new revenue stream. This is where all your skills as an email marketer come into play. Where with the co-reg your not trying to build relationships, create autoresponders, etc, etc, etc... all your doing is pounding out affiliate offers 24/7 to generate $$$, opens and clicks.
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    • Profile picture of the author stanton
      Hi Diablo,

      Thanks for the great info, I do something similar but in a niche so I have been dealing with much smaller databases.

      Can you tell me where you get your co-reg lists from?

      Also don't you need to warm up your IP's before emailing out to a big list?

      Cheers,
      Rob.


      Originally Posted by DIABL0 View Post

      I can elaborate a bit further on buying lists, as that is mainly all I have done for many many years.

      I buy co-reg lists, because you can acquire huge lists cheap.

      You will need your own servers, mail software and get IPs that you can ideally change out on a monthly basis if needed. This is because the potential for you IPs to become blocked, black listed, sbl'd exist and if this happens, you will need to swap them out. However, in some cases none of this matters. There are some domains that you can mail to that even if the IPs are blacklisted, sbl'd, etc... they will still accept the mail.

      To lessen the chance of this happening, you can use data cleaners like impressionwise.com that will remove known complainers, traps, etc...

      Most likely the majority of your mail is going to go in the junk folder. So response is not that great. This is why having a huge list is important...compensate for the lower response.

      You want to send affiliate offers that have mass appeal. This will generate the highest response rate/$$$ possible, along with opens and clickers. Which you will want to collect all your opens and clickers.

      You can then mail the opens/clickers and they will generate a much higher response/$$$ then your overall list, which you still continue to send to, to keep pulling out more opens/clicks. There are times I will send an offer that I know is probably only going to break even, because it's known to generate above average opens/clicks.

      Obviously with all of this, you need to be can-spam compliant.

      The above is a complete business in it's self and highly profitable. It's even possible to automate almost the whole thing. The only work I do at all is when I set up a new server or need to make a change to it. When I add a new offer or remove one. When I pull the new opens/clicks off the server and add them to the list. Other than this, everything runs 24/7 all on it's own.

      If you want to take it even further, you can also start sending the opens/clicks to squeeze pages and opting them in to as many lists possible and then start sending to them on IPs that will inbox. Which becomes a completely new revenue stream. This is where all your skills as an email marketer come into play. Where with the co-reg your not trying to build relationships, create autoresponders, etc, etc, etc... all your doing is pounding out affiliate offers 24/7 to generate $$$, opens and clicks.
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  • Profile picture of the author nayemkhulna
    Building email list is taking too much time. But you can try to buy list from some guy who already has the list.
    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author revolusi
    Buying email is not better than build manually
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonthewebmaster
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Matt Poc View Post

    Is anybody out there buying email lists? I never bought them, but the model seems interesting.

    What is it like? Is it worth it? Would you suggest to stay away from it? Where do I start? How do I find good lists?
    LOL come on man don't you sell an awesome training course or WSO on list building? LOL

    Maybe you are just trying to get some convo going.. i can tell you that if you have not tried buying a list you are not missing anything.

    Even if your autoresponder lets you upload the list they will most likely scrub it removing over half the leads for being bad quality. and there is no way to buy a list without getting a bunch of fake or wrong emails. and even if you did buy them and were allowed to email them they would not know who you are and most likely treat you like spam.

    The only real way is to cultivate a list from scratch.. but i think you knew that already... LOL

    also I know of a way to get co-registration subscribers for .35 cents a piece - considering most SOLO ADS are 35 cents PER CLICK or higher, then getting a subscriber for only 35 cents is a STEAL! the best part about these co-reg leads is that they specifically subscribed to your offer - its not a blind co-reg where they dont know they subscribed to you - but one where the user must choose to subscribe to your offer.
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    • Profile picture of the author mrBela
      The thing is that the autoresponder will let you upload the list (MailChimp does), but by sending out e-mails to a bunch of "unknown" adresses, you risk to be flagged by them and get your account suspended/reviewed - 0.5% will raise the autoresponder alarm.

