Single or double Optin?

This seems to be a never ending debate and there's definitely pros/cons for both sides but for me personally I prefer double opt in. I prefer a more targetted, stronger list without a whole bunch of fake email addresses and whatnot and I like the lower SPAM complaints.

Plus I tend to think that if someone is interested in my stuff a confirmation is really not to much to ask for.

I would prefer single option. Because I can overcome the disadvantages of its. And they don't seem to be that tough comparing to their benefits.

Single Optin - redirect your subscribers to affiliate sales page OR thank you/ download page instantly after they optin.

Double Optin - subscribers have to check their email and click on the confirmation link to confirm their email subscription. After that, they will be directed to the affiliate sales page or thank you page.

A little misinformation there, as you can have double opt in and redirect them to the affiliate offer directly after submitting their info. Double opt in just means they need to confirm it. On your opt in page, you could add some info by the submit button letting the user know they have to confirm the information.

I do single with most affiliate stuff, and double with my privately owned things.

If you end up getting a spam complaint then what will happen? Perhaps Aweber will simply start forcing you to use double optin.

I think if you are using double optin you are losing 20-30% of the people who subscribed to you offer because people don't have time to confirm the optin right when they are looking for the offer and then when they check their email they already forgot about your offer...

I suggest - double OPT IN. The reason is simple - you will definitely get higher quality subscribers - converting an offer with a list built using double opt-ins is not difficult at all.

Both sides of the discussion have good reasons and its really a personal choice

I prefer to use a single opt in and work on providing enough value (as thats in your control) to avoid any spam compliants. You can always revert to double as a back up

Yep never ending debate. I just use what I prefer according to the situation. If you ordering solo ads, its better to use single opt-in. Use double opt-in for buyers who bought your product.

In my experience double opt-in subscriber is easy to convert to buyers as they already understand how mailing works.

For single opt-in user, mostly they will use bogus email or they just opt-in to get the freebies. Not really effective and responsive.

I used to use double optin, but most of my lists (nearly 40,000 subscribers)
are now single optin.
There is no noticable difference in spam complaints between my different
lists - the last two broadcasts I did to single optin lists has no complaints
at all.
It does depend on the niche and how you build the list. For instance
in JV Giveaways double optin was only getting my half as many subs
because people optin for a lot of gifts at once and often don't bother
confirming, that's why I change to single.
If you use single you are getting all the same subs as with double
plus some extra. They could be buyers, why throw them away?

Losing 30% of traffic from double opt-in is far too much to be leaving on the table. Single opt-in all the way. If your traffic is quality and your offer is dynamite, then you have no option but to use single opt-in. This is not a simple case of personal preference, it just makes sense. We are in the business of getting results, too many people on this thread seem to be making their decisions based on assumptions. Just because a subscriber doesn't confirm their opt-in, that doesn't mean they are not buyers or low quality subs. Sure, there are some who may be, but if you make that assumption based off your own belief, you are most definitely throwing money down the toilet. I would rather find out facts, rather than making assumptions.

There are a lot of rubbish offers out there at the moment. People sign up for many different lists. If someone signs up to yours, and then decides not to confirm their email address, you have lost them forever. What if you use single opt-in, they get your product straight away, and it blows them away. They find out that your offer is actually quite valuable. You now have a subscriber who is most definitely a potential buyer on your list. A buyer who you would have never gotten onto your list if you used double opt-in. Now think of how many other people over the years you have lost because of similar situations.

Again, the devil is in the details, and there seems to be many people out there just listening to others without actually using a little bit of common sense.

If you spam your list you will get spam complaints...it's as easy as that. If you provide value and mail them REAL emails then they won't complain.

I agree with Shaun, it depends on what you are building and the nature of your niche, offer, marketing strategies etc.