is this illegal?

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17
Is re-selling marketing lists illegal? I have several lists that I would like to combine into one more effective list to sell to businesses, and am not sure of the legalities, being a newbie and all
#main internet marketing discussion forum #illegal
  • What niche are these list in and are you selling to online or offline business? If it's an email list then most auto responder companies aren't cool with importing people that have not opted in to the persons list.
    What you can do is mail to the list someone else's offer and pretty much sell the clicks generated or leads generated.
    • [1] reply
    • The question is . . .

      Do you have the express permission from the people on the list to contact them directly?

      My guess is . . . no.

      If that's the case, don't email them regardless of who the offer comes from. Lists are a dime a dozen and most often when a list is being advertised for sale, it is a list that has not opted in to receive emails.

      Legality aside, such lists are notoriously poor converting because they are stale and not targeted.

      Don't do it unless you are ready to have your hosting service receive a lot of spam complaints.

      Steve
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • I'm not sure if it is illegal, but would you feel good about doing such a thing?
    • [1] reply
    • Troy, legitimate list sales and/or rentals are a big money business. As long as the list builder is transparent about the conditions under which the list will be shared, there's no problem and nothing to feel bad about.

      I do have a hunch, though, that such is not the case here. If I'm right, my original answer stands...
      • [1] reply
  • Thanks to everyone for your input, your answers have deff steered me in the right direction

    I have found another service to market that does not involve reselling lists

    I know everyone says buying lists is a bad idea, but I have an opt-in list that I'm willing to give a try. I plan to send engaging, personalized emails that try to differentiate from the standard mass spam lists that have become so notorious.

    My question to all you experienced warriors, if I sent individual emails (one receipient, not multiple) will the email get delivered to the recipient, or get delivered to the spam folder? How can I avoid getting automatically sent to the spam folder? Is G-mail better for this?


    Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Brian, you know as well as I do that the rules for physical mail are different than they are for email.

      I will admit that the magazines, stores, even banks that have my email have varying levels of transparency regarding permission to share contact information. Some ask right on the subscription form, others bury it in the TOS you have to accept to use one of their services. It's usually buried about halfway through and uses terms like "marketing partners" or "approved third party providers".

      No argument from me here.

      As you say, the bottom line is permission.
  • If you want to sell the list that is likely legal.

    If anybody else uses that list to email out it's probably against can-spam to use the list you want to sell.

    So you would probably have a difficult time selling the list.

    • [1] reply
  • In my terms and conditions it basically says I will collect as much information as possible from them, including IP and physical location from IP. I will also retain the right to sell the information and to market to them and to have third parties market to them. I also will put cookies in their browser for tracking and retargeting purposes.

    I don't really do all this stuff but I figure its best to pretty much just cover my bases. In terms of the # of people who actually read it, its extremely minimal, or at least what my Google Analytics tells me so the change in conversion rate is insignificant.
  • selling lists is probably illegal in many countries or states, for example one year California passed 7000 laws. Most countries they pass so many laws that the people who pass them can't READ THEM. My neighbor is a prosecutor he can put any one in jail all he has to do is read the laws find one you broke and yes everyone breaks them.

    So yes if you sell list it's probably illegal in some states and not in others. Check with your state and your attorney.
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    is this illegal?

    Is re-selling marketing lists illegal? I have several lists that I would like to combine into one more effective list to sell to businesses, and am not sure of the legalities, being a newbie and all