      Perhaps Diablo's approach is more strategic, however by the time your filter your list, you'll be better off with solo ads - you'll spend that amount on the e-mail service anyway, and the open ratio is not that great.

      Co-registration is probably the next thing to try... I'll let the experts elaborate

      Originally Posted by jasonthewebmaster View Post

      ....

      Even if your autoresponder lets you upload the list they will most likely scrub it removing over half the leads for being bad quality. and there is no way to buy a list without getting a bunch of fake or wrong emails. and even if you did buy them and were allowed to email them they would not know who you are and most likely treat you like spam.

      The only real way is to cultivate a list from scratch.. but i think you knew that already... LOL

      also I know of a way to get co-registration subscribers for .35 cents a piece - considering most SOLO ADS are 35 cents PER CLICK or higher, then getting a subscriber for only 35 cents is a STEAL! the best part about these co-reg leads is that they specifically subscribed to your offer - its not a blind co-reg where they dont know they subscribed to you - but one where the user must choose to subscribe to your offer.
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    • Profile picture of the author heavysm
      Originally Posted by jasonthewebmaster View Post

      Maybe you are just trying to get some convo going.. i can tell you that if you have not tried buying a list you are not missing anything.

      Even if your autoresponder lets you upload the list they will most likely scrub it removing over half the leads for being bad quality. and there is no way to buy a list without getting a bunch of fake or wrong emails. and even if you did buy them and were allowed to email them they would not know who you are and most likely treat you like spam.

      The only real way is to cultivate a list from scratch.. but i think you knew that already... LOL
      Not quite.

      There is a largely unknown feature within Aweber (specifically Aweber) that allows an entire list to be transferred between accounts. This is often done when entire businesses are sold, and so the email list of customers/subscribers has to be transferred to the new owner.

      Technically, this is buying an email list as it is part of a business, even if the entire business resides within that list, it's still legitimately buying the list and transferring between two parties.

      The huge benefit here, as opposed to exporting the list to import it into another service, is that the list comes ready to go without any need to re-confirm emails. This is a massive bonus for many since the entire list comes as is without having to lose X amount of subscribers on the new confirmation email.

      Buying a business, and therefore it's email list as an asset within that business, is definitely possible and not far fetched, so as long as it is done under a well managed and strategic transfer. Aweber makes this possible, and I believe it is the only highly regarded AR service that allowed this type of transfer.
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    The act of buying co-reg lists in itself, is not list building in the way everyone here looks at list building.

    The way you really need to look at is... that it allows you to have your own cost effective (non targeted) traffic source. It's then comes down to how to best monetize / segment it.
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  • Profile picture of the author brotherZ
    Big mistake to buy email lists. First of, sending unsollicited emails is considered spamming. Spamming is illegal in many places. You run the risk of getting your website or business blacklisted as spam. If you are running affiliate programs, you run the risk of getting banned from those affiliate programs.
    Bottom line: if you plan on running a successful and respected business, do NOT engage in spamming.
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    One note regarding spamming... with co-reg there is typically a statement that you will receive offers from 3rd parties. Granted some people don't realize this and cry spam or worse you have people that request info just so they can complain because anything other than double optin to them is spam. But your not spamming.

    You get the list cleaned and set up and use your own mailing infrastructure and you will have little problems. It does take money to do, but it is very profitable. I typically make my money back on a list in under a week (I'm also cheap and refuse to pay outrageous prices). From that point on, my only cost is my infrastructure overhead.

    But the reality is that this isn't for most people.
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    How to Build LARGE EMAIL LISTS on a Budget and MONETIZE Like a PRO
    20+ Years Exp . . . . . . . . . . . . Email - CPA - PPL
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  • Profile picture of the author Mehdib
    I am not a big fan of buying info off of internet or some guy, but if you desperately need it then approach the companies who do this and are more reliable. Please do not go towards Fiver and other similar crappy services.
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    Works as digital marketing manager at ID printers

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  • Profile picture of the author stanton
    If you get a list that is made up of people who want product x and you offer them product x then you wont get many complaints.

    I made over $250k from the last list I bought, and 1/3 of that went to the guy who I bought the list from.

    I am always looking for lists, so PM me if anyone has any that are investment (alternatives/stock markets/real estate) related.
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  • Profile picture of the author bobby_shahzad
    Hello,

    Most of our clients use purchased lists and we are providing them advise on how to do that correctly.

    Most people dont know how to approach such leads in correct way.

    First of all, dont buy aged data. Anything above 1 year old must have lot of bad addresses .

    2ndly, we clean all data against our own scrub list that we have gathered over years. This cleans any bounces, traps complainers.

    Next, be very careful about how you draft an email. Dont piss off people, be gentle, tell them why you are approaching them and give them option to opt out

    Finally, keep an eye on complaints. A complaint rate of 0.1% is considered high. Stay under that radar and you will be just fine.
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    BulkResponse.com Email marketing service , single and double optin accounts. List Hygiene Service Available.
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  • Profile picture of the author sens663
    Before you buy any email list, you need to pay attention to the following:

    1. Will you be getting direct email address or is it just generic, such as info@ or office@?
    2. Same principle will apply for the phone numbers
    3. How frequent is the database updated?
    4. What is the bounce rate?
    5. What happens if you find an invalid contact, will they get replaced?
    6. Apart from person name, emails and phone numbers, what other fields are available?
    7. Can you export the entire database in XL or you are only allowed to send email campaigns? Actually, you need to pay attention here, because if you cannot download the list in XL, it does not make sense to go ahead with the purchase.
    8. Always ask for a demo or sample. A live demo will be better, as you can see in real time what this database is all about.

    Bellow I have listed top three competitors:

    1. GlobalDatabase - covers 195 countries, 42 industries. They will provide you with a direct email address and a phone numbers of you target audience and you can export the entire list in XL, at no extra cost. Requires a 12 months subscription.

    2. Hoovers - they have been in business for many years, owns a database of 85 mil companies. You have limits in terms of data download and they will provide you with a direct email address only for USA. For the other countries, you will have a generic email, such as info@ or office@

    3. Zoominfo - overall, a decent business directory. It provides direct contact details for companies in UK, USA, Australia and Canada only.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimish1982
    Yes, Lots of email list source available in market, But only few source provide genuine list.

    Must ask for approx delivery rate before buy email list.

    High delivery rate is very good for email marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Bridgen
    Why would you purchase a email list unless you know what is in the list No good having a diet website and purchase a list that has 50K people and only 10% want a diet Now if you can purchase a 10K diet list that would be better I have purchase lists in the past but never sold a dam thing Keep away Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author terra cotta
    I would rather build a list than buying one. Most lists for sales are not responding to cold email. You need time to make it hot. If you have the resources then you may try.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimish1982
    Buying lists are fine, if you are getting fresh email list.

    Fresh email list is very good for email marketing. I am getting different countries fresh email list and getting good leads from the list.
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  • Profile picture of the author maxsi
    pay attention to spam, because you don't have permission to write them
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  • Profile picture of the author mdallen
    If you have money to build your list and want to avoid spam and scams, I would suggest solo ads as well. I saw this blog post about the most trustworthy solo ad sellers of 2016 (top ten) Traffic Tutor: Top 10 Trustworthy Solo Ad Sellers
    I hope the info helps. Aaron Bradley on there gives a free 50 clicks if you refer someone and feel free to say I sent you if you choose him, but there are 9 others. I highly recommend the number one, she has good reviews off the charts, though she is a little pricier. Any of these can send you real people and you can have them optin on your page and promote to them legally. This may be a cheaper option as well. Hope it helps
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  • Profile picture of the author simonbrep
    Make sure the leads are fresh, up to date (preferable up to the last week or day before) and that you have full data (name, address, postal code, phone, email, etc). Without all of these 3 you could just be buying a spreadsheet that's been spammed hundreds of time already, plus if the data is full of blacklisted emails, you'll end up burning your server in minutes.
    We can supply fresh email data if you need, targeted by geo and demographic, all users are 99% verified and fresh up until the day before, we also run offers on data and sending systems, ping if you need more info
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  • Profile picture of the author Neru79
    Depends how many times was this list sold...
    I am not fan of buying or selling list
